Social Worker - Children We Care For

The Opportunity

Salary: £43,454 - £55,984 per annum inclusive of market rate supplement

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full Time - 37 hours per week

Location: Based at County Hall North - Horsham or Durban House - Bognor Regis (currently from Chichester due to temporary closure of Durban House)

This is an exciting time for West Sussex Children We Care For Services following the service achieving a 'Good' judgment in our Ofsted inspection in March 2023. We are now embarking on the next phase of our journey to develop and sustain outstanding services for our children and families.

Our dedicated Children We Care For service have a passion for making a difference to our looked after children, alongside an interest and experience of the adoption process. Working with children remaining in long term care where it is not safe for them to return home, children who may be placed for adoption and children leaving care. With a focus on outcomes-based care planning for children, including access to an in-house therapeutic assessment and intervention team, you will enjoy working with young children and/or teenagers to support them to achieve and plan to build their lives as young adults ready to leave care and live independently.

As an experienced Social Worker within the Children We Care For team, you will be working to deliver first class support to vulnerable children and young people. We are looking for emotionally intelligent, organised, resilient individuals who can evidence the value they could add to our team. You will be able to build positive working relationships with children and young people, professionals, partner agencies and carers as well as respectfully challenge when appropriate. You will have an excellent understanding of the statutory requirements relating to children looked after and keeping children safe. You will be expected to demonstrate relevant Social Work theory and practice, detailed organisational knowledge relating to a professional Social Work service working with complex issues. You will be expected to confidently chair a range of meetings. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.

About You

• Analysis and interpretation of complex information and data to enable prioritisation and support in planning next steps.
• Work as part of a team and partnership with key stakeholders to assess needs and implement outcomes.
• Communicate effectively to all audiences, both written and orally and negotiate and persuade where necessary.
• Recognised Social Work qualification e.g. Degree in Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Social Work, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent as recognised by the relevant professional body.
• Completed relevant post qualifying training, have evidence of at least one year's experience post qualification and be registered with the relevant professional body.
• Knowledge of Social Work theory and practice, with demonstrable examples of working with a breadth of complex situations, for example, attachment, impact of developmental trauma and child development, motivational interviewing, relational practice, solution-focussed interventions and systemic working.
• A good understanding of anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice in social work.
• You will need a full, valid driving license to enable you to travel independently around the country, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport.

Rewards and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. We offer small practice teams of Social Workers managed by a Team Manager and supported by Child & Family Workers as well as additional flexible administrative support from Coordinators embedded within the service. We provide regular group supervision and peer learning alongside specialist roles within the team to focus on the most vulnerable children. As a Social Worker, you'll have a minimum of 5 CPD and training days per year with access to excellent learning and development provisions such as Research in Practice and Community Care Inform, Social Work England fees paid and annual leave up to 29 days, as well as the option to buy up to 3 additional days.

Further Information

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to Social Work England registration, an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check. Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver.