Children Services Our vision isA Southend Where All Children Achieve Success. By joining Southend City Council as a Social Worker, you will be key in making our vision a reality for all children. You will be joining a service where we demonstrate with pride that:

• All paths lead back to the child.
• We spend time getting to know each child and their story.
• We do what we say we're going to do.
• We work with the whole family.
• No matter what, we aim to make things better.

You will provide support to work to the highest standard using our model of practice, Restorative Practice, to deliver the vision. You will access a professional social work development offer that has been designed by social workers, whatever stage you are at in your career. You will be given regular restorative supervision and separate supervision focussing on development and evidencing your SWE registration. We want everyone to take the lead in an area of interest for your team, and you will explore this with your line manager.We have posts in a number of teams, so please contact our recruitment partner, Hays, to discuss the teams we are currently recruiting too.Your new roleSouthend City Council's Fostering and Kinship Service is looking to recruit Social Workers to join their committed staff in the Kinship Team. You will need to be energetic, inspirational, passionate and resilient about achieving positive outcomes for the children and young people that require a service from our team.

Their goals and vision are all about keeping families together where it is safe to do so. They work with each family's strengths to help them meet the challenges they face alongside supporting our practitioners to do the transformational work needed to reduce or prevent the need for children to be looked after by the local authority as a permanent plan. When families are referred to the team, they want them to experience a quality and timely assessment where they develop positive relationships with those family members that the team are assessing and supporting.As a Social Worker in the Kinship Team, you will be responsible for assessing Kinship carers and Special Guardians during care proceedings and offering ongoing support. You will be working collaboratively with your colleagues across the department and with partners to deliver high-quality and responsive social work. The team value each staff member in the service and want each one to be a leader and champion of exemplary practice.The team have an average of 15 cases per person.

Duty will be undertaken in the office approx 3 days a month, with an onsite team meeting every other week. The post is hybrid, but you will be expected to be on-site a minimum of 2 days a week.

If you are interested in Kinship, Fostering Support or Recruitment and you are a person who is passionate and highly motivated about developing services within a health and social care perspective, we would want to hear from you.

What you'll need to succeedTo be successful in this position you must be able to work in the UK, have a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with the Social Work England and have completed your ASYE.

You must have experience of Reg 24 and form F assessments, along with knowledge and interest in Special Guardianship and Connected Persons.Enthusiasm and tenacity to shape and develop our work with Kinship carers is essential.You will need to have two years experience of working with foster carers and have a working knowledge of fostering regulations and national minimum standards.You will need strong communication skills and be able to organise yourself and others. In addition, you will need to possess a driving licence and have use of a car.What you'll get in returnWhen joining the council, you can enjoy a range of benefits including: 25 days annual leave, flexible working, salary car sacrifice scheme and excellent training and development opportunities. They are committed to ensuring that you are supported in this varied and challenging role with the appropriate level of training.

What you need to do nowIf you are interested in this role, please click 'apply online' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV.

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