Social Worker/ Advanced Social Worker; Children Looked After 0-16 - Court and Early Permanence Team Grade 11 - 14 (£44,019 - £52,116) + £1,500 retention payment

Why Join Us

In Croydon, our Children's Services has an established Systemic Practice model, experienced leaders, and high support for practitioners.  Croydon people and staff are diverse, and we celebrate difference through focus on anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice. We are committed to delivering excellent social work practice and services to our children and families. 

As well as this we also offer the following:

• An established service who can help you settle in and offer their expertise.
• Experienced Social Workers at various levels across the practice system and within CLA.
• A highly diverse workforce.
• Reflective group and individual supervision, actively promoted and supported.
• A Croydon ethos being very much about working together to make positive change.
• Caseloads are very manageable, enabling Social Workers and Team Managers to know children well & ensure high standards of practice.
• The council promotes a hybrid working where the role allows, and a high quality office base where direct work is delivered from.

About You

We are looking for confident Qualified Social Workers, who are also/have:

• Social Work England registered
• Working knowledge of national policy, strategy and developments regarding children’s social care, and areas that impact on children’s social care, relevant to this role.
• Managing a small caseload of complex care proceedings and children on the adoption pathway.
• Exceptional written skills, to enable high quality court reports and assessments.
• Ability to manage competing priorities.
• Ability to engage positively and collaboratively with parents/carers, understanding the needs/risks to children and identifying appropriate routes to permanency.
• Engage effectively with multi-agency partners and being able to gather high quality information and evidence, to assist with decision making around permanency.
• Good analytical skills
• Good threshold decision making.
• Ability to work as part of a team and contribute to team and service development.

The role will involve you using a range of systemic ideas in your work, including promoting a practice philosophy which seeks to empower service users, build on individual strengths, and develop strategies which support them to understand, manage and respond to risk.

You will be required to be office-based a minimum of 3-days per week and at other times according to service needs. 

Click here to view the role profile 

Closing date:  Friday 12 April 2024 @ 11.59pm

Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding Statement

Croydon Council is an inclusive employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Subject to business needs, we will be pleased to consider applications from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements and support hybrid working, whereby staff attend the workplace for part of their working week and work from home, or elsewhere, remotely for the rest of the time. As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the advertised role.

Croydon council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. The Successful candidate will be subject to a DBS check