We are seeking a motivated, creative, and relationship-focused supervising social worker to join our nurturing team of six dedicated professionals. Lika is a values-led organisation, committed to making a difference, and we’re looking for a like-minded individual to contribute to our mission of supporting foster carers and ensuring excellent outcomes for children in care. If you are inspired by meaningful work and aligned with our values, we’d love to hear from you.
Lika Family Fostering is a small, independent fostering agency based in London, recruiting foster carers for children in local authority care. We support carers in developing resilience, offering guidance on building and maintaining secure relationships with everyone significant in the child’s life. Our systemic approach enables us to provide comprehensive support to both child and carer.
Rated as an Outstanding agency in 2023, Lika’s approach empowers carers to become confident, skilled professionals who understand and meet the needs of young people with complex backgrounds. At the heart of every foster home lies a shared commitment to ensuring that each looked-after child receives the best possible care and a nurturing foster family. To achieve this, Lika Family Fostering upholds high standards through a comprehensive training and support program tailored for both foster carers and their supervising social workers. This program is grounded in systemic therapy principles, which focus on fostering meaningful relationships within families.
Start date: 01.06.25 however there is flexibility of start date for the right candidate.
Responsibilities:
* Manage a caseload of up to 12 foster carers. Foster carers are based around London.
* Conduct monthly reflective supervision with allocated foster carers, enabling them to reflect on their interventions and understand the impact they have on the child’s development and outcomes.
* Equip carers to make a positive difference in a child or young person’s life using a clear theoretical framework, such as systemic, social learning theory, therapeutic parenting principles.
* Undertake direct work with children to enhance placement stability and support the development of children in placement. This work will be coordinated with the placing authority and aligned with the support level provided by Lika.
* Identify learning and development needs of foster carers in the fostering task, in line with the organisation’s therapeutic approach.
* Participate in Annual Reviews of foster carers within required timescales, providing written evidence of competencies. Present Annual Review Reports to Lika’s fostering panel.
* Collaborate with Lika Family Fostering’s therapist and managers to ensure effective direct work with both foster carers and children in placement.
* Part of our out of hours duty rota – supporting foster carers during emergencies.
* Attend both monthly 1:1 reflective supervision with the Practice Lead as well as group supervision to assess foster family dynamics and create interventions to improve the care provided to each child or young person.
Experience & Qualifications:
* Social Work qualification (e.g., Dip SW, CQSW) plus relevant Post Qualifying training. Registered with Social Work England.
* A minimum of two years of qualified social work practice, including direct fieldwork experience in childcare planning and/or fostering.
* A qualification in systemic family therapy is desirable, with essential experience in applying these techniques and concepts professionally. Support to receive this qualification would be put in place by the agency.
* Experience in analytical and critical report writing.
* Experience in direct work and life story work with children.
* Experience working with challenging behaviours and facilitating positive change when supporting families or foster carers.
Abilities:
* Strong interpersonal and listening skills.
* Proficiency in clear and effective oral and written communication.
* Capability to process, analyse, and summarise complex or distressing information for professional reports and fostering panels.
* Skill in conducting balanced risk assessments focused on children’s safety and well-being.
* Capacity to identify key issues and solutions and convey them clearly.
* Ability to facilitate the participation of all family members in the supervision process.
* Proficiency in creating engaging, supportive, and challenging supervision sessions for foster carers to enhance their development and knowledge in trauma-informed care.
* Skill in making informed, decisive recommendations on foster carers’ support and training to provide optimal placements for vulnerable children.
* Ability to perform direct work with children to strengthen their sense of identity and self-esteem.
Compensation and Benefits:
* Pay: £35,000.00-£46,000.00 per year pending experience.
* Annual Leave: 28 days, increasing to 30 days after two years of service.
* Flexible Work Environment: Primarily home-based, with 4–6 days per month in the office for collaborative team sessions.
* Performance Incentives: Eligibility for performance-based bonuses
* Professional Development: Access to therapeutic training opportunities for ongoing growth.
* Private Health Services: Physical & emotional health support / 24-hour employee assistance helpline.
* Travel Reimbursement: Mileage reimbursement of 0.45p per mile for drivers / Oyster card provided for all work-based London travel.
If you would like to have a call for an informal chat, please send an email to jamie@likafamilyfostering.co.uk or call 07593585124.
#J-18808-Ljbffr