Social Worker First Response in London

Come and be part of our Outstanding First Response Children’s Duty. It’s an exciting time to be a part of Children and Family Services at Leicestershire County Council, our staff are at the heart of delivering excellent services to children and families across Leicestershire. Come and join us and make a difference in the lives of children and families in Leicestershire.

Our recent Ofsted inspection praised Leicestershire’s work to build “strong and long-lasting relationships” with children and families which lead to many families achieving “positive changes” in their lives. They highlighted an “ambitious and child-focused senior leadership that has successfully created a culture where the experiences and progress of children are at the heart of social work practice.”

About the Role

Our First Response Children’s Duty comprises a screening and assessment team. The screening team is responsible for incoming information regarding children and families, considering support needs, safeguarding and assessing risk. The assessment team is responsible for Section 17, assessment of need across the county, as well as safeguarding Section 47 enquiries.

You will need to be adaptable, to work well under pressure both individually and as part of a team and work to tight timescales.

In Leicestershire, we have a fantastic package to provide our workers with a range of events throughout the year, recognition of our staff in annual Pride In Practice events, fantastic learning and training opportunities – enabling our staff to develop and progress within their roles and committed wellbeing support.

We are proud of our continuous improvement plan - Achieving Excellence through Purposeful Practice which sets out our key values, behaviours and ambitions. We have embedded the Signs of Safety approach throughout our services and this approach mirrors our values of Aspiration, Being Curious and Collaboration. We are focused on working with families and the networks of family, friends and professionals around children, to work in collaboration to achieve shared goals.

We are committed to our vision of becoming a trauma-informed responsive department where we believe we are “stronger together”. Our culture is one of partnership, where we look for solutions and recognise the potential impact of trauma on the children and families we work with and on our staff. We will strive to create a safe, compassionate, healing environment demonstrated through relationships based on trust, respect, hope and empathy. We will achieve this through a spirit of curiosity, by nurturing connections through relationships, making a deliberate effort to know and understand people, and by providing hope for growth and recovery.

A DBS enhanced check for a regulated activity is required for this post. For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.

About You

To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria:

• Be a qualified Social Worker holding a Social Work degree or equivalent, e.g., CQSW, DipSW (with specialism in children's services) and be registered with Social Work England, hold a valid driving licence and access to a vehicle.
• Extensive knowledge and application of social work legislation, methodologies, social care policies, guidance, procedures and case reviews with a commitment to your continuous professional development.
• Have ability and experience of supporting with service performance and the learning and development of individuals as well as a team.
• Have experience and understand the importance of multi-agency working and the differing roles, responsibilities, remit and functions of other parts of the wider service and agencies.
• The ability to communicate clearly and accurately, both orally and in writing, with a wide range of people, including representatives from other agencies, using skills of negotiation and persuasion.
• Have good IT skills, including Microsoft Outlook and Word, and database applications.
• Excellent demonstration of the ability to prioritise effectively across a wide range of competing demands to meet deadlines. Time management skills and the ability to respond flexibly to changing requirements.
• You must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence (or be able to convert your current licence) AND have access to a vehicle.

Please ensure your application includes a full career history and provides reasons for any gaps. Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working? We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact: Dominic Lewis-Gordon - Team manager.