We are looking for a talented, experienced social worker to join our Looked After Children Service, the service is made up of 4 teams.  One deals specifically with children with a plan for adoption, and the remaining three are responsible for all looked after children who have a plan for permanency via long term foster care, including friends and family care, residential care, placed at home on care orders.

Our partnership with Leeds City Council, a national Partner in Practice, is flourishing and has added strength and stability to the way we work. Our excellent leadership team has a wealth of experience and know what it takes to plan and deliver change.

We’re building on our child-centred social work foundations to deliver good outcomes for children, young people and families and we are hoping to develop a specialist part of our service which provides emotional well-being support and advice for children and young adults, birth family, carers, colleagues from across the service and with partner agencies. You will be able to role model and promote restorative practice, to encourage reflection and appropriate responses to a child’s emotional needs and the impact of trauma.

You would be required to work alongside CAMHS Practitioners as part of a multi-disciplinary team, undertaking a variety of tasks aimed at supporting the positive emotional, psychological and mental health of children and young people, who are in contact with children's services in the Kirklees area. You would be involved with facilitating regular consultation clinics alongside CAMHS Practitioners. The clinics offer a reflective space for those working with the child or young person where their needs and strengths are considered in order to inform a plan of support for either or both the child and those caring for them.

You will be able to contribute to systemic family assessments and facilitating regular professional meetings in cases that are considered to be particularly complex.

You will have the skills to undertaking direct work with newly approved carers and young people experiencing transition between birth family and placements in order to help them understand the emotional needs of Looked After Children. You will assist them to develop insight and skills to develop and enhance their ability to tailor the care that they prove to meet the identified support needs of individual children.

You will also provide a range of support to Social Workers and other professionals to enhance knowledge and skills about a Trauma Informed approach to practice and you will promote reflective thinking and listening to consider the impact of trauma upon the development of the children with whom they are working to inform appropriate care planning.

We want to make sure you have everything you need to deliver good outcomes.  We have a huge commitment to providing our social workers with exceptional levels of support.  This includes working hard to reduce caseloads, ensuring high-quality professional development and achieving the best possible standards of supervision and management.  We’re rolling out (with very positive feedback) ‘mobile and agile’ working so you’re able to spend more of your time doing the job you love.

An established career structure is in place and a new role of Advanced Practitioner has been created, both to support front line practitioners and to provide a career pathway for the very best social workers outside of management.y

Please refer to the attached Context Sheet for specific requirements.

thing you need to deliver good outcomes.  We have a huge commitment to providing our social workers with exceptional levels of support.  This includes working hard to reduce caseloads, ensuring high-quality professional

Closing date  

13 September 2020, 11:55 PM

This job is subject to an enhanced DBS check.  A conviction may not exclude candidates from appointment but will be considered as part of the recruitment process.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults and children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Related information

Social Worker (1).pdf – 1905KB 

Context Sheet - 2.pdf – 133KB