Social Worker - Children in Care & Care Leavers Service
About us
We are within easy commutable distance of Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside regions. In addition, we offer flexible working – including a blend of working from home/remotely.
We have a strong vision for social work practice in Warrington and are developing a new approach to social work. We are currently embedding a relationship-based practice model that has systemic practice at its core. We are working alongside the Centre for Systemic Social Work, who are providing a comprehensive training programme to social workers and managers across our teams.
The role
We are recruiting for qualified social workers to join our Children in Care & Care Leavers Service. Both experienced practitioners and newly qualified social workers are welcome to apply, as we have a very strong ASYE Programme in place.
We have three Children in Care teams and a Care Experienced Team for our Care Leavers. Each team has a Team Manager who is eager to support and develop all social workers alongside the Senior Practitioner. Our teams support children and young people who are subject to care orders and for whom we share PR, who live within foster placements, residential care, and also with members of their extended family. We recognize that the role can be challenging, and we have a range of exciting and impactful developments in Warrington that our social workers can utilize in supporting families, including:
* No Wrong Door – a multi-agency hub where young people at risk of going into care get targeted support to cope with the multiple issues they face; this includes our own Internal Accommodation ‘The Lighthouse’ from aged 8 years, for Outreach and from aged 12 years for Emergency accommodation whilst we work with families for children at risk of entering care and Supported Accommodation placements with wrap-around Outreach support for 16-18 year olds.
* Families first (which includes Family Group Conference Co-ordinators, PAMS assessors, and family support workers).
* Systemic Hub – consisting of Systemic Family Practitioners who are assigned to each team to provide therapeutic support and intervention and provide guidance to our social workers regarding systemic approaches to direct work and interventions.
* A family time service (to assist in arranging and supervising the time that our children in care spend with their families).
* Restore - a service designed to work with mothers who are pregnant and have children previously removed, with the aim of reducing repeat removals.
* Administrative team – the team is able to assist with taking minutes of meetings, scanning documents onto the system, and other administrative tasks.
What's needed?
You must be a suitably qualified Social Worker. We are interested in both experienced practitioners and newly qualified social workers, as we have a very strong ASYE Programme in place.
In Warrington, we want all children and families to benefit from high-quality and purposeful relationships with professionals. We believe this will help create the best opportunities for people to change and reach their full potential. We also believe one of the most effective ways to improve the outcomes for children and families is by providing our social workers with the best conditions in which they can thrive.
Here in Warrington, we are proud to be graded Good overall and Outstanding in two areas – Children in Care and Leadership in our 2024 Ofsted inspection. Which says:
The decisions for children to enter care are made in a timely manner and when it is in their interests to do so. When necessary, care proceedings are initiated, and work is progressed without delay. Feedback from the local judiciary and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is exceptionally positive. Social workers in Warrington produce high-quality evidence and assessments for court, which support the timely progression of legal proceedings. This results in swift and highly effective plans being secured for children’s future care.
Children benefit from early planning for permanence. When it is not possible for children to live with their birth parents, social workers work diligently to explore all alternative options, including foster-to-adopt and special guardianship orders. There is a strong emphasis on keeping children within their kinship network. Family group conferences are used to great effect to identify potential carers for children, enabling assessments to start sooner. When children live with kinship carers, their assessments are comprehensive and support children to remain within the family, maintaining their identity and a sense of belonging. Children are visited regularly to ensure that their needs are being met. For a small number of children, the senior management endorsement of these arrangements is not consistently timely, leading to delays in assuring the appropriateness of these placements.
Detailed assessments support decisions to enable children in care to return home under placement with parent regulations. Assessments include the views of independent reviewing officers (IROs) and other professionals where appropriate.
Many children in care in Warrington live in stable foster placements where they are thriving, and where they have a sense of belonging and permanence. When the plan for children is long-term foster care, matching takes place through permanence meetings, without delay.
Children in care are supported and visited regularly by social workers who know them well. Workers are persistent in their efforts to build and sustain relationships with children who have previously displayed high levels of resistance towards professionals. Social workers undertake purposeful, sensitive direct and life-story work with children on a range of topics, including relationships, safety, health, and understanding emotions. This helps children to comprehend, at their own pace, their life experiences and plans for their futures.
What else we can offer you:
* Great training and progression opportunities.
* We value good supervision and Time to Talk.
* We recognize that everyone is on their own individual journey and will tailor support to help you to achieve.
* We thrive off good multiagency working and relationships and have excellent support services available to assist with supporting families.
Our people make Warrington work! Because our people do such a great job, we’ve put together an attractive and competitive benefits package.
We’ve recently moved…
We have now moved to our new building in Time Square. This is a great workspace with hubs and pods which will provide a great environment to work, furthermore, with cafes and restaurants on the doorstep. In addition, as a result of the pandemic, we have reviewed our working practices and now offer significant opportunities to work from home.
We have high aspirations for our children and welcome those who share our ambition!
So, if you want to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people with relationship-based practice at the heart of everything we do and develop great relationships, then come and join us in Warrington where we are passionate about our work with children and families.
As well as a competitive salary, working for us means you get:
* 26 days annual holiday - raising to 31 after 5 years of service (pro-rata).
* Access to our attractive and competitive benefits package.
* Access to our Health & Wellbeing Programme.
Key Dates & Further Information
Warrington Borough Council is a Disability Confident employer.
For enquiries or an informal discussion - please contact Mags Houghton Team Manager Tel: 01925 443322 Mobile: 07866004201.
The ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.
DBS clearance is required.
Warrington Borough Council is a Disability Confident employer.
Warrington Borough Council Offices, 1 Time Square, Warrington, WA1 2NT.
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