Social Worker – Kinship Care

About the job

Key information

• Hybrid working opportunities
• 30 days annual leave
• A range of training and professional development opportunities with supportive management.

What will I be doing?

We have an opportunity to join and support the development of a dedicated county wide Kinship Care Post Support Team. Family and friends care is a complex and unique area of work which requires knowledge, skills, understanding and commitment in relation to both the assessment of carers and delivery of support services. By bringing together the assessments and support functions into one team our aim is to:

• Improve the quality and consistency of carer assessments.
• Tailor the support to meet their specific needs.
• Improve the assessment of support needs and develop & deliver a range of excellent services to meet the needs of this group of children and their carers, which may include recommendations for ASGSF funding, therefore some knowledge around this would be helpful but not essential.
• Improve placement stability and outcomes for this group of children and their families.

You will be required to work flexibly across the service undertaking assessments, assessments of support needs and deliver support to children and their carers.

The Kinship Care Team will be the responsibility of the Operations Manager Permanence and part of the Child Placements & Resources structure. You would be joining a stable and supportive resources service who are very committed to improving outcomes for children and the continued improvement journey of Somerset County Council Children’s Services.

What kind of experience or qualifications do I need?

You’ll be educated to degree level in a recognised social care qualification and registered as a social worker with Social Work England.

Alongside that, you’ll:

• Have excellent assessment skills and the ability to engage with children and their families effectively
• Be able to work to prescribed timescales
• Take a curious position to ensure you complete holistic and child-centred assessments
• Understand and undertake assessment of carers and children’s support need and commission appropriate support services and where appropriate deliver direct support to children and their carers
• It would be beneficial to hold an understanding of how developmental trauma affects children, what attuned care they require from the adults asking to be assessed and what support could be offered to support the care of the children.

What is in it for me?

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• A Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Discounted lease car via salary sacrifice scheme and options for discounts on petrol or diesel.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and so forth.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screening.
• Generous annual leave and flexible working arrangements.
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance and support offering a variety of employee wellbeing services to support a healthy work/life balance and lifestyle.
• Optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.

DBS check

This post requires a criminal background check via the Disclosure procedure.

Supporting documents and information

For an informal discussion about this post please email Emma Martin via email Emma.Martin@somerset.gov.uk

Your closest local office, based on your home address, will be your main base. We’re also happy to support hybrid working arrangements, giving you the flexibility to work in the way that suits you best.
We anticipate offering and conducting interviews ahead of the closing date for suitable candidates.

We hold a focus on wellbeing and safety of the child and work hard to ensure that every effort is made for children to live with family members or connected people when they are unable to live with parents. There are clear benefits to children when they are kept within their family network – they benefit from increased home stability and usually maintain family relationships.

£37,280 to £41,771 per annum

Apply on the Somerset Council website

Apply now