Overview
Our Social Workers make a huge difference to the lives of people across our county, and we remain passionate about investing in retaining our own and developing practice. This exciting opportunity offers that potential. Working with us means collaborating across our different teams, sharing best practice, knowledge, and experience to continually improve the way we do things. If you are looking for more responsibility in a supportive role while continuing to support and safeguard some of our most vulnerable/high risk children and young people, this could be just for you. We also have a career progression framework in place to support you, including the Practice Educator Programme, Aspiring Social Work Practice Lead, and Aspiring Team Manager programme. We are ambitious in our learning and development programme with strong links within the West Midlands and our teaching partnership. You can find out more about working here and our social worker career pathways here.
This role is based in Newcastle in the Assessment and Staying Together Team and you will be working with families across the continuum of need from child in need through to the conclusion of care proceedings. We are a team of seven made up of three Social Workers, two Advanced Practitioners and a Social Work Practice Lead led by an experienced Team Manager. The district consists of a Duty Team, three Assessment and Staying Together Teams and two Child in Care Teams. There are two roles available, one full time (37 hours) and one part time (18.5 hours); please indicate your preference on the application form.
Main Responsibilities
* As an advanced social worker you will be responsible for completing statutory duties in coordinating the child’s plan, reviewing and ensuring that children are seen and heard.
* Undertake section 47 investigations.
* Undertake placement of children into Local Authority care, when it is agreed they can no longer remain at home.
* Be responsible for the completion of both Private and Public law reports.
* Be responsible for referring into centralised services for specialist support/services.
* Offer informal and formal mentoring to less experienced social workers, and use your practice wisdom to champion specific areas of practice.
* Work within the framework of legislation, council policies and procedures to work with or on behalf of children, young people and their families to improve their well-being and promote their independence.
* Work within a District Model and closely with colleagues in Early Help, Children in Care and Care Leavers and Children with Disabilities Team, as well as Health and Education colleagues.
The Ideal Candidate
* You will be an experienced social worker and have a social work degree and be Social Work England registered.
* Post qualifying experience of working with vulnerable children and knowledge of safeguarding and children in care.
* Knowledge of legislation and guidance underpinning delivery of children’s social care e.g. Children’s Act, Working Together, Adoption Act, Every Child Matters.
* Full UK Driving Licence.
* Experience in mentoring.
* Demonstrated ability in improving outcomes for children and young people, with examples of creative social work practice to keep children and young people within their families where safe to do so.
* Desire to work with children and families to provide the right support at the right time, aiming to keep families together where it is safe to do so.
For more information about this vacancy or for an informal chat please contact Kayleigh Harold, Team Manager, on email kayleigh.harold@staffordshire.gov.uk or on 01782 296290. The interview date will be confirmed.
Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.
About Staffordshire County Council
We are no ordinary county council: Our Values. The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively. Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy. We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future. We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.
Benefits We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire. Our recruitment process: Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities. As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and vulnerable adults is important to us and this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.
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