Social Worker - Kinship Assessment Team

Essex County Council; Chelmsford; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Support for unpaid carers

DBS update service

Job summary

Essex County Council in Chelmsford is seeking a Social Worker to join the Kinship Assessment Team on a permanent, full-time basis. You will undertake viability and full kinship assessments for prospective kinship carers, supporting children to remain with their families and preparing reports for court and fostering panels.

The role requires experience in Children and Families, strong assessment writing and communication skills, and the ability to attend court.

Qualifications

• Experience in Children and Families work is required.
• Analytical assessment writing and record keeping essential.
• Experience attending Court and producing reports for fostering panels is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Undertake Kinship and Viability assessments for prospective kinship carers.
• Prepare robust, evidence-based reports for court and fostering panels.
• Support delivery of preparation training days for kinship carers.
• Engage in duty system rota and flexible working across Essex.

Skills

Assessment writing

Communication skills

Court attendance

Flexibility

Teamwork

Education

Social work qualification

Job description

Social Worker - Kinship Assessment Team

Permanent, Full Time

£36,124.00 to £51,834.00 Per Annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Community-based worker

Closing Date: 13th October 2026

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It's an exciting time to join us having received our 2nd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row.

This vacancy can accommodate a newly qualified social worker.

The Role

We are looking for a social worker to join the countywide Kinship Assessment Team. The team complete Viability Assessments and full Kinship Assessments for prospective kinship carers, whilst considering and implementing support alongside assessment to support children to remain within their family systems.

The Opportunity

The Kinship Assessment Team was created in 2019 and has expanded to meet the demand across the County. We are seeking an experienced, resilient, self-motivated, and creative Social Worker to join the team. In this fast-paced role you will assess and support potential SGO/Kinship foster carers who have come forward through the Public or Private Law proceedings, and want to offer long-term care for children who are connected to them. The team aims to undertake robust, analytical, and evidence-based assessments which focus on the trauma children suffered and how the proposed carer/special guardian will provide long term care for that child/ren. These assessments are prepared for the court and for fostering panel, and therefore you will need to be required at times to give evidence in court or present your assessment to our fostering panel.

From speaking to kinship carers, we know that it is essential for them to be fully prepared and informed to make the right decisions going forward. As a result, you will support the delivery of preparation training days to ensure that we give people the opportunity to learn and ask questions.

The Social Work role within the team brings the following:

• An exciting opportunity to use your assessment skills, knowledge around attachment and trauma and develop new skills.
• Hold a manageable caseload.
• Ensure ongoing development and training.
• Links with Coram BAAF and Kinship.
• Monthly supervision, peer supervision and team meetings.
• Working flexibly and manage your own diary.
• Being involved in the continuous development of the service within Essex
• Take part in training delivery.
• Supportive and helpful colleagues who are there for each other and where needed joint working is encouraged.

Our goal is to become a centre of excellence, and we are continuously developing the service. The work is fast-paced and challenging yet hugely rewarding. We are two teams but work as one service. As a county wide service, we work across all quadrants, North, West, Mid and South and beyond Essex, so it doesn't matter where you live.

We are looking for a social worker with:

• Experience and a good understanding of work within Children and Families.
• Experience of working within a Kinship or Fostering service is preferable but not essential.
• Commitment to children remaining with their extended family when possible.
• Analytical assessment writing skills and record keeping are essential.
• Undertake succinct, timely and thorough assessments in complex situations and to tight timescales.
• Experience of attending Court, fostering panel and to produce good quality reports is beneficial.
• Understanding of the impact for carers of neglect/abuse and trauma on children and to provide support through the assessment.
• Excellent communication skills are essential as you will be expected to work closely with families, other ECC services, including but not limited to Fostering, Children in Care, FS&P and Legal Services as well as alongside external agencies.
• A commitment to flexible working is essential as some assessments will be out of county and/ or with families who have huge demands on their time.
• Be part of the duty system rota.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we're committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We're committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We're also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you've secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email [e-mail]