Social Worker Family Worker (Link Role), South Essex in Basildon

About The Role

We’re recruiting for two Social Workers (Link Family Workers) to join our high‑performing Family Solutions team based in South Essex. This is a fantastic opportunity to work within a service described by Ofsted as “exceptional”, delivering early help to families facing multiple and complex challenges. Family Solutions is part of Essex’s Children & Families service, working holistically with disadvantaged families to help them make meaningful and lasting changes. You’ll be part of a supportive, multi‑disciplinary team that values collaboration, innovation, and professional growth.

The Opportunity

• Act as a source of advice and support for colleagues, including joint visits and joint working on complex cases that would benefit from social worker expertise such as concerns around neglect.
• Support the team to build positive and constructive working relationships with colleagues in statutory children’s services.
• Manage your own caseload and assess safeguarding risks.
• Work in partnership with the team manager and practice supervisor to review referrals and support threshold decisions as required by the team.
• Build strong, trusting relationships with families to promote positive change.
• Provide practical and specialist advice.
• Facilitate complex family meetings and coordinate additional support services.
• Offer emotional and practical support in homes and community settings.
• Work closely with your manager or senior social worker through regular supervision.
• Opportunity to support the further integration of Family Solutions and Children Social Care as part of the Family First Partnership Programme.

Accountabilities

• Support manager and practice supervisor to undertake screenings of new contacts, understanding threshold.
• Determine direction and actions required in order to progress cases forward on a day‑to‑day basis; recognise when key decisions regarding risks/concerns need to be referred to the Team Manager or Practice Supervisor.
• Serve as source of advice, guidance and support to colleagues in relation to complex cases that would benefit from social work expertise, mentoring and guiding alternatively qualified colleagues in best practice.
• Undertake holistic assessments of family needs to create intervention plans and identify how outcomes can be achieved that fully reflect the family and young person’s views and aspirations, delivering interventions, including group work programs, to support families to make change.
• Facilitate complex family meetings, manage the potentially competing views of families and professionals, in order to find achievable solutions.
• Undertake individual and group programmes of work to enable children and families to develop their skills to resolve issues and problems themselves; provide information and accompany families to help access other local services.
• Provide specific practical, personal and emotional support to families in their homes or other settings as part of an agreed plan in order to achieve agreed and sustainable family outcomes.
• Actively participate in regular supervision to review work and ensure effective interventions for families.
• Ensure the principles of effective practice are fully embedded in service delivery; work collaboratively with staff and partners to ensure effective risk management in line with the thresholds of the Effective Support and Guidance document to ensure the Family Solutions team understands and follows the SET child protection procedures.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Qualified Social Worker, registered with Social Work England, and post‑ASYE.
• Recent experience in a frontline children’s services, including completing assessment and managing CIN and/or CP cases.
• At least three years’ experience post qualifying.
• Willing to work towards Practice Educator Qualification.
• A strong commitment to uphold the standards and values of the social work profession.
• Evidence of continuing professional development with good knowledge in relevant professional area and commitment to the principles of evidence‑based practice.
• Significant practical experience of working with families with multiple and complex needs.
• Effective communication skills, good problem‑solving and assessment skills with a demonstrable track record of building and sustaining positive professional relationships with individuals and families with multiple and complex needs.
• Experience of applying a solution‑focused approach and providing practical advice and support to families to enable them to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes.
• Ability to work in partnership with others to maximise outcomes for families in line with the Family Solutions operating principles.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team and to use supervision appropriately.

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.

Why Essex?

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.

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For queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk.