Social Worker - Family Assessment

Portman Recruitment Limited; Sheffield, Matlock; On-site; GBP 43,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mileage allowance (45p per mile)

Job summary

Portman Recruitment Limited is seeking an experienced Social Worker to join its Family Assessment Residential Services covering Sheffield and Matlock. The role focuses on 12-week parenting assessments within a residential setting, safeguarding children and producing evidence-based recommendations.

Candidates should be qualified social workers with current registration, comfortable travelling between services to meet operational needs.

Qualifications

• Must be a qualified Social Worker with the appropriate professional registration.
• Experience in assessing families and safeguarding children preferred.
• Strong report-writing and analytical skills.

Responsibilities

• Complete 12-week parenting and family assessments.
• Work directly with parents, children and families in residential setting.
• Assess parenting capacity, strengths, risks and areas needing support.
• Undertake direct work and observations with families.
• Gather and analyze evidence throughout the assessment period.
• Produce clear, analytical Social Work reports.
• Collaborate with residential staff and multidisciplinary teams.
• Liaise with Local Authority Social Workers and other professionals.
• Contribute to meetings, reviews and professional discussions.
• Make evidence-based recommendations regarding the needs and welfare of children.

Education

Social Work degree

Qualified Social Worker

Tools

None

Job description

Social Worker – Family Assessment Services

Locations: Sheffield (S11) & Matlock (DE4)
Salary: Up to £47,028.80 per annum
Hours: 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday
Contract: Permanent, Full-Time

The Role

Our client is recruiting experienced Social Workers to join their specialist Family Assessment Residential Services covering Sheffield and Matlock.

These are not traditional Local Authority Social Work positions.

Social Workers work within the residential family assessment centres, supporting families who have been placed within the service to complete structured 12-week parenting assessments.

The role gives Social Workers the opportunity to work closely and intensively with families, observe parenting over a sustained period and produce clear, evidence-based assessments and recommendations.

Locations & Base

The South Yorkshire/Derbyshire team covers:

• Sheffield – S11
• Matlock – DE4

Your normal base would be the service closest to your home address, although Social Workers need to be comfortable travelling between services when required depending on where families are placed and operational needs.

What You'll Be Doing

The role includes:

• Completing 12-week parenting and family assessments
• Working directly with parents, children and families within a residential setting
• Assessing parenting capacity, strengths, risks and areas requiring support
• Undertaking direct work and observations with families
• Gathering and analysing evidence throughout the assessment period
• Producing clear, analytical Social Work reports
• Working closely with residential staff and the wider multidisciplinary team
• Liaising with Local Authority Social Workers and other professionals
• Contributing to meetings, reviews and professional discussions
• Making evidence-based recommendations regarding the needs and welfare of children

One of the attractions of the position is the opportunity to work with a much smaller and more manageable number of families than would normally be experienced within a busy Local Authority statutory team.

This allows considerably more time for direct work, assessment and report writing.

Who They're Looking For

This would particularly suit a qualified Social Worker who enjoys:

• Assessment work
• Child and family Social Work
• Court-focused or analytical report writing
• Safeguarding
• Direct work with parents and children
• Having the time to properly understand a family rather than managing a large statutory caseload

Candidates from backgrounds such as Children & Families, Child Protection, Assessment, CIN, LAC, Court/PLO or Family Assessment could potentially transfer particularly well.

You will need to be a qualified Social Worker with the appropriate professional registration and be comfortable travelling between services when required.

Why Consider It?

The big differences compared with many Local Authority Social Work roles are:

• Salary up to £47,028.80
• Monday-Friday working
• Residential 12-week family assessments
• Much smaller/manageable caseload
• More time for direct work and quality assessment
• Base normally determined by whichever service is closest to home
• 45p per mile business mileage
• Permanent position with an established specialist social care provider