Enhanced Social Work Practitioner

Durham County Council; Wolsingham; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in the UK seeks an Enhanced Practitioner to mentor newly qualified social workers while working directly with children and families to improve care outcomes. Responsibilities include advocating for individual needs and participating in multi-agency teams, with a focus on a trauma-informed approach. This role offers a competitive salary and benefits including a hybrid working model and opportunities for professional development.

Benefits

27 days holiday per year, rising to 32

Competitive salaries

Hybrid working options

Learning and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Significant experience of social work with children, young people and their families.
• Commitment to work towards Practice Assessor qualification PA1 and PA2.

Responsibilities

• Build effective relationships with children, young people, and families.
• Guide and mentor Newly Qualified Social Workers.
• Contribute to service improvement for children in care.

Skills

Social work experience with children

Mentoring skills

Trauma-informed approach

Education

Degree in social work or equivalent

Current Social Work England registration

Job description

Overview

As an Enhanced Practitioner, you will blend the skills of a case-holding senior social worker with those of mentoring newly qualified colleagues. You will build effective relationships with children, young people, and families and ensure that children and young people lead their care planning. You will advocate for and appreciate individual needs to achieve outcomes based on evidence-based assessments. You will spend quality time with children in our care, understanding their views and life events, and supporting them to understand and recover from what has happened. You will model exceptional social work practice to inspire and guide Newly Qualified Social Workers, providing ongoing advice and support. Working closely with Practice Leads in the Social Work Academy and the Team Manager, you will ensure that the NQSWs have appropriate caseloads in terms of number and complexity, and that their ASYE progresses well. You will guide the team, support the Team Manager, and be a point of contact in their absence. You will be part of a strong multi-agency team including education, health and our therapeutic service Full Circle. You will contribute to a service that is continually seeking to improve outcomes for children in our care and help develop the service further. Your ideas and aspirations will be very important to us.

What is involved?

We work with children and young people aged 0 - 18 who are looked after, living with foster carers or with family and friend carers, or in a children’s home. We care plan with children, their carers and family to ensure the child’s needs are met well, and we plan for their future. The views of the child and their family are embedded within our care plans and lead everything we do. Relationships with children and their families are very important to us, as is our relationship with the multi-agency teams we work with. We take a trauma-informed approach, seeking to help the child recover and maintain relationships with important people in their lives. We work under a Signs of Safety framework which takes a strength-based approach and works towards the child and family goals. 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 managers 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 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.

Qualifications

• A degree in social work or equivalent social work qualification
• Current Social Work England registration
• Significant experience of social work with children, young people and their families
• Commitment to work towards Practice Assessor qualification PA1 and PA2 in line with Skills for Care good practice

Rewards and benefits

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