Salary: £14,312 to £15,533 per annum pro rata for 18.5 hours (£28,624 to £31,067 per annum for Full time hours)
Working Pattern: Part time - 18.5 hours per week - some evening or weekend work may be required
Contract Length: Permanent
Location: Based in Bridge House, Worthing
* Do you have experience of working with children and families?
* Do you have good communication and interpersonal skills?
* Do you have sound and accurate IT skills?
If so we want to hear from you…
The REACH team which stands for 'Reconnecting a child to a family and community life' are looking for a Child and Family worker to join their team. REACH is a wraparound support service which has two tiers:
* Tier one -Supporting children to step down from residential care into a supported family placement with a tailored support package to help children to re-connect with family life and reach their potential.
* Tier two is a wraparound package provided to foster carers and children they care for to support placement stability and prevent a child needing costly residential provision or crisis moves working closely with the child's network
As a Child and Family worker, your role will involve direct work with children and young people, foster carers, residential staff and working with other professionals in the child's network. You will work across various settings across the county such as a residential home and fostering household and at times that work best for the child. Flexible working is essential for the role including some evenings and weekend work.
Direct work skills and experience of working with children and young people to build positive and trusting relationships will be key to this role. Direct work may be in form of taking children out to activities, providing play sessions, supporting children with social development and young people with confidence building and independence skills.
You will work with a small team consisting of Team Manager, Advanced Social worker, Clinical Psychologist and Child and Family Workers. Adopting trauma informed principles and a PACE approach in line with the therapeutic pathway as directed by Team Manager and REACH Team.
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including:
For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.
The Opportunity
The role will require you to undertake assessment work and interventions with children and their families who may have complex needs. In your role, you will contribute to assessment and planning processes for the children in the team's care. You will also manage a caseload with supervision.
This role will require you to carry out direct work with families in a variety of settings and you will need to interpret complex information to assist the families in your care. Accurate record keeping and the ability to produce written correspondence is essential.
About you
Just some of the key skills and experience that you will require to carry out the role successfully include:
* Good communication and interpersonal skills enabling you to present information clearly and to successfully persuade others to take a specific course of action.
* Analysis and interpretation skills to manage casework and put in to practice a range of interventions to support the children and families in your care.
* Knowledge and understanding of children and young people and age-appropriate behaviour.
* Experience of providing advice and guidance to others.
* Experience of working in a multi-agency setting and building relationships.
* Engage and empower the children and families you are supporting to gain the best outcomes.
* Prioritise and manage your workload and maintain accurate records.
* Sound and accurate IT skills to enable report writing amongst other written communications.
For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.
About us
We are committed to improving our services for the children and families we support in West Sussex. In May 2023 Ofsted Inspectors praised West Sussex County Council's Children's Services for its 'relentless approach to improving practice,' giving the service an overall rating of 'requires improvement', with 'good' judgements for children in care and leadership and management. The judgements on children needing help and protection and children leaving care are they 'require improvement to be good'.
Inspectors recognised the 'strong, determined and cohesive leadership team' who have made significant improvements since 2019 and their commitment and focus to make further improvements.
For further information about us and about working in Children's Social Care at West Sussex County Council, please visit Careers in children's social work in West Sussex .
Further information
The reference number for this role is CAFHE05463 .
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.
Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
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