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Children's Social Workers and Senior Social Workers - Child in Need Team

Employer
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and London Borough of Wandsworth
Location
London (Greater)
Salary
£31,869 to £43,887 per annum
Closing date
7 Jun 2022

The Role

Do you see yourself promoting good practice in social work?

Would you like the opportunity to shape and develop lives of children?

Would you like to join a council that promotes positive outcomes for children?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

Our Child in Need Service are looking to recruit permanent Social Workers and Senior Social Workers to join our amazing team and help play a central role in achieving positive outcomes for children in Wandsworth!

Our offer

£31,869 to £43,887 per annum (subject to experience). Plus, the following:

  • £5,000 welcome bonus. (Paid in two instalments. The first £2,500 after 6 months on successful completion of your probation period and the second £2,500 after 12 months of employment). 
  • £3,000 retention bonus paid every two years’ service (payment is pro-rated for part-time staff)

For more great benefits we can offer, see out benefits section below!

Our Vision

Here in Wandsworth we are on an exciting journey of transformation. We have developed our Practice Model and are preparing for the implementation of the Family Safeguarding Approach. Family Safeguarding is a way of keeping families together where it is safe to do so. It was developed and promoted by Hertfordshire and is funded by the Department for Education. Wandsworth will be the first Local Authority in London to implement this new way of working.

Motivational Interviewing is a key component of the approach and all staff will undergo training with the aim of working collaboratively with families, empowering and engaging parents to make positive changes for their children and themselves. Outcomes for children in Hertfordshire since 2015 have shown consistent improvement, with significant reduction in child protection plans, care proceedings and domestic abuse incidents.

We are investing massively in all our staff, our leaders as well as partners to enable us to make our engagement with families and communities in Wandsworth a success. We passionately believe that if we invest in new ways of thinking and working, you'll have everything you need to do the job you trained for. We have incredibly sound, solid and strong leadership in Ana Popovici and Nick Pendry, who have an exciting vision to transform our approaches to the most vulnerable in society.

About the service

The Children in Need Service is a specialist social work service providing intensive intervention and support to children who have been assessed as being “likely to suffer significant harm or lasting impairment to their health and development without the provision of services, including children in need of care and protection”. The Service:

  •   Acts as the lead agency (with the Police) for Child Protection;
  •  Carries out in-depth assessments of need and risk;
  •  Supports and helps families in the short term in caring for their children;
  •  Works with families and other agencies to reduce risk of harm;
  •  Co-ordinates packages of support for children with complex needs;
  •  Goes to court when needed to safeguard children
  •  Makes plans for the care of children who cannot live at home

Service priorities are families with very young children; children with complex emotional and behavioural needs; families where there are chronic parenting problems – including drug, alcohol and mental health issues; families where there is domestic violence.

The service works with children of all ages, from unborn children to age 18 (where appropriate) and their families.

A social worker in this service may hold a caseload which could include children who have a multi-agency child protection plan, pre proceedings under the PLO, care proceedings where the Department is proposing to permanently remove a child from the care of their family and place him/her with long-term foster carers, family members or for adoption; Adolescents showing mental health problems or offending behaviour whose family want them to be placed in care; and families of children with moderate learning difficulties, on the Autistic Spectrum or diagnosed with ADHD.

About you

You will be responsible for delivering a high-quality and responsive social work service. We'll expect you to act as the lead professional in statutory cases - including child protection, care proceedings, and looked-after children - while undertaking the full range of social work tasks with children in need and their families.

It's a role that will see you work collaboratively with allied health and social care practitioners, bringing together and coordinating the team around the child to ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to safeguarding, as well as Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Review (APIR).

We look for people with a 'can do' attitude, who are prepared to be accountable for achieving the best possible outcomes. You will focus on residents and service users to ensure they receive the highest standards of provision.

You will need a relevant social work qualification and Social Work England membership, along with the experience of working across voluntary and statutory agencies. A good communicator, you will be confident in APIR and understand the needs of children and young people. You will also have applied knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance.

All Social Worker applicants need to complete their ASYE Year to be eligible for these posts.  Wandsworth council runs a separate program for newly qualified Social Workers.

Benefits

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed or part-time hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

We provide parking for staff that are working directly with children and families. During the current covid-19 pandemic parking restrictions, permits and charging have been temporarily waived for all frontline staff.

Equality Statement

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

How to apply?

To be considered for interview your CV and supporting statement must highlight your knowledge, skills and experience listed in attached Job Profile located at the bottom of the advert.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact by email the following:

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils

Attached documents

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