Children’s Social Workers - Long Term Looked After Children Team , Children’s Social Care – Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Children and Young People’s Services
Salary details: £39,571 & excellent benefits (pay award pending)
Permanent, 37 hours per week.
Now is the time to come and work for Rotherham Council Children and Young People’s Service. For more information about Rotherham Social Care jobs, please visit: https://www.rotherham.gov.uk/childrens-social-work-jobs
Do you want to develop your skills specifically in working with Looked After Children?
An exciting opportunity has arisen for recruitment of Social Workers to the Looked After Children’s Service within one of the three long term Looked After Teams.
The Looked After Children’s Teams have a focus on:
Children and Young People who are subject to Care Orders and their permanency planning.
Supporting Young People with their transition and journey to leaving care.
Developing, implementing, and reviewing complex care packages to ensure that a Looked After Child’s needs are met.
Direct and life story work with children and young people.
Rehabilitation of children and young people to family where safe to do so.
Exit from care through other forms of permanence including Rotherham’s Right Child Right Care Strategy
You should:
Be Social Work Qualified at level 2 Social Worker or above.
Have a passion and drive for improving quality to achieve positive outcomes for our Looked After Children.
Want to develop your skills in care planning and reviewing arrangements for Looked After Children.
Want to develop your skills in building rapport to develop relationships with Looked After Children and young people.
Want to work collaboratively with foster carers, residential homes and a wide range of other professionals including schools, health and specialist services such as contextualized safeguarding services.
Want to develop your skills in supporting children with their therapeutic needs including a focus on Life Story Work.
Be passionate about working restoratively with children young people and their families.
Be keen to work alongside a strong service and supportive management group who will work with you to help you develop.
All the teams are part of a wider service area including Leaving Care, Fostering and Adoption, the Virtual School and a dedicated Therapeutic Service. There are strong links to the Corporate Parenting Panel and Child in Care Council.
Rotherham is striving to become a child-friendly borough – as such we are caring and committed corporate parents to all looked after children in our care. The Looked after Children’s (LAC) Service has an ambitious programme of improvement and we are determined to provide good quality, stable care arrangements that will help them achieve their full potential and a better outcome in life.
We know how important it is to provide a dedicated social work service for looked after children throughout their journey in our care and when they are preparing to leave our care to become independent young adults. We are passionate about championing the needs of looked after children and young people and are determined to ensure that their voices are always heard and considered.
We will deliver on this promise to looked after children and young people – will you?
Key benefits of working at Rotherham Council’s Children and Young People’s service are:
You will be joining an authority Ofsted rated as Good
Manageable caseloads.
Strong management support and oversight with approachable and supportive senior managers
Regular reflective supervision
Excellent professional learning & development opportunities – guaranteed 15 days per year, underpinned by the Rotherham Family Approach which incorporates ‘Signs of Safety’, ‘Restorative Approaches’, and ‘Social Pedagogy’ as our methodological approach and framework
Bespoke Learning Academy to support practitioners
Excellent social work case management and reporting systems making your job easier
An accredited social work career pathway to Level 2, 3 and Advanced Practitioner positions and a proven record of ‘growing our own’ at all levels.
A positive learning environment to enhance your social work career.
Opportunity to talk to current staff via a virtual drop in to gain a greater insight
Able to offer fixed term contracts to cover maternity leave should that suit your personal circumstances
ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY
With strong leadership in place and a heartfelt pledge to provide a best practice centre of excellence, we are committed to cultivating a positive, performance-led culture underpinned by plenty of support at all levels. By increasing the number of our teams and upgrading our systems we have reduced caseloads and paperwork, giving our staff more time to dedicate to building relationships that matter. We are confident that you will be joining an organisation that is rewarding in every sense. And most importantly, that will serve our community to the highest possible standards.
Our social worker positions are career graded so there is a clear pathway as you progress through the bands. As you move up you will meet increasing levels of responsibility, complexity of work and a higher emotional demand. We will offer support every step of the way, and our Practitioner Board provides a formal platform to share views and concerns with the service as a whole.
We have invested in training programmes and set out a clear career development pathway. From continuing your professional development with ongoing, practical training, to reaching senior management levels, at Rotherham there is a definite ladder to be climbed for those with talent and ambition. In return we are looking for a real commitment to making a difference to the children and families in need of our care.
ABOUT YOU
Be Social Work Qualified and have successfully completed your ASYE year.
Have a passion and drive for improving quality to achieve positive outcomes for our looked after children.
Want to learn more about Court processes and suitable orders.
Want to develop your assessment skills for Court through completing parenting, viability, and sibling assessments to inform care planning.
Want to develop your skills in care planning and reviewing arrangements for looked after children.
Want to develop your skills in building rapport to develop relationships with looked after children and young people.
Want to develop your skills in writing quality child permanency reports (CPR’s) which strongly tell the child’s story.
Want to develop your skills in family finding and placing children for adoption, working closely with the adoption team and the Rotherham Therapeutic Team.
You will deliver high quality social work practice, adhering to statutory guidance, local policy and procedures and the law.
You will have experience of providing children’s services in a statutory social work setting.
You will have experience of assessing the safety and wellbeing of looked after children.
You will strive to achieve timely permanency planning for looked after children.
You will have the ability to build a rapport and develop a relationship with looked after children and young people.
You will be able to work in partnership with parents and carers.
You will be able to work together with multi-agency partners, particularly in relation to education and health services.
You will be passionate about maximising a child’s life chances.
You will care.
ABOUT YORKSHIRE
Rotherham and the wider South Yorkshire region is a great place to live and a stone’s throw from some of the UK’s finest towns and cities and is home to some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. Easy to reach from Sheffield or Leeds, there are plenty of places to see, things to do and property is excellent value for money - all within a 2-hour train journey from London.
If you have any questions regarding these opportunities, please email them to childrenssocialcarejobs@rotherham.gov.uk
Or contact our Service Manager: Mick McCarthy on mick.mccarthy@rotherham.gov.uk
These posts involve working with children and therefore if successful you will be required to apply for a disclosure of criminal records check at an enhanced level. Further information about the Disclosure Scheme can be found at www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
From 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2024 employees paid at Band D and above are subject to a temporary pay reduction of 1.15% spread out by means of a weekly / monthly deduction (dependent on pay frequency) from each pay period over the full financial year. In recognition of implementing this temporary measure, those who experience a pay reduction will be awarded of three additional day’s leave (pro rata for part-time).
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination.
The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. For further information, please visit our website.