Job Introduction
Life-changing work.
Game changing support.
With additional support from PA’s and a new operating model we’re making sure our social workers can do what they do best!
Our Social Workers make a huge difference to the lives of people across our county. They take pride in supporting children and families and we’re equally proud to help them give their best in whatever ways we can. That’s why you can expect everything from agile and flexible working options to exceptional learning and development if you join our team. You can also expect our commitment to creating the best service we can.
Although we’re already rated as ‘Good’ by OFSTED, we’re determined to uphold the highest standards and drive continual improvement and learning. That’s why we’ve recently gone through an exciting transformation, underpinned by a restorative practice model, which focuses on keeping families together through a community-based approach. If you’ve not worked in this way before, don’t worry – we’ll give you full training to bring you up to speed.
Working with us means collaborating across our different teams, and sharing best practice, knowledge, and experience to continually improve the way we do things. Support is important, as we work in a big county with some diverse challenges – but together we can meet all kinds of needs and demands.
Main Responsibility
As a social worker within Assessment and Staying Together you'll carry out interventions as allocated by the team manager which includes the assessment and management of risks to children and young people.
You'll embrace a restorative approach to your practice and where its safe to do so, you'll support families to develop their own plans to keep children safe with the support of family networks and professionals.
The key tasks of the role and service will include:
1. Holding and managing a workload of children and young people and prioritising all work in accordance with the Directorate’s Policies and Procedures, standing orders, budgets and all relevant legislation.
2. Ensure as part of assessment and plans to support children, young people and their families that Family Group Conferences/Family Meetings are offered to all families as part of the work with them
3. Undertake direct work with children and their families and their carers which provides high support and high challenge and aims to support families to find solutions to their own challenges and one which embraces a family formulate plan as a safe alternative to the Local Authorities plan. Families & Communities –Children’s 03 Social Care Service
4. Ensuring that all work is completed within the stated timescales in accordance with both national and local policy.
5. Planning, carrying out and monitoring all activities required for individual children and families to ensure that the outcomes are achieved in conjunction with other agencies.
6. Undertaking regular reviews of individual children’s and families situations and to use the outcome to formulate new arrangements and plans in conjunction with service users and other agencies.
7. Maintaining client records in line with Directorate policies and procedures within the framework provided by the Integrated Children’s System in relation to recording information about children and families.
8. Participating in regular supervision or consultation with the Team Manager and ensuring that they are always made aware of significant issues in respect of children and families.
9. Providing high quality and timely assessments and reports in the agreed format for Court’s, Child Protection Case Conferences, Statutory Reviews and any other forum as directed by the Team Manager.
10. Working in partnership with colleagues within the Directorate and also outside agencies in order to achieve outcomes for vulnerable children in their service area and where assessed as safe and appropriate support de-escalation of plans to facilitate reunification home with a package of support Families & Communities –Children’s 04 Social Care Service
11. Ensuring that work they are responsible for contributes to the achievement of all agreed performance targets at an individual, team and business. Supporting aspirations of both Families Communities and County Councils priorities for its communities/residents.
12. Participating in the formulation of new initiatives, and policy across the Directorate as appropriate
13. Demonstrate a commitment to commitment to ongoing continuous professional development in accordance with Social Work England professional practice standards.
14. Supervising and supporting the professional development of social work students and non social work qualified staff on the team when required
15. Developing good working relationships with other agencies and other colleagues in the Directorate and embrace initiatives which hold the risk and work alongside and with families to formulate safety plans to support maintaining children residing at home or effective rehabilitation back home in the future.
The Ideal Candidate
You'll need to be a:
- Qualified Social Worker
- Registered with Social Work England
- Have a current UK driving licence and vehicle
But above all, you will bring the desire to work with children and families to give them the right support, at the right time with the aim of keeping families together where it is safe to do so.
For more information about this vacancy please see the attached job description and our vision and principles attached when viewing the role on careershub.staffordshire.gov.uk
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.
Our benefits:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to a range of benefits.
Our recruitment process:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities
As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Silver 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.
As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why 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.
