Welcome Letter
Dear Candidate
Thank you for your interest in working with Coventry 's children and young people and in the post of Head of the Youth Offending Service for Coventry City Council. Coventry is a lively, dynamic and growing City, with great ambitions for the future. Children, young people and their families are central to our ambitions for the City. We want all our children and young people to realise their potential but especially those who experience disadvantage or may be most vulnerable. This job is at the heart of realising that ambition.
We are a good Council under CPA and we have a strong track record of achievement. Our Annual Performance Assessment last year rated a 3 overall and outstanding for Making a Positive Contribution.
We know there is a great deal more to be done. We are developing integrated neighbourhood services that will provide early intervention from multi-disciplinary teams and specialist child protection and family support services to children and young people. This includes a city wide social care service for intake and assessment, working closely with both Specialist Services and the locality based Neighbourhood Services. Information about the importance we are placing in Coventry on integrating these services is included in the documents listed below.
Coventry Youth Offending Service is a high performing service, which has maintained a level 4 within the Youth Justice Board performance framework. The service is well integrated with wider partnerships in the city and is also taking a leading role on targeted Youth Services, within Coventry 's developing Integrated Youth Support Service Strategy.
We have a committed and supportive Coventry Youth Offending Service Management Board, and a diverse and professional team of approximately 125 staff and over 60 volunteers.
We are now completing the development of our Specialist Services with the recruitment to this post. There are 3 Service Managers in Specialist Services leading on Looked After children, Life Chances, and the Youth Offending Service. Service Manager Looked After Children is responsible for 3 social work teams for LAC, Fostering and Adoption Services and 3 Residential Children's Homes. Life Chance includes services for Disabled Children and a range of other areas including Children's Advocacy, Corporate Parenting, Leaving Care Services and Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers. We also have an innovative contract with an independent provider for Children's Residential Care. The close partnership with the Youth Offending Service gives some real opportunities to ensure vulnerable young people have access to the best support and intervention. Getting the relationship right between Specialist and Neighbourhood Services will be vital to ensuring children, young people and families get the best from our wider integrated services. A good relationship between the Heads of Neighbourhood and Specialist Services and the Youth Offending Services is particularly important. We are building a team which will focus on improving outcomes for our most vulnerable children and young people
We have a great team in the Children, Learning and Young People's Directorate and you will be joining an ambitious and very able wider corporate team, which is fully committed to developing and improving our children's services.
I hope the information contained on this site is of interest and leads you to make an application.
The documents on the site are:
- Coventry Youth Offending Services Service Plan
- Presentation on development of Neighbourhood and Specialist services
- Children and Young People's Plan 2006 to 2010
- Structure chart for Youth Offending Service
- Structure chart for Specialist Services
- Operational Service Plan for 2008/2009
Please contact Amanda Lamb, Head of Specialist Services, phone 024 7683 3403 for an informal discussion about the role and I very much look forward to receiving your application, and if selected, meeting you at interview.
Yours sincerely
Colin Green
Director
Children, Learning and Young People