Childrens Services
Adoption Now Adoption Support
Adoption Support Social Worker Access to Records
Ref: 000908
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £41,511 - £45,718 pro rata (Grade 8)
Hours: 18.33 per week
Location: Adoption Now, First Floor Howell Croft, Howell Croft North, Bolton, BL1 1QY
Closing Date: Sunday 27th July 2025
Shortlisting & Interview Dates: TBC.
Role Overview:
An exciting opportunity has arisen for you to join Adoption Now, a busy, committed, and experienced adoption service. We are keen to have an energetic and motivated social worker to join us within our Regional Adoption Agency. Adoption Now is a partnership with Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside, Bury and Blackburn with Darwen Councils.
The role will be based within the Adoption Support Service of the agency and is based in Bolton. You will be an employee of Oldham Council and you will be seconded to Bolton MBC.
This role will be focused on supporting adopted adults to access their adoption records and will include:
Pre-Commencement 1975 and Post Commencement 2005 requests from adult adoptees.
Requests from Intermediary Services (Regulation 12 of the Adoption Information and Intermediary Services (Pre-Commencement Adoptions) Regulations 2005/Section 98.
Requests from professionals or other interested parties (Access to Information, Adoption and Children Act 2002/Sections 61/62).
For further information please contact: Maggie Crabtree 01204 336171
Key Responsibilities:
* To provide advice, guidance and support to adult adoptees.
* To provide advice and support to adopted adults with issues arising from their adoption.
* To arrange access and view adoption files across the Adoption Now area (6 Local Authorities) and share all appropriate and agreed information with adopted adults.
* To provide schedule 2 counselling to adopted adults and advice and information about accessing adoption records.
* To provide advice and information about Intermediary Services and contact registers.
* To work with social workers and other professionals/agencies as appropriate to complete section 61 and 62 requests for information.
* To lead the development and delivery of training workshops.
* To work together with the wider team and support colleagues regarding access to records.
* To work with the management team to monitor access to records practice and collate data.
* To work across the adoption support team as required.
* To set up and maintain accurate written case records and contacts for all service users using the Liquid Logic System and ensure all mandatory forms are completed.
Key Requirements:
* To be a qualified a social worker, registered with Social Work England and have experience of supporting adopted adults to access their adoption records.
* To have knowledge of Schedule 2, access to birth records, access to adoption records, intermediary advice and counselling.
* To keep abreast of new developments in adoption legislation and practice.
* To have wider experience and understanding of adoption support and contact after adoption.
* To be computer literate (good knowledge and experience of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook) and the ability and willingness to input sensitive data electronically.
* To assist in the monitoring, evaluation, and performance management of access to records, together with the wider service.
* To cooperate fully with external monitoring of the service, including inspections.
* An enhanced DBS check is required for this post.
Why should you work in Oldham?
Officially rated as a ‘Good’ by Ofsted, we are proud of our relentless approach in seeking the very best outcomes for our children and families, and there’s never been a better time to join the team and be part of our success story.
Oldham is a wonderful place of diversity, where people of all cultures come together. This is one our greatest strengths and our social workers enjoy using a breadth of skills and gaining a variety of experiences whilst supporting children and families from diverse backgrounds.
We use systemic practice as our chosen practice model, focusing on building relationships with children and families, understanding the context and family dynamics, and reflectively learning together. 2024 has seen the launch of our new systemic reflective hubs, as our Social Work Academy continues to offer reflective supervisions and tailored support through an innovative 2-year ASYE programme.
We have a strong ethos of ‘Growing our own’, providing a great environment to excel in your social work career.
Our Promises to you:
* A manageable and diverse caseload aligned with your experience and skills.
* A commitment to your continuing professional development through a bespoke learning and development programme
* A variety of career opportunities to progress and develop with us in Social Work
* Regular, quality, and reflective supervision and learning from practice audits with fortnightly training days in each of our services.
* Monthly Group Supervision with your team
* Weekly Learning Spaces to focus on a specific area of learning.
* A permanent and supportive Senior Leadership team
* Full corporate and service Induction
* Direct link to a Team Manager, Advanced Practitioner and Social Work Consultants from our Social Work Academy.
* The opportunity to become a Practice Educator and to develop students within our organisation.
* Dedicated support to develop you in your role and opportunities to meet your career aspirations.
* During the SSYE [LM1] (second supported year in employment) you will have a consultant social worker in the CSWA who will offer reflective supervision every three months as well as meetings with your manager at 6 and 12 months to ensure that your professional development plan is being supported.
* Focus on child and family-centred outcomes across all sectors by ensuring the right intervention is identified at the right time, there by building a safe, happy, healthy, and successful future for children and young people.
You will be rewarded with great benefits:
* Competitive pay with a £2,000 retention payment. (After 2 years this includes Social Worker G7 - G8 and Advanced Practitioner G9)
* Hybrid working giving flexibility for you to manage your diary and offer a better work/life balance.
* Free town centre parking (in Oldham)
* Essential car user allowance of £500* and mileage expenses at 45p per mile.
* Reimbursement of Social Work England professional registration fees currently £90 per year
Our employees say
“One of the reasons I’ve worked here for so long is because it’s like a family and a listening organisation, where people are encouraged to participate and get involved”.
“Our Social Worker teams are friendly, approachable and professional”.
“We all want to make a difference to the families and children that we work with”.
“Oldham values the person, the families, and the inclusive culture”.
Hear more from our employees and explore our Social Work Academy offer here
Ofsted says
“Children are well supported by social workers, who ensure that their health, education and emotional needs are met”.
“Staff are tenacious”.
“Children and families in Oldham benefit from a comprehensive range of early help services”.
“There is strong partnership working”.
“Senior leaders promote the participation of cared for children and actively seek their voice in developing and shaping service delivery”.
“Relentless focus on improvement by a strong and stable leadership team, with progress made across many areas of practice,”
Read the full Ofsted report here
Join our Regional Adoption Agency, Adoption Now:
Adoption Now is the Regional Adoption Agency serving six local authorities including Oldham, Tameside, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen. Formed in 2017, Adoption Now strives to meet the highest standards for our children and families through continual review and development of practice where every practitioner and adoption experienced person has a voice. With opportunities to engage in bespoke training and development in the specialist field of adoption, you will also join a service of highly skilled, motivated and inclusive workers.
Whilst employed by Oldham you will be seconded to the RAA where you will sit within the Adoption Support Team which produces high quality and timely support to adoptees, adopters and birth families. You will therefore be able to access all of the benefits open to Oldham employees as well as the additional benefits of working within a specialist agency.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
About Us:
We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:
A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.
We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.
Our Values and Behaviours:
By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.
We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:
* Work with a resident focus
* Support local leaders
* Committed to the borough
* Delivery high performance
* Take ownership and drive change
You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page
Our Benefits Package:
At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:
* 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
* The option to purchase additional annual leave.
* An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
* Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active .
* Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
* Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
* Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
* Staff recognition and celebration events.
* Peer support groups
Inclusive Recruitment:
We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.
If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer or someone who has served in the Armed Forces and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme .
Data and Privacy:
For details of how we use your data please see our privacy notice .
Important Information:
Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.
Right to Work in the UK from 1st July 2021.doc