Fostering Assessing Senior Practitioner (General Fostering)

Luton Borough Council; Luton; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent local authority is seeking a motivated Senior Practitioner to enhance their fostering service. This role involves collaborating with management to recruit and support foster carers, ensuring compliance with safeguarding legislation, and advocating for children's well-being. Join this dedicated team and contribute to transformative outcomes for children in care.

Benefits

25 to 32 days' annual leave

Career Pathways

Generous pension scheme

Relocation package up to £8,000

Unlimited access to development courses

Work/life balance options

Qualifications

• Substantial post-qualifying experience in fostering and child and family social work.
• Demonstrated competence in fostering practices aligned with national standards.
• Relevant professional qualification and registration with Social Work England.

Responsibilities

• Support the management team in delivering a high-quality fostering service.
• Recruit, train, and support foster carers for stable placements.
• Maintain regular contact and offer guidance to promote effective caregiving.

Skills

Fostering Practices

Child Protection Legislation

Coaching and Mentoring

Communication Skills

Education

DipSW or CQSW

Job description

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About the job

Salary: £41,511 - £44,711 a year plus £963 essential car user allowance plus £5,500 market supplement allowance
Hours per week: 37
Contract type: Permanent

Are you an experienced fostering professional ready to take the next step in your career? We are looking for a Senior Practitioner to support the delivery of a high-quality fostering service that transforms the lives of children and young people.

This is a rewarding opportunity to work closely with the Deputy Team Manager and Team Manager, playing a key role in recruiting, assessing, supervising, and developing foster carers. You will be part of a dedicated team committed to achieving excellent outcomes for children in care, ensuring that every placement offers a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment.

About the Role:

• Support the management team in delivering a high-quality fostering service aligned with LBC values and standards.
• Recruit, assess, train, and support foster carers to ensure safe and stable placements for children and young people.
• Supervise and guide carers, maintaining regular contact and offering advice to promote professional development and effective caregiving.
• Promote best outcomes for children by ensuring all work is completed in accordance with current safeguarding, child protection legislation, and National Minimum Standards.
• Deliver a service that prioritizes the needs and welfare of children, working collaboratively with their birth families and carers.
• Contribute to service development by identifying opportunities for improvement and initiating change where needed.

Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.

About you

You will be a confident and knowledgeable practitioner, passionate about fostering and committed to professional excellence.

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate:

• Substantial post-qualifying experience in fostering and child and family social work.
• A high level of competence in fostering practices aligned with national standards and best practice.
• A strong commitment to quality improvement through co-working, coaching, mentoring, and team support.
• In-depth knowledge of relevant legislation, safeguarding frameworks, and the social care needs of children and families.
• The ability to lead and influence practice, develop team members' skills, and drive service improvements through research and innovation.
• Excellent communication skills and the confidence to support carers and colleagues alike in challenging situations.
• A relevant professional qualification (e.g., DipSW, CQSW, CSS) and registration with Social Work England.

About us

Luton Council has been selected to deliver the government's Families First for Children Pathfinder programme.

Luton is one of seven new areas in the second wave to be chosen with the aim of protecting vulnerable children from harm and improving services to help more children stay with their families in safe and loving homes.

The programme is an amazing opportunity for Luton to shape future social care practice, which includes closer working relationships with our health, police, education and voluntary sector partners.

Children are at the heart of everything we do in Luton, and we are very proud of the tremendous work that is already taking place together with our partners, including the development of our Family Hubs and working towards making Luton a child-friendly town where our children and young people can grow up feeling happy, healthy and secure.

Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision - that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty - is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council - and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?

We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough

Application process

Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person's criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.

Additional information

We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

• From 25 to 32 days' annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
• Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
• Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
• Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant
• Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
• Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
• Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
• Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
• Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
• Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel
• Friday Funday Socials - One Friday every 2 months where we encourage our staff to get together to socialise after work