It has never been a more exciting time to work for Birmingham Children’s Trust’s Family and Friends Service, as we continue our progressive journey to implement improvements for our children, kinship carers as well as our dedicated workforce. This is a Senior Social Work Assistant role based in one of the three Kinship Assessment Teams. Our specialist assessment teams are responsible for assessing relatives or friends to care for children & young people, when their own parents are not able to; supporting the Trust’s commitment to the importance for children to remain within their families throughout their childhood. We have been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted and strive to be an outstanding fostering service! As a Senior Social Work Assistant in the service, you will be responsible for supporting the work completed within your social work team; which will include: Contacting potential Connected Persons Foster Carers / Special Guardians to introduce yourself/the service and talk through the stage one checks & references required as part of the full kinship assessment. It will also be necessary to be able to give an overview of the assessment process, why this is taking place and what will be expected from applicants. Being confident in using electronic systems (CHARMS, Eclipse, spreadsheets etc) to keep records up to date and be able to communicate with people using a variety of different methods. Working alongside and communicating effectively with Social Workers and other professionals across the Trust including child care social workers, legal representatives, GP’s and the medical advisor. To meet with potential applicants and help them complete paperwork, check ID for the purpose of DBS checks and to ensure people have the correct paperwork and understand the process for requesting a full adult medical with their GP. To support social workers within the service to complete the full kinship assessment; this may include completing one to one sessions with applicants, or supporting with other documentation (i.e. health & safety checklist, safer care agreement, chronologies etc). This is a hybrid role based in Birmingham so you must reside within a suitable commutable distance around Birmingham, and have the correct right-to-work documents to work in the UK. Sadly, we do not support those who require sponsorship. Want to know more? We are happy to answer any queries about this role and our Friends and Family team. Please contact: Natasha Al-Mossili: natasha.al-mossili@birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk About you Experience and a background of direct work with vulnerable children, young people and their families within a children’s or family placement setting? Knowledge and an understanding of children’s legislation and processes particularly in fostering issues, coupled with the knowledge and understanding of the permanency needs of children from complex backgrounds? Possess strong administration and IT skills, as your time will be split between office-based tasks and work in the community, visiting families. Key effective communication and positive relationship skills are essential, as well as clear, concise record keeping, in a timely, accurate manner, applying your time management and organisational skills. Ability to work effectively with colleagues and other agencies; solve problems, negotiate and make decisions are also a necessity to be able to support the social work team? Interview date: 25th June at our Lifford House office.