Social Workers - Fostering Recruitment (7610)

Two posts | Social Workers | 7610 | permanent contracts| 37 hours per week | £38,626 to £40,476 per annum | Grade J | Countywide

Are you passionate about placing our In Care Children in safe, secure, caring and stimulating fostering homes?

Are you passionate about permanence and have energy, enthusiasm and experiences of in care children and fostering?

We are excited to have two Social Worker vacancies within our highly sought after Norfolk Fostering Service.

The first vacancy is for a Level Two Fostering Recruitment Social Worker, who will assess applicants who wish to become Foster Carers, supporting them through the assessment and training process to their approval. This role may also include the assessment of and ongoing support to Private Fostering arrangements.

The second vacancy is for a Level Two Enhanced Fostering Social Worker, who will work closely alongside children’s networks to enable children to step down from residential care back into family life.

Please state in your application which of the roles you are interested in - Fostering Recruitment Social Worker or Enhanced Fostering Social Worker.

Both positions are full-time, permanent roles. More posts may become available due to internal development opportunities and promotions within the Fostering Service.

Fostering Recruitment Social Worker

Our aim is to recruit and assess new applicants and agency Foster Carers who are wishing to transfer to Norfolk Fostering Service. We need a Social Worker who will be an advocate and able to promote Norfolk Fostering Service within our community.

There is an opportunity to be versatile, as we require a Social Worker who can actively get involved in recruitment, assessing new applicants, going to Panel and sometimes delivering preparation training.

You will need to have good written, assessment and analytical assessment skills, must have experience of safeguarding and working with children in care and some understanding of their issues. You must be able to work efficiently and to a high standard to produce and present CoramBAAF, Form F, Fostering Assessments to our Norfolk Fostering panel.

Occasional evenings and weekends will be required. Hybrid working is a key feature of this role, mainly working from home and occasional office visits. We ask that candidates have in place good, Broadband connectivity.

Enhanced Fostering Social Worker

We are pleased to announce the opening for a Social Worker position within the Enhanced Fostering Team of the Norfolk Fostering Service. This team is dedicated to transitioning young people from residential homes to foster family care.

Role Overview

In this role, you will perform the general duties of a Social Worker with a specialised focus. You will be responsible for developing, supporting, and expanding the countywide enhanced fostering team. This team is tasked with matching and supporting high-quality enhanced Foster Carers who provide excellent care, ensuring positive outcomes for children transitioning from residential homes to foster care, with the primary goal of achieving stability for the young person.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify, support, and assist Foster Carers interested in providing this type of care.
• Aid in the development of carers alongside their supervising social worker within the fostering service.
• Coordinate services and provide support as part of a holistic, close-knit team around the child.

Target Group: Children and young people requiring therapeutic foster care often have histories of care breakdowns, unsuccessful foster care experience, or disrupted adoption experience. Some may have successfully lived in residential homes and are ready to transition to a family environment.

Key Points

• The Enhanced Fostering Team works with children and young people currently residing in residential homes.
• We are developing existing carers and recruiting new carers for our enhanced fostering service.
• We provide intensive support, supervision, and training.
• Significant investment has been made in this model of therapeutic parenting to ensure the best possible care for our children and young people.

Collaboration

As a Social Worker, you will collaborate with the Team Manager, Enhanced Practitioner, supervising social workers from fostering and children’s teams, Clinician, and Psychologist within the service.

At Norfolk County Council, we are highly ambitious for the children and young people of Norfolk. We champion their wellbeing, build emotional resilience, and ensure their safety.

Qualifications And Experience

• Qualified, experienced Social Worker with SWE registration.
• Experience in direct work with children and families.
• Experience supporting children and their networks with transitions between homes/foster families.
• Demonstrated experience in a social worker role and personal motivation.

For an informal discussion regarding this vacancy, please contact Julie Brooks, Enhanced Fostering, Duty and Supporting Resilience Team Manager, at 01603 306651.

Before you apply, we recommend reading the full Job Description and Person Specification to help you demonstrate you meet the criteria.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Generous holiday entitlement
• Health and Wellbeing services including fast-track physiotherapy and a free counselling service
• Flexible working opportunities including flexi-time, part time, remote and hybrid working – dependent on your job role and business need.
• Financial benefits such as:
• ‘ Norfolk Rewards’ our employee discounts programme which helps you save money on almost anything, from everyday groceries and clothes, to holidays, new technology, gym membership, trips to the cinema and days out.
• A Blue Light card for Fire Service and Social Care Workers
• Relocation expenses (where applicable)
• An advance of your expenses if you travel for work
• Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution, life assurance, death in service payments and dependants’ pensions.
• Tax efficient ways of getting extra pension and new bikes
• Access to our tax efficient car lease scheme for greener travel enabling you to lease a brand new, ultra-low emission vehicle (subject to eligibility)
• A payment if you refer someone you know to a hard to fill job

You can find information on our Terms and Conditions here.

Already a Norfolk County Council employee? See and apply for internal and external vacancies in myOracle using your @norfolk.gov.uk or @nccal.ac.uk email.

We would like to make you aware that priority consideration for this post may be given to current employees who are at risk due to restructure within the organisation or are in a redeployment position.

Redeployment closing date: 26 February 2025

All other applicants closing date: 05 March 2025