Trainer Consultant

We are seeking to recruit a highly experienced and talented practitioner to the role of Trainer Consultant.

AFKA Scotland’s multi-disciplinary team has a wealth of experience and up-to-date expertise in practice relating to kinship care, fostering and adoption and delivers a wide range of workshops, training and consultancy, post qualifying courses, and conferences to assist professionals to develop the knowledge and skills they require when working in this specialist area. Our Trainer Consultants provide direct services to agencies, including advice, training, consultancy on complex cases and independently chairing panels (kinship, fostering and adoption).

The purpose of the role will be to:

1. Provide informed advice and support to member agencies, practitioners and individuals involved in kinship care, fostering, adoption and permanence with children, young people, and their families/carers - promoting evidence informed best practice that promotes a good childhood and the best outcomes for children and young people.

2. Provide supportive forums for practitioners from a range of professional disciplines and to facilitate their participation providing support and the opportunity to share practice development.

3. Provide a range of direct services to agencies and practitioners within the social work, education, legal and health professions. This will include creating and delivering training courses both face-to-face and online on a variety of topics related to AFKAs specialisms. The role can also include providing consultancy (which may involve direct contact with children and young people), independent chairing of meetings and panels, learning from disruption meetings and service and case reviews.

4. Participate in the development of the service provided by AFKA Scotland and to support its role in providing an independent voice on policy and practice at a local and national level in kinship care, fostering, adoption and permanence.

The main duties and responsibilities will be to:

1. Design and deliver workshops to a range of professionals involved in providing services to children and young people, their families of origin, and within kinship, fostering, adoption and permanence both in-person and online.

2. Develop resources and materials for use by practitioners working with children and young people, their families of origin, and within kinship, fostering, adoption and permanence.

3. Support AFKA Scotland’s contribution to the development of practice and policy at local and national level, to #keepthepromise and work alongside colleagues in our hosted services: Scotland’s Adoption Register (SAR) and the Kinship Care Advice Service Scotland (KCASS).

4. Contribute to AFKA Scotland projects which may involve connecting, developing and delivering training and developing practice guidance with our partner agencies.

5. Organise and facilitate one or more of AFKA’s Forums, Community of Practice Forums. and / or local practitioner meetings. .

6. Provide informed advice and support to member agencies responding to enquiries timeously.

7. Provide independent consultancy to agencies including unplanned endings, service reviews and other complex case work.

8. Attend and facilitate relevant meetings across Scotland or online, and to be engaged in the development of local and national policy and practice.

Support AFKA Scotland events including Conferences, Adoption Week and Kinship Care Week.