Location: North Cambridgeshire (Wisbech Based)
Type: Permanent
Cambridgeshire County Council is currently seeking a Social Worker to join our Children in Care Team.
Overall Purpose of the Job:
Under the general direction of a Team Manager, provide a high-quality and effective social work service to respond to the needs of vulnerable children and their families in a timely manner and within statutory guidelines. Work in partnership with families using the Family Safeguarding model, taking a strengths-based approach to assess need, plan, and deliver focused interventions to safeguard children and promote positive outcomes. Build meaningful working relationships with children and young people to ensure their voices are heard and their lived experiences understood. Collaborate with multi-agency colleagues and partners to ensure holistic engagement with children and their families.
Main Accountabilities:
* Response to Need
o Provide professional leadership, specialist social work practice skills, and knowledge to make independent decisions and support situations where the risk of significant harm, ambiguity, or complexity is greatest.
o Through assessment, identify and respond to needs, build on strengths, ensuring robust analysis that leads to clear outcomes met through appropriate SMART plans.
o Demonstrate good analytical, interviewing, and observational skills to ensure the voice of the child informs all assessments, decision-making, and interventions.
o Engage with children, young people, and their families using our practice methods to develop effective and empowering working relationships, facilitating change and improving outcomes.
o Ensure adherence to legislation and statutory guidance, challenging decisions where appropriate.
o Act as the lead professional, ensuring all safeguarding matters are dealt with promptly, effectively, and in line with child protection procedures, escalating as necessary.
o Provide coherent, analytical, and evidence-based reports and plans for various forums, including court, that are child-focused and reflect the child’s lived experience.
o Work in partnership with children, young people, and their families to ensure that all interventions are proportionate and timely, protecting them from harm and promoting their human rights.
* Partnership Working
o Represent Cambridgeshire County Council at a community level, working jointly with key partner agencies to develop effective multi-agency plans that promote independence and formulate appropriate solutions together with children and families.
o Contribute to the development of integrated services and policy, promoting new ways of developing service user care in line with national initiatives and practice standards.
o Share information about children with other agencies as appropriate to safeguard them and promote their welfare.
* Professional Development
o Maintain and update knowledge regarding social policy and social work practice, ensuring full awareness of organisational policy and procedures, relevant legislation, and statutory guidance.
o Maintain professional registration with Social Work England, engaging in a range of training and development opportunities, and taking responsibility for own Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in line with registration requirements.
o Share knowledge and expertise with peers to support the development of a confident and skilled workforce.
* Professional Values, Behaviours, and Standards
o Carry out duties in a timely and responsive manner, in line with Social Work England Professional Standards, the Professional Capability Framework, and Cambridgeshire County Council’s values.
o Keep and maintain accurate service user records, in line with professional requirements and departmental recording methods.
o Promote and develop service user empowerment, recognise and celebrate diversity, and demonstrate commitment to anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice in all professional activities.
o Act as an ambassador for the social work profession both internally and externally.
Person Specification:
Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, and Experience
* Qualifications Required
o Recognised professional Social Work qualification (Degree/Masters/Post Graduate Diploma/Social Work fast track qualifying programme) – Essential
o Current Social Work England registration – Essential
o Car driver with full UK licence. Ability to work from various locations and travel countywide – Essential
* Knowledge Required
o Proven knowledge and understanding of child development, parenting capacity, environmental factors, and risk and protective factors – Essential
o Knowledge of relevant safeguarding legislation, statutory guidance, and procedures – Essential
o Knowledge of key children’s agencies – Essential
o Awareness of issues relating to racism, discrimination, and equality of opportunity – Essential
* Skills Required
o Ability to maintain high-quality records, writing clear, concise, child-centred reports and plans – Essential
o Ability to create rapport and build relationships with children/young people and their families using a person-centred, strengths-based approach – Essential
o Ability to prioritise tasks, manage own caseload, and work to tight deadlines and targets – Essential
o Excellent communication and negotiation skills, including the ability to deal with complex issues sensitively and appropriately – Essential
o Commitment to and understanding of anti-racist, anti-discriminatory social work practice – Essential
o Ability to thrive in a complex, fast-paced, and demanding environment – Essential
o Ability to work as part of a team, using own initiative and sharing expertise and experience with others – Essential
o Excellent IT skills and ability to use various IT devices, systems, and databases – Essential
* Experience Required
o Experience of identifying and assessing need, formulating and implementing effective social work interventions in partnership with children and families – Essential
o Experience of recording, summarising, analysing, and evaluating complex information – Essential
o Experience of social work with children and families, building effective helping relationships, and overcoming challenges in doing so – Essential
o Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team or alongside multi-agency colleagues – Essential
If you believe you have the skills and experience we are looking for, we would love to hear from you.
We look forward to receiving your application.
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