Children's Qualified Social Worker - Family Safeguarding

We Manage Jobs(WMJobs); Shrewsbury; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 51,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in Shrewsbury is looking for a Children’s Qualified Social Worker to join their Family Safeguarding team. The role involves supporting children and families, implementing strengths-based practices, and working collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team. The ideal candidate will have a Social Work degree and experience in child protection. They offer competitive pay, a pension scheme, and opportunities for career progression in a supportive environment.

Benefits

Competitive rates of pay

Local Government Pension Scheme

Free on-site parking

Generous leave entitlement

Employee assistance programme

Hybrid working model

Qualifications

• Experience in family safeguarding practices.
• Ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams.
• Understanding of child protection frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Support children and families in a safeguarding capacity.
• Collaborate with professionals in multidisciplinary teams.
• Implement strengths-based approaches in practice.

Skills

Empathy

Communication Skills

Multidisciplinary Teamwork

Motivational Interviewing

Education

Social Work Degree

Job description

Overview

Children’s Qualified Social Worker – Family Safeguarding
£42,652 - £45,271 per annum (Salaries include market factor where applicable)

Children’s Experienced Social Worker – Family Safeguarding
£47,362 - £50,339 per annum (Salaries include market factor where applicable)

ASYE - SO2: £37,280 - £39,152 per annum

Full reimbursement of Social Work England registration fee

Essential Car User Allowance

Do you aspire to work for an ‘Outstanding’ Local Authority?

And can you peel back the layers...?

Children and young people are at the heart of all we do. The qualities that are important to them are:

• Understanding that there are layers to a person, a practitioner’s ability to see the person as a "whole"
• The ability to practice care and kindness
• Listening to children and young people — their views, hopes, aspirations and worries
• The ability to communicate well

Our family are usually the people closest to us. Family life is not just about legal ties; it concerns our most important biological, social and emotional relationships. We hold the value that children and young people are best cared for by their birth families and extended networks, and this underpins our ‘family first’ ethos. Where this cannot be achieved, we seek to ensure that children and young people’s relationships are maintained in line with their best interests. Birth parents and extended networks are included within the decision‑making processes, and we provide alternative care which is nurturing and fosters a sense of belonging.

There has never been a more exciting time to join our service: alongside making a difference to the lives of individuals and families, we have adopted exciting new strengths‑based approaches and are passionate about delivering continuous service improvement.

Here in Telford & Wrekin, we implemented a new approach to Child Protection services developed by Hertfordshire County Council, and began to deliver their innovative and pioneering practice model of Family Safeguarding.

Family Saf safeguarding is a model of system change where specialist adult practitioners are embedded within Family Safeguarding teams of Social Workers. The intervention supports a whole-system change to a local authority’s child protection approach for children up to adolescence, focusing on supporting the needs of children and adults in order that children can safely remain within their families.

This involves:

• Establishing multi-disciplinary teams where specialist adult practitioners in domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse are co‑located with Social Workers under a unified management structure. This enables a multi-disciplinary whole family response through direct assessment and support from specialist adult practitioners as well as multi‑professional group case discussions and sharing of knowledge and skills across disciplines.
• Use of Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a framework for practice for all staff. Staff undergo training and ongoing skills development workshops and follow a structured solution‑focussed intervention programme with families which aims to work collaboratively with families and increase engagement.
• Using an electronic assessment workbook which provides a single data tool for all professionals and links to the work programme. This increases ease of information sharing between professionals and reduces social worker time spent recording and sharing information.

Here at Telford and Wrekin Council, we have been judged outstanding overall in terms of effectiveness for the second time. Ofsted highlighted several strengths including exceptional social work practice, active participation of children and families, strong relationships with parents, and a robust offer for care leavers.

If you would like to find out more about this role, please view the job description and person specification on the recruitment pages or contact us by emailing csrecruitment at telford.gov.uk or by calling the listed number.

Please click on the links below to view the job description and person specification.

We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture where people are able to be themselves at work and everyone has a voice. Posts working with children or vulnerable groups will be subject to an appropriate criminal records check.

A CV template is available if you do not already have a CV.

We value our employees and offer staff rewards and opportunities for personal development and career progression including:

• Competitive rates of pay
• Automatic access to a secure, flexible and tax‑efficient Local Government Pension Scheme
• Staff benefits and discounts including salary sacrifice schemes
• Free on‑site parking
• Generous leave entitlement (24 days rising to 32 days) plus 8 bank holidays and an additional concessionary day
• Free access to our employee assistance programme and confidential counselling
• Flexible and mobile working policy — hybrid working model
• Private lettings available from Nuplace with priority for social work professionals

Find out further information about working at Telford & Wrekin Council including our full list of benefits.

Please note that Telford & Wrekin Council do not hold a sponsorship licence for visas.

Attached documents
Job description - Qualified social worker
Job Description - Experienced social worker