Qualified Social Workers - Children in Care & Care Leavers Service

Warrington Borough Council; Warrington; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government council in Warrington is seeking qualified social workers to join their Children in Care & Care Leavers Service. The role involves supporting children in care, collaborating with various service teams, and engaging in a relationship-based practice. Candidates should be registered with Social Work England and have strong communication skills. Competitive salary and a flexible working environment are offered as part of the benefits package.

Benefits

26 days annual holiday, increasing after 5 years

Access to a competitive benefits package

Health & Wellbeing Programme

Essential car allowance

Qualifications

• Must be a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England.
• Experience in social work, preferably within child services.
• Must demonstrate the ability to engage and provide support to children in care.

Responsibilities

• Support children and young people in foster placements and residential care.
• Collaborate with a multi-agency hub to provide targeted support.
• Engage in relationship-based practice in child welfare.

Skills

Qualified social worker

Registered with Social Work England

Ability to converse in accurate spoken English

Education

Social work degree

Job description

Qualified Social Workers - Children in Care & Care Leavers Service

About us

We are recruiting for qualified social workers to join our Children in Care & Care Leavers Service, both experienced practitioners or newly qualified social workers are most welcome to apply, as we have a very strong ASYE Programme in place.

A bit about us…

We are within easy commutable distance of Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside regions. In addition, we offer flexible working – including a blend of working from home/remotely

We have a strong vision for social work practice in Warrington and have developed a new approach to social work. We have embedded a relationship based practice model that has systemic practice at its core. We are working alongside the Centre for Systemic Social Work, who are providing a comprehensive training programme to social workers and managers across our teams.

We have three Children in Care teams, and a Care Experienced Team for our Care Leavers each team has a Team Manager who is eager to support and develop all social workers alongside the Senior Practitioner. Our teams support children and young people who are subject to care orders and for whom we share PR who live within foster placements, residential care and also with members of their extended family. We also support children who are subject to Supervision Orders. We recognise that the role can be challenging and we have a range of exciting and impactful developments in Warrington that our social workers can utilise in supporting families, including:

• No Wrong Door – a multi-agency hub where young people at risk of going into care get targeted support to cope with the multiple issues they face; this includes our own Internal Accommodation ‘The Lighthouse’ from aged 8 years, for Outreach and from aged 12 years for Emergency accommodation whilst we work with families for children at risk of entering care and Supported Accommodation placements with wrap around Outreach support for 16-18 year old.
• Systemic Hub– consisting of Systemic Family Practitioners who are assigned to each team to provide therapeutic support and intervention and provide guidance to our social workers regarding systemic approaches to direct work and interventions.
• Family Time Service (to assist in arranging and supervising the time that our children in care spend with their families).
• Restore - a service designed to work with Mothers who are pregnant and have children previously moved, with the aim of reducing repeat removals.
• Family Group Conference Co-ordinators and Lifelong Links.
• Business Support – the team are able to assist with taking minutes of meetings, scanning documents onto the system and other administrative tasks.
• Magic Notes – AI to record meetings to ease the burden of recording onto the children’s files in a timely way.

The role

We are recruiting for qualified social workers to join our Children in Care & Care Leavers Service, both experienced practitioners or newly qualified social workers are most welcome to apply, as we have a very strong ASYE Programme in place.

What's needed?

You will need to be a qualified social worker and registered with Social Work England to be considered.

As well as a competitive salary, working for us means you get:

• 26 days annual holiday – raising to 31 after 5 years of service (pro-rata)
• Access to our attractive and competitive benefits package
• Access to our Health & Wellbeing Programme
• Essential car allowance

Key Dates & Further Information

For enquiries or an informal discussion – please contact Luke Gray Team Manager 07585307984 or Sandra Siwoku Interim Service Manager 07890560655

In accordance with Home Office guidance, successful candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK before commencement of employment. Sponsorship is not available for this role. Therefore, you must have the right to work in the UK to be eligible for appointment.

The ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.

We’ve recently moved…

We have now moved to our new building in Time Square, this is a great work space with hubs and pods which will provide a great environment to work, furthermore, with cafes and restaurants on the doorstep. In addition, as a result of the pandemic we have reviewed our working practices and now offer significant opportunities to work from home.

We have high aspirations for our children and welcome those who share our ambition!

So if you want to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people with relationship based practice at the heart of everything we do and develop great relationships, then come and join us in Warrington where we are passionate about our work with children and families.

DBS clearance is required.

Warrington Borough Council is a Disability Confident employer

Warrington Borough Council Offices, 1 Time Square, Warrington, WA1 2NT