Social Worker - Kinship Assessor

Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership; Stafford; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a dynamic team at Staffordshire County Council as a social worker in kinship assessment. You will play a vital role in supporting families and children to remain in their communities. With a strong emphasis on best practices, the role offers professional development and the opportunity to work within a supportive team framework. We're committed to safeguarding children's welfare and expect the same dedication from our staff.

Qualifications

• Registered with Social Work England required.
• Ability to manage a busy workload and deadlines.
• Understanding of Fostering and Special Guardianship Regulations.

Responsibilities

• Conduct viability assessments and reports for connected persons.
• Support and supervise temporarily approved foster carers.
• Develop Special Guardianship Order support plans.

Skills

Organisational skills

Communication skills

Report writing

Education

Professional social work qualification

Job description

A fantastic opportunity has arisen to work within one of our Kinship Assessment Teams.

It is our commitment as a team to reduce the number of looked after children in our care by not only alleviating any barriers that may prevent a child from being able to remain in their family & friends’ network but also for a carer in progressing to a permanency route which best suits their family life, but most importantly is in a child’s best interest.

The teams are both stable and have the benefit of experienced staff who are both approachable and supportive. Weare a county wide so you will be undertaking visits to connected carers in a range of areas as suchhome working is promoted.

Main Responsibility

In this role, you will

• undertake Viability Assessments, Full Connected Persons Assessments and Special Guardianship Reports
• have the opportunity to supervise and support carers who have been temporarily approved as Foster Carers
• prepare your applicants for Foster Panel and support them on the day with their attendance
• provide duty cover on a rota basis
• you will have the opportunity to strengthen your knowledge of the different legal orders and be encouraged to show creativity when developing Special Guardianship Order support plans making full use of the training and events our service offers

As part of this dynamic service, you will be involved in smarter working practices in order to continuously strive for best practice, offering positive experiences for applicants whilst providing high quality reports.

The Ideal Candidate

It goes without saying, you will need a professional social work qualification (with SocialWork England registration

You’ll also be:

• able towork independently and as part of a team
• be highly organised and able to manage a busy workload in order to meet deadlines
• able to demonstrate an understanding of Fostering and Special Guardianship Regulations
• have good report writing and communication skills
• have experience in a wide range of aspects of the social work role

Interviews will take place on 1 July 2025

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a GoldAward Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as yourapplication meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.

• Frequency Annual
• Job Reference staffscc/TP/16/3303
• Contract Type Permanent Full time
• Closing Date 22 June, 2025
• Job Category Children's Services
• Business Unit Children's Services