Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Social Worker

Department: Program Implementation

Location: Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Medak (Telangana)

Reporting to: Project Coordinator

Contract Duration: Till December 2026

Level Of Contact With Children: 1 (Direct contact with children)

The position holder shall be responsible to adhere & work within the ambit of Plan India’s Safeguarding & Gender Equality Policies.

ABOUT PLAN INDIA:

Plan International (India Chapter), also referred to as Plan India, is an Indian registered not-for-profit organization that is constantly striving to advance welfare and development for children and equality for all girls and women in India. Through its grassroots social development work, Plan India seeks to create lasting impact in the lives of poor and vulnerable children, their families and communities, by gender transformative child-centered community development.

Since 1996, Plan India has improved the lives of millions of children and young people by enabling them to access and benefit from the safety nets and schemes of the government for child protection, quality education and healthcare services, healthy environment, livelihood opportunities and participation in community development. To know more about Plan India, visit www.planindia.org

JOB PURPOSE:

Plan India is implementing Sarthak Phase -II in Medak district of Telangana and Khurda district of Odisha. Through the project we aim to strengthen the child protection mechanisms in the target districts by working in close collaboration with the District Child Protection Units. This position will aim to improve the access to the justice system of the families (Parents) and child survivors by strengthening investigative, legal and support services through collaborative efforts with the District Child Protection Units (DCPU) in respective districts; more in particular in collaboration with the Child Welfare Committees (CWC) in the project districts. The collaboration with the DCPU will help to provide the children the immediate support such as counselling, medical support, legal support etc. and will ensure that the survivors get justice, and they are able to restart their lives afresh with the help of psycho-social support, guidance, family reintegration, victim compensation and by accessing the Govt. sponsored Social Protection Schemes.

The project will provide these supports by creating increased awareness among the parents, communities, schools, and children and among the Govt. service providers. Increased awareness will ensure mandatory reporting to police or to other relevant authorities for initiating the process of investigation and onward actions as prescribed by the law. The project will collaborate with the judiciary/ public prosecutors (Justice System) Juvenile Justice Board, Dept. of Women and Child Development and statutory bodies like District Legal Service Authority (DLSA), Child Welfare Committees (CWC). Such collaboration will aim to ensure victim compensation, Institutional Care, counselling support etc. Project will also aim to improve these systems at the district level, so that the ripple effect of the project reach out to other districts of the state/s, and overall gender responsive approaches could be established in the state for the survivors of GBV. This project will engage with the Legal Services Authorities, which provides legal support to the survivors of GBV, Police which helps to enforce the law, State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the Doctors for medical aid & services, Indian Medical Association etc. to ensure that the system is strengthened and coherent to provide support to the survivors of child sexual abuse of Gender Based Violence.

SCOPE OF WORK

The Social Worker will work closely with the village, block and district level child protection & delivery system; with the communities, schools, children & young people, local governance representatives and generate awareness amongst them on the issues pertaining to GVB amongst children. The SW will be responsible for undertaking different awareness generation initiatives within schools and communities aiming to prevent and safeguard children from potential incidents of CSA. The SW will also facilitate care and guidance to the GBV survivors and their families. S/he will ensure mandatory reporting of incidents they’ll come across, right referral for the care and treatment of the survivors at the response centres like hospitals, medical units, including referrals to Child Care Institutions (CCI), CWC for further case management and support. The position holder will work closely with the Support Service Providers (SSP) placed in the DCPUs for facilitation of Legal Aid and psychosocial support to the child survivors and their families.

Under the support and guidance of the State Project Coordinator, the Social Worker/s will collect data of the CSA/ GBV incidents amongst children to ensure their end to end “reporting-management-referral & rehabilitation pathway”. S/he will also follow standard operating procedures (SOP) of the state for referral of GBV survivors and share their experiences and learnings in course of following the SOPs aiming to review and revise the SOP as necessary.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Undertake rapid survey on the CSA/ GBV amongst children

• Enlist schools and their details in the district

• Undertake community and school awareness programmes in schools and communities

• Provide guidance to children, YP, Parents in case of reported incidents

• Provide monthly quarterly and yearly data to the PC – Sarthak.

• Assist the Support Service Providers (DCPU) for initiating comprehensive assistance to GBV survivors in the district.

• Prepare Case Records of the GBV/ CSA survivor and share it with Plan India’s Support Service Providers (DCPU).

• Organise and facilitate Life Skills sessions for the school-children in the selected schools.

• Work together with the children, parents, communities, Para Legal Volunteers of the Govt. to develop culture sensitive, user-friendly Information Education and Communication Materials for raising awareness on GBV/ CSA amongst children, parents and all relevant stakeholders.

• Provide guidance and motivate parents/ children (survivors) for mandatory reporting of the incidents through relevant authorities or through using the Govt. provided Help Lines.

• Participate in "Service Providers Mapping" activities in the blocks/ district.

• Support individuals in risk of GBV or survivors, by referring them when necessary and in respect of their consent to other service providers (health, legal assistance, shelter/safe space, livelihoods, financial support).

• Ensure Do No Harm Approach is applied in all activities conducted in work with all children including the survivors.

• Identify opportunities for awareness raising, whether in schools, community centres or other safe spaces; plan the sessions; conduct the sessions

• Identify protection concerns of girls & boys within the communities in the intervention area i.e. any trends should be reported to the respective manager and advocate for gaps in GBV response and referral procedures.

• Receive referrals, take action and provide feedback of actions taken in a timely manner to the Project Coordinator when necessary.

• Strengthen and maintain networks with community leaders, women leaders, service providers and camp management to ensure that survivors receive compassionate support from the community and to encourage greater communication, collaboration and coordination among partners (protection, health, legal, and psychosocial sectors)

• Work in collaboration with Program Officer, Support Services (DCPU) to ensure ongoing needs of the girls & boys are being met through prevention-related activities.

SAFEGUARDING

• Understand and strictly uphold the Plan India Safeguarding Policy to protect children and young people and prevent them from harm.

• Provide comprehensive briefing and support to any and all stakeholders connected with children by way of Programme Communications activities or initiatives.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelors/ Master Degree in Social Work / Psychology, Social Science, Women/ Gender Studies

• Minimum five years of experience on child protection with 3 yrs. experience on GBV/ CSA case management including providing PSS for survivors of GBV

• Strong ability to lead activities in women and girls centre preferred

• Understanding of gender, abuse of power, and issues surrounding violence against children

• Ability to maintain confidentiality, ethics and respect for clients at all times

• Experience in participatory techniques and community mobilization

• Experience working with S/GBV case files providing regular documentation

• Clear understanding of gender, abuse of power, and issues surrounding violence against women

• Able to maintain confidentiality, medical ethics and respect for survivors at all times.

• Positive, highly motivated, innovative, with strong organizational and inter-personal skills.

• Able to work as part of a team.

• Extensive experience of case management will be an added advantage, whereas, some experience of case management is essential.

• Good knowledge of both written and spoken English. Fluency in Odiya/ Telegu is essential.

• Extremely flexible, and have the ability to cope with stressful situations.

• Good cultural awareness and sensitivity

• Highly approachable, trustworthy and confidential

HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates can share their resume along with a suitability note at planindiacareers@planindia.org.

Kindly mention “Social Worker (location- Telangana/ Odisha)” in the subject of the email.

Also mention your current and expected remuneration

Last date for application is 17th March 2024

About Company

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