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Social Worker - Children in Our Care (various locations across Lancashire)

Employer
Lancashire County Council
Location
Lancashire
Salary
£30,095 - £39,571 Per annum
Closing date
31 Mar 2023

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We currently have Social Worker vacancies across our Children in Our Care Service in the following areas:-

  • Central - Preston, Chorley, Skelmersdale 
  • North - Lancaster, Fylde & Wyre
  • East - Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, Accrington

We have permanent full time posts (37 hours per week), part time posts, and temporary posts covering acting up arrangements and maternity leave. 

Lancashire County Council Children's Services is a progressive and innovative place to come and work for embracing strengths-based approaches and the Family Safeguarding model of practice. There are a range of exciting opportunities available across our social work teams as we go through positive changes and develop our service. This is a wonderful time to come and work for us! 

As one of the largest local authorities with a diverse and evolving range of services there are also many opportunities for future career progression and professional development. The right support is key to effective practice and your positive experience as a Social Worker and we have a fantastic group of managers who share our values and aspirations for our service and their Social Workers to provide the support you need to thrive in your work. 

In Lancashire we understand the importance of the right support, a healthy work-life balance and a manageable caseload. We are using national funding opportunities to enhance the developments in our service such as reducing caseloads, offering the best training and support, and increasing the range of services we offer to ensure our Social Workers can make a positive impact for Lancashire's children and families. 

New recruits attend our established Social Work Academy an extensive induction programme followed by regular recall days and training for ASYE's to support increased knowledge and confidence in practice. The Academy is run by our team of Advanced Practitioners who provide a range of support, training and development across our service to help practice to be at the highest standards.

 

Working within the Permanence team

The Permanence Service is made up of Children in Our Care teams and Leaving Care teams. 

Within the Children in Our Care service we care and dare to have big goals, huge ambitions and aspirational dreams for our children and support them to achieve and believe in themselves.  Our children are at the very heart of absolutely everything we do, and we include our children in every decision made, from the very small ones to the really big ones!  We try not to let the sky limit us to how creative we can work together with our children. 

We spend a lot of time listening to our children, and what they tell us is that they want us to organise lots of events & activities and to have fun with us – so this is what we do.  We have a strong focus on celebrating our children's achievements and successes, no matter how small or big and we encourage our children to dream big for themselves, so we can dream even bigger for them. 

As corporate parents, we work closely with our children's schools, health practitioners, foster carers, residential staff, and all the other professionals working with our children so that we can jointly support our children to achieve in every aspect of their childhood, into their adulthood. 

Within the Leaving Care Service, social workers will share our values for young people with high expectations for them to be safe and achieve in all aspects of their lives.    We support our young people to have a voice about how we work with them as well their views on how we develop our service.    We want social workers with knowledge and/or experience of our statutory role as well as skills in working alongside young people.  The role will involve carrying a complex caseload, chairing multi-agency meetings, assessments, reviews, and supporting our brilliant Personal Advisors across the service.

 

What we are looking for…

Passion – Thinking creatively to ensure that our children are supported to achieve their aspirations (no matter how big or small) will need to be top of your list!  We are looking for passionate practitioners (irrelevant of length of experience) who truly care and want to make a difference to children, young people and families.

Challenge – Some days will be tough, for your children, for you, and for your colleagues - we're after someone who is dedicated and committed, and who will always go that extra mile for our children (even on the bad days).  You will be faced with tough decisions and difficult choices but the rewards and benefits of watching our children achieve, outweigh these challenges by miles

Forward thinking – We are a newly formed service with big ideas and aspirational views.  We are looking for social workers who can join our team and join us on this exciting journey, making contributions to help shape and inform the future of the service for our children

Values – We are looking for someone who has values aligned to those that are integral to our service and our organisation - supportive, innovative, respectful and collaborative

 

What our children are asking for.. 

Young Person 1: I would my Social Worker to consider the things that make me happy, such as college and friends when they are finding me a new place to live. In the past I have been moved to places far away from the people that have been in my life forever. 

Young Person 2: Sometimes Social Workers speak really fast in meetings and use long, confusing words. I would like it if my Social Worker double checked I understand the things he says and if he could include me in all conversations in my meetings because sometimes I feel like professionals speak between themselves and I get missed out. 

Young Person 3: I would like it if my social worker spoke to me about the things they like because it makes me feel more relaxed. In my old home sometimes a member of staff would bring their dog in for us to play with in the garden. Will you let me meet your pets too?

 Benefits

Please click here for more information on a wide range of employee benefits and to find out more about 'What's in it for you?' as a Social Worker in Lancashire.

 How to apply…

You are welcome to contact Amanda Barbour at Amanda.barbour@lancashire.gov.uk, Jen Robertshaw at Jennifer.robertshaw@lancashire.gov.uk, or Gina Power at gina.power@lancashire.gov.uk for an informal discussion or go direct to https://jobs.lancashire.gov.uk 

You will be required to provide a car for use in connection with the duties of this post and must be insured for business use. However, we may consider you if you cannot drive because of a disability.

You must be registered (SWE) to be appointed as a Social Worker or have applied to register with the Social Care Council. For Social Worker/Care Manager positions where non social worker qualifications are accepted, registration is not required, and you will be appointed as a Care Manager.

There will be ongoing shortlisting and interviews each month

Please ensure you have uploaded and attached your supporting statement to evidence how you meet the criteria for the role. The panel may be unable to shortlist you for interview without this evidence.

This post is a COVID-19 critical post. The successful applicant/s will be required to undergo regular COVID-19 testing and are strongly encouraged to take up the offer of the COVID-19 vaccination.

The post you are applying for is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). If successful you will be required to apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for a 'disclosure'. Further information can be found on the 'Our Recruitment Process' tab.

In return Lancashire County Council offers a range of benefits, found on our website here

We do not hold a sponsorship licence and can only consider applications from candidates who are legally entitled to work in the UK. If you do not have the right to work in the UK, your application will not progress.

We reserve the right to close down a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications

Job Description & Person Specification 

Additional Information

  • Minimum Salary: 30095
  • Maximum Salary: 39571
  • Pay Basis: Yearly
  • Schedule Type: Full Time
  • Contract Type: Permanent
  • Hours: 37
  • Closing Date: Mar 31, 2023

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