Social Worker

Durham County Council; North East; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job description

The Permanence team works with children and young people primarily who have a plan of adoption and who are children in our care.

The Permanence team is committed to supporting early permanence for children. The team works mostly with children between 0-6 who have a plan of adoption and complete the child’s permanence report in order to make positive adoptive matches for children.

The team supports children from the placement order being granted in their foster home and, whilst in their adoptive home until the point of the adoption order being made.

This opportunity will be attractive to social workers who want to:

1. Understand children’s needs and be able to write evidence-based assessments, such as Child Permanence Reports for court and Child and Family Assessments.
2. Work alongside children and their birth families to help children understand their plans of adoption and where possible ensure that direct family time continues with birth family members.
3. Form positive relationships with young people, children, and their carers in order to support children to transition well into their adoptive family.
4. Work closely with the adoption team to identify adoptive families and plan timely transitions focused on the child’s individual needs.
5. Undertake planned work, with some requirement to manage unplanned situations.
6. Work with young people and children after care proceedings have taken place and support applications to seek adoption orders.
7. Work with children who have a plan of adoption and support them to move to their adoptive homes and ensure that they are well supported to build positive relationships with their adoptive family.

If you are interested in the post and would like to find out more, please don’t hesitate to contact Sara Peterson, Team Manager for an informal discussion, Tel: [phone] or e-mail: [e-mail].

HOW WILL I BE SUPPORTED?
We are passionate about social work in County Durham. We are committed to providing a culture where good practice can flourish. We ensure our social workers are highly supported and encourage flexible working to achieve a good work-life balance.

You will benefit from a range of training opportunities and professional development through personalised induction, professional supervision, and mentoring.

WHAT WILL I NEED?
To apply for this post you must:

1. Hold a degree or post-graduate diploma in social work, or equivalent social work qualification, for example, the Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW), Certificate in Social Services (CSS), or Diploma in Social Work (DipSW).
2. Be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

We are looking for social workers who:

1. Are able to build effective relationships with young people and their carers.
2. Have excellent organisational skills - able to plan their work well and manage unplanned work when required.
3. Have great report writing and analytical skills.
4. Are resilient.
5. Are able to travel. This is normally limited to County Durham and neighbouring local authority areas but can be a greater distance.

Please refer to the attached person specification for the full criteria.

If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure.

REWARDS AND BENEFITS
We offer generous rewards and benefits that are designed to help you perform at your best:

1. Competitive salaries and 27 days holiday per year rising to 32 days after five years continuous local government service.
2. Option to purchase up to 10 additional days annual leave per year.
3. Excellent work/life balance through schemes including job sharing, compressed hours, and flexi-time (allowing up to 13 flexi days per year).
4. Hybrid working (home and office working).
5. Excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Plus, top-up options - Salary Sacrifice Shared Cost AVC scheme and standard AVC scheme for members of the LGPS.
6. Wellbeing Portal and access to an Employee Assist Scheme.
7. Wide range of learning and development opportunities including professional qualifications, coaching, and mentoring.
8. Employee Benefits Portal and Lifestyle Savings Scheme (discounts across a host of major retailers).
9. Discounted DCC gym membership.
10. Staff networks run by staff for our staff, including Race Equality and Diversity, Disability, LGBT+, Armed Forces, Carers, Menopause.
11. Trade Union membership.
12. A range of other salary sacrifice schemes such as car leasing.

Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions.

HYBRID WORKING
Durham County Council currently operates a hybrid working policy where a model of 2 days in the workplace and 3 days at home/remote will apply. This model is pro-rated for part-time roles and arrangements are at manager's discretion; alternatively, you can work all of your contracted hours within the workplace if you prefer.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION
We are a proud equal opportunities employer and recognise that a diverse, talented workforce brings new ideas and new perspectives, which will facilitate growth and improvements to services. We are committed to ensuring that our employment policies and processes are fair and equitable to all. We welcome job applications from everyone, and successful candidates are considered only on their skills and ability to do the job.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we encourage applications from disabled people and provide support throughout the recruitment process.

INTERVIEWS
Interviews will be held on 31st January 2025. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked-after young person, care leaver, or a veteran.

HOW TO APPLY
In line with the County Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy, please note that we are unable to accept CVs. Applications must be submitted online via the Northeast Jobs portal.

Please use the ‘Person Specification’ section of your application form to demonstrate that you have the essential and where possible, desirable experience, skills, and knowledge. Candidates who do not evidence that they meet the essential qualifications and experience listed on the person specification will not be short-listed.

If you have any support needs or require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27 (option 2), or the Recruitment Team via email at [e-mail].

We collect personal information from you when you register with North East Jobs and make an application. Details on how we process your personal data is available in our Privacy Notice.

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