Position Overview & Specifications
Description
Social Work AssistantManagement Grouping: Children’s Services
Team: Looked After Children & Permanence Location: Bexleyheath Salary: £25,629 - £26,913 per annum Contract: Permanent /36 per week Closing Date: 21 May 2023
Job ref: CSC0000521
We are a London Borough based in the southeast of London. With direct and easy access into central London, we also have the advantage of being on the borders of Kent with easy access to the Kent coast and the continent. As a Council, we prioritise our responsibilities for children, young people, their families and carers. We are working to strengthen families, to enable them to identify their own solutions where there are difficulties, creating strong family networks and effective safety plans as the fundamentals to the protection and care of children. Our established family engagement group, FL.A.RE (Family Learning, Advocacy & Restorative Engagement), and children in care forums Positive Journeys, Positive Journeys Seniors and Bexley’s Young Director support us with practice development and delivery. Front line practitioners have the opportunity to learn from our children, young people and families, and be part of this work. The social work assistants undertake a range of support tasks including providing practical support for children, young people and their families. This includes coordinating aspects of care packages, recognising where social work input is required and supporting clients to make informed decisions. The successful candidate will need to be resourceful and able to use practical problem solving skills and be able to encourage, support and motivate children and their families. You will need to be able to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing, and be able to listen and observe to identify problems. A relevant child care qualification and an understanding of the principles of the 1898 Children’s Act would be an advantage. Looked After Children and Permanence Service This service has 3 teams with responsibility for all looked after children, care proceedings and young people who we are helping prepare to leave our care or move into our dedicated Leaving Care Service. Wherever possible we support young people to return home to their family and securing permanence for young people is central to the work we do. Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service
What we offer:
- Opportunities for flexible working with excellent ICT facilities
- Career average revalued earnings pension scheme
- 25 days pro rata annual leave (rising to 28 pro rata after 5 years service) plus bank holiday entitlement
- MyChoice Staff Benefit Scheme – Includes cycle to work scheme, access to high street shopping vouchers and online discount codes.
- Annual Leave Purchase Scheme
Your Application:
- Closing Date for your application: 21/05/2023
- CVs will only be accepted if submitted with a completed application form.
This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment
This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.