Your new role
Southend City Council are looking to appoint a full-time permanent Qualified Social Worker for their Children Looked After Team (CLA). The CLA team work with children once care proceedings have concluded.
There is some court work around revocation of care orders, contact disputes and making adoption orders. Therefore, some experience of court work would be preferable; the current case load is between 16–18.*This position attracts the added incentive of a one-off payment of £7,500, after you have been employed in this post for 3 years and 1 day.You will be required to provide an efficient and cost-effective service to children, young people and their families, ensuring that the needs of the children and their parents/carers are professionally assessed. Investigate, evaluate and analyse information on cases, demonstrating clarity of assessment, reliability of information, evidence conclusions and realistic action plans.Ensure adequate recording that evidences practice and develops practice that takes a holistic view of the individual, locating them in both their immediate and extended social circles, and having full regard to their overall development needs. Ensure that all case managementplies with the statutory requirements and the Council’s policies and procedures. You will need to prepare and submit written reports as and when required, including statements and care plans for care proceedings in the Family Proceedings, County and High Courts.Nowhere else will you gain as much experience on the job, making us a sought-after place to work. If you are passionate, dedicated to making a change and ready for a challenge – you could be the candidate we are looking for.Within this position, hybrid working opportunities are available. However, you are required to be on-site at the Civic Centre a minimum of 2 days a week.Duty days are 1 day a week, and you are required to attend the office on that day.
What you'll need to succeed
To be successful in this position, you must have a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England and havepleted your ASYE.You need to have previous experience of working within Children's Frontline services and have knowledge of child protection, looked after children and associated child in need; social work practice is essential, along with knowledge of methods of social work intervention.
What you'll get in return
When joining the council, you can enjoy a range of benefits including: 25 days annual leave, flexible working and excellent training and development opportunities. They aremitted to ensuring that you are supported in this varied and challenging role with the appropriate level of training.