Social Worker - Family Worker (Link role)

Fixed Term, Full Time

£30,906 to £42,254 per annum

Location: Colchester

Closing date: 28th January 2021

Please note this is a fixed term contract/secondment opportunity for 12 months

In Essex County Council we are "Serious about Social Work"

Having won the Best Social Work Employer of the Year and been awarded 'Outstanding' by Ofsted this is a good time to join us. As if that wasn't enough, Essex has also been announced as a Partner in Practice by the Department of Education, and the Essex Social Care Academy (ESCA) is the only Local Authority team in the country to be accredited by BASW as a CPD provider. We have invested in our workforce and created a positive environment for our social workers to make a difference and achieve change for our most vulnerable children and families through direct relationship-based social work practice. We have supported our staff to understand systemic theoretical framework and models underpinning our interventions; to have access to the right tools, equipment and resources; and also, the right supervision, training and learning opportunities they need to be strong practitioners.

The Team

Family Solutions is an Early Help service in Essex working holistically with disadvantage families, with multiple difficulties to enable them to make significant changes and improvements to their lives. Family Solutions works under the umbrella of children's social care and was described as "exceptional" by OFSTED in their recent inspection which judged children's social care as "outstanding".

An exciting opportunity has arisen in the highly performing and supportive North team with supervision with an experienced manager or senior social worker. The team is based in Colchester, Essex.

The role

The work of a Social Worker (Link Family Worker) is complex, sometimes challenging, but always varied and rewarding. Key aspects of the work include:Working closely with families to build strong relationships with all family members.

• Promoting positive change with families.
• Provide both practical and specialist advice as well acting as a lead coordinator for additional support services where appropriate.
• Managing your own caseload
• Managing safeguarding risks to children
• Taking the lead on an area of professional practice for the team through supporting team members, and liaising with professionals outside of Family Solutions

What you will need:

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wide operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

As part of employment with Essex County Council should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please visit: https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees. For more information please use the following link: https://www.workingforessex.com/benefits/

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity is key to our success.

If you have any queries regarding this role, or require anything further, please email or call us on 0333 013 5888. Lines are open Monday to Friday 08:30 - 16.30.