Kinship Assessment Social Worker

Leicester City Council; Leicester; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in social services is seeking a dedicated Social Worker to join their Kinship Assessment Team. This permanent full-time position focuses on supporting children in care, ensuring they remain connected to their families and friends. You will conduct assessments, collaborate with families and agencies, and contribute to care planning. The role emphasizes a strengths-based approach and requires a commitment to high-quality service delivery. If you are passionate about making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and families, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Level 3 qualified Social Workers registered with Social Work England.
• Experience with children looked after and fostering is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Assess prospective Kinship carers and undertake statutory social work duties.
• Manage a caseload of assessments and ensure compliance with regulations.

Skills

Social Work

Assessment Skills

Time Management

Trauma Informed Practice

Relationship Building

Education

Level 3 Social Work Qualification

Job description

Are you committed to providing high quality aspirational Fostering Services for Leicester City’s children who are Looked After? Are you motivated and passionate in helping children to remain living within their family and friendship networks, when they are unable to live with birth parents? If so read on, this job could be for you.

Due to a promotion, we have a vacancy in the Kinship Assessment Team. This is a permanent full time post working Mon-Friday, 37 hours per week. The team currently works directly with foster carers in their homes, assessing and supporting them to care for children, with options to work both remotely and office based.

The Team

As part of the Kinship Assessment Team, you’ll join a supportive and dynamic team of Level 3 Social Workers who are passionate about Kinship carers. They carry out Kinship Assessments and Special Guardianship Assessments, sometimes with short timescales, to meet court deadlines. Their goal is to produce robust evidence-based assessments that analyse and demonstrate applicant’s ability and capacity to care for children long term. These assessments are presented to our fostering panel who make a recommendation on their suitability to foster, in line with National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services and the courts, who make the long-term care planning decisions for our children who are looked after. The Kinship Team aim to help children remain within their family and friends’ networks, as we know this type of permanence can help them feel loved, safe and secure, whilst remaining connected to their families.

Your role

As a Social Worker, you’ll put the child at the heart of all your work. You’ll be primarily responsible for assessing prospective Kinship carers/or Special Guardians. You are required to undertake statutory social work duties in partnership with families, other agencies and colleagues across the council so effective care plans can be achieved for children who are looked after. This will involve attending and participating in Looked After Childrens Reviews, Permanency Planning meetings and Legal Planning Meetings.

You’ll be responsible for your own time management, record keeping and managing a caseload of assessments, whilst working in accordance with the Division's childcare policies and relevant childcare legislation. You will participate in our monthly group reflective supervisions and work within our strengths-based Signs of Safety Framework.

You’ll ensure that all cases are fully compliant with statutory regulations, policy, national minimum standards, and Service standards whilst maintaining appropriate administrative systems.

What you’ll need

Applicants will need to be Level 3 qualified Social Workers and registered with Social Work England. Fostering experience is desirable, not essential.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience of working with children looked after, and an appreciation of the complexities this brings. This experience will be underpinned by research and evidence, including trauma informed practice. You will have experience of forming and maintaining constructive working relationships with colleagues both within and outside of the Department, with experience of working with diverse groups.

You’ll have experience of prioritising and organising work, setting standards, and working to clear objectives, whilst having an in-depth knowledge of the issues affecting vulnerable children who are looked after and foster carers.

You will provide support, guidance and advice to temporarily approved Kinship carers, who already care for a child and support them to understand what the child needs from them to help them aspire and achieve.

You’ll have knowledge of relevant legislation, regulations, procedures and national minimum standards.

For an informal discussion about the Assessment Team post or for more information on this role please contact Sarah Crowley.