Social Worker – Family Finding, Adoption in Chelmsford

Permanent, Full Time £36,124 to £51,834 per annum

Location: Basildon

Working Style: Community-based worker

Please note this vacancy is available as a fixed term contract or secondment opportunity for up to 2 years.

What You’ll Do:

• Assess complex social care needs, offering crucial support to children and families.
• Provide and deliver comprehensive plans for direct work with children to prepare them for a move to an adoptive placement.
• Work closely with birth families to provide support and guidance in relation to adoption.
• Attend adoption craft and profiling events, some of which will happen at weekends, to support with family finding for children.
• Work closely with our partners within the Adopt East Alliance.
• Engage directly with young children, facilitating a deep understanding of their care plans.
• Develop adoption support plans that empower families and build resilience.
• Navigate the statutory legal framework, ensuring timely intervention when needed.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners, stakeholders, and the voluntary sector to provide comprehensive support.
• Conduct assessments and plan responses to safeguard children and promote their welfare.
• Champion a child-centred approach, emphasising early intervention and prevention.
• Influence inter-agency planning and decision-making to proactively shape positive outcomes.
• Communicate assessments and professional judgments clearly, both orally and in writing.
• Work with families, communities, and individuals to support strategic aims and promote well-being.
• Manage individual and shared targets within the performance management framework.

Your Experience:

• A recognised social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England.
• Continued professional development aligned with relevant competency frameworks.
• Experience in challenging social and family situations within a social work setting.
• Strong communication skills with adults and children, building rapport with diverse groups.
• Direct work experience with children, showcasing your ability to connect on a personal level.
• Proven ability to manage competing demands, meeting required deadlines.
• Establishing strong relationships with partners, agencies, and the local community.
• Understanding the value-for-money delivery of interventions balanced against need.
• Clear decision-making skills to highlight and mitigate 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.

We’re committed to interviewing 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 interviewing all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) you may be required to register with the DBS update service if your role requires a DBS check. 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.