About the role
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Central Bedfordshire Council is excited to offer the opportunity for Social Worker roles within our Children Service’s Locality Social Worker Service. In Central Bedfordshire, our vision is that we want to continue putting children and families at the centre of our views. We are keen to get it right first time and provide good quality efficient services. We are tenacious in measuring success so we are confident in the impact of the work we are doing and to provide families with a clear easy way to have contact with all of our services. We are proud of having a skilled and confident workforce who are passionate about what they do.
Children’s Services at Central Bedfordshire Council has been awarded social work ‘employer of the year’.
The Local Authority’s Children’s Services department is aspiring to progress from the current ‘Good’ Ofsted rating to be an ‘Outstanding’ Children’s Services, ensuring that our children and young people have the best support and achieve their best outcomes.
To enable achievement of this aspiration, there is an immediate focus that our services are configured in a way that enables children and families to have easy and timely access to support and services. There is a sharp focus on providing continuity of support through consistent staffing with less transition points.
This first step is a move towards a more integrated locality model, that takes into consideration the Care Review and Working Together recommendations as well as keeping a focus on the broader landscape around Family Hubs and the Supporting Families Programme.
The new integrated locality model will have a core focus on reducing numbers of children coming into care
This is an exciting opportunity for you as a Senior Practitioner to develop. You will have at least one year’s post qualifying experience and a good understanding of how to apply different social work theories and models, which support ideas and the delivery of imaginative ambitious interventions that improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. We are looking at relentless focus on reducing transition points for children. We are proud that Central Bedfordshire we enable workers to gain a vast amount of experience and provide opportunities to work with families who are subject to child in need, child protection and court work. We aim to work closely with families developing our use of Motivational Interviewing and implementing systemic practice. The service also facilitates workers the opportunity to build up a repertoire in carrying out direct work with children and young people. We pride ourselves on our small teams and manageable cases loads allowing workers to undertake meaningful practice with children and their families.
As part of your day-to-day role you will be responsible for managing a varied caseload of children, visiting families, completing direct work with children to understand their views and lived experiences, chair multi-agency meetings and liaise with a range of other professionals to support our most vulnerable children. You will have the verbal communication skills to enable you to communicate effectively with children, parents and other agencies, and the written skills to present high-quality assessments and reports. You will be supported in your work through regular reflective supervision and informal supervision as required. You will be supported to deputise for your team manager and support the running over the team including supporting junior colleauges with the complex peices of working.
What we can offer you
As well as joining a friendly, dedicated, and hardworking team you will have access to numerous benefits, including:
1. A hybrid working arrangement giving you the option to work from home and access any CBC office location. We recognise and value the importance of supporting our employees to balance their home and work life and to be able to work in the most efficient way.
2. A £250 one-off hybrid worker payment to help you adapt your home for safe and suitable working conditions
3. A comprehensive IT package to support you to work safely and effectively
4. The ability to work abroad for up to a month a year
5. Annually paid social work fees for qualified social workers in adults and children’s (including senior practitioners) and Team Managers where required
6. Generous family friendly policies and practices
7. A welcoming and inclusive environment that empowers differences
8. Friendly and supportive staff networks
9. Annual leave allowance 25 days + statutory holidays rising to 32 days with length of service.
10. Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). This is a valuable part of our rewards package for employees and includes Life Assurance. You can find out more on the .
11. An exceptional Employee Assistance Programme which helps support employees with workplace changes as well as other work, family and personal issues
12. A huge variety of courses and role-specific training and learning to help you succeed and develop
13. Access to discounts on top UK retailers and local retailers
Central Bedfordshire Council has its own vision and values that are integral to everything we do. Our area vision is to make Central Bedfordshire 'A great place to live and work’.
Sustainability matters to us. We aim to lead by example in tackling climate change. Read more about the action we’re taking on our website:
Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer.