Social Worker - Children in Care - Harlow

SOCIAL WORK IN ESSEX

Essex is the second largest County in England, with 1.4 million residents and a number of large towns, including the City of Chelmsford, Colchester, Basildon and Southend. To cater for the vast size of the County population, our services operate in four quadrants: North, South, Mid and West. This means that there are specific teams for each area, each offering a full service within their quadrant even within such a model each quadrant is comparable to a large London or unitary local authority.

CHILDREN IN CARE

Our teams provide social work services to children aged 15 and under who are looked after by Essex Children's Social Care. The service includes regular social worker visits, assessments of needs, placement reviews in line with government guidance, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, health and education support.

THE ROLE

To manage a caseload of service users requiring assessment of their needs, carry out Initial and core assessments and investigations and co-ordinating support packages as necessary.

JOB PURPOSE

Under the general supervision of a senior practitioner or team manager, to deliver an effective social work service to children and families, which is informed by current research, legislation and policy.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

- DipSW, CQSW, CSS or equivalent.
- HCPC Registration as a Registered Social Worker
- Skills in Word, Outlook and computerised records data
- Experience in a Child Care setting.
- Recent experience of communicating with children of all ages and working in partnership with parents and/or carers.
- Experience in planning activities and programmes for children, young people and parents.
- Knowledge of Court work in relation to Child Care matters and have an understanding of the legal process
- Knowledge of current legislation pertinent to Child Protection (eg CA1989, CA
- 2004, Guidance and Regulations, Every Child Matters.
- Knowledge and understanding of child development theories.
- Experience in Child protection work, especially Section 47 investigations and assessments.
- Knowledge of therapeutic methods of working with dysfunctional families and/or families in crisis.

SAFEGUARDING

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

As part of employment with Essex County Council should you role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS Update Service.

The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained.

Working for Essex welcome applications from all suitably qualified people regardless of gender, race, disability, age or sexual orientation.

Working for Essex is a trading name of Capita Resourcing Ltd. Services offered are those of an Employment Agency and Employment Business. Applicants will be required to register with us.