Newly Qualified Social Worker - Family Support & Protection, Chelmsford

Permanent, Full Time

£34,902 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Fixed-base worker

The starting salary for a NQSW is £34,902 per annum and this will rise to £37,185 per annum on successful completion of the ASYE programme. Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It’s an exciting time to join us having received our 2nd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row. Essex County Council understand how important flexibility and wellbeing is for our colleagues working across children’s Social Care and that we need to think differently. We have therefore developed a nine-day working fortnight for full time frontline Social Workers within Children’s services.

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

We are looking for motivated social workers, who are passionate about making a difference for children and their families, to join our team.

The Family Support and Protection (FS&P) teams work with families on Child in Need & Child Protection plans to promote sustainable change. FS&P Social Workers are responsible for building positive relationships with families using systemic and strengths based social work approaches. The work is varied and involves working with Public Law Outline (PLO), Court work including S.7 report and when necessary, taking families into proceedings and some Special Guardianship Order (SGO) assessments.

Through regular reflective supervision and access to CPD/Training from the Essex Social Care Academy a BASW accredited CPD provider you will be encouraged to be creative and innovative in the direct work you undertake with families. We believe that giving families a supportive environment, encouragement and insight helps them to navigate and achieve change. This means we can say goodbye to families knowing they have the tools to sustain change. This is a great opportunity to join a friendly, stable, and dedicated team.

If you have a warm and caring personality, are organised, feel passionate about supporting children and their families, believe in a strength-based approach, can work within given timescales, and have a good sense of humour, you’ll fit in well within this supportive and experienced service.

• A recognised social work qualification i.e. Diploma, degree or Masters in Social Work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current registration with Social Work England as a registered social worker.
• Evidence of continuing professional development, aligned to any relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or Knowledge and Skills Statements.
• Experience within a social work setting with evidence of challenging social and family situations.
• Strong communication skills and an ability to develop a rapport and engage with diverse groups of individuals.
• Developing strong relationships with partners, other agencies and the local community, to achieve joint objectives and offer a supportive framework for children and families.
• Understand delivery of value for money interventions balanced against need.
• Evidence of clear decision making in order to highlight and limit the potential risks associated with intervention.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider 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 the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone’s Essex.

With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs. At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) 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.

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.