Social Worker / Advanced Social Worker - Court and Early Permanence (Children Looked After 0-16) Grade 11-14 (£44,019 - £52,116) + £10k Welcome Payment

Social Worker / Advanced Social Worker – Children Looked After 0-16 Court and Early Permanence Team – Croydon Council

Salary: Grade 11-14 (£44,019 - £52,116)

Permanent – 36 hours per week

Welcome Payment – £10,000
Retention Payment – £1,500

Hybrid working

Job Purpose

Croydon’s Service for Children looked after are developing our focus and specialism for children who are likely to have plans of Adoption, following the conclusion of care proceedings.  We are committed to ensuring that these children can be with their growing up families, forming positive attachments, at the earliest possible opportunity. Experience and research is clear that reducing delays and achieving early placement, provides the best foundations and opportunities for these highly vulnerable children to form positive attachments with primary carers, and as a result, achieve the best possible outcomes with growing up families and throughout their childhoods. If you are an experienced Social Worker, particularly in court work, and are looking to specialise in this area of work with our youngest children then this role could be for you. Croydon are committed to providing high quality, timely practice for our children on the adoption pathway. We are seeking experienced Social Workers, skilled in all areas of family assessment work in care proceedings, and in completing Child Permanence Reports. If this sounds like you then we would like to hear from you. You will be a highly skilled communicator, in all forms, with meticulous detail and confidence in writing reports to multiple audiences, especially to children. You will be attuned to and have experience of empathic engagement with birth family members, in sharing sometimes challenging narratives. As a Children looked after Social Worker, you will work within a structure of 4 CLA Teams, aligned to 4 Team Managers. You will work closely with our Regional Adoption Agency, Adoption London South. 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.

Candidates will need to demonstrate exceptional experience, knowledge, skills and ability to work in the court arena and instruct legal colleagues. You will be able to work with a complex and diverse range of needs and risks; and making effective and timely decisions around permanency.

Candidates will need to demonstrate and ability to work positively with partner agencies and ability to develop collaborative working relationships with children and their families.

Candidates will need to have good knowledge and understanding of legislative framework, relevant research and national developments, and policies relating to children’s social work in this area of practice. As a Children looked after Social Worker, you will be line managed by a CLA Team Manger.

Essential Requirements

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.

Why Join Us           

Our team consists of experienced, dedicated practitioners
We meet regularly to make sure everyone we work with has the support and knowledge needed to make a difference and be the difference to our families, communities and colleagues
At Croydon relationships matter and we are about strong partnerships and working together to make lasting positive change
We are an established team who can help you settle in and offer their expertise
You will have the support of an extremely knowledgeable understanding manager
You will have access to a busy, buzzy, committed workforce and work environment
Opportunities to work from home and work flexibly provides you with more work-life balance
Opportunities to think together with your manager about career development
Support to help you grow, develop, learn and lead