Social Worker – Kent Intake Unit (PM Team) – Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children’s Service

Role Responsibility

Are you looking for a social work job focused on young people and with opportunities for professional development?

Kent offer a competitive basic salary between £32,933 and £43,592 dependant on your experience.

Kent County Council’s Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking (UAS) Children’s Service provides accommodation and support to newly arrived unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Kent. The Service leads on social work practice with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Kent, which Ofsted recognises as Outstanding. The Service is developing as a centre of excellence for social work practice nationally and we are seeking passionate Social Workers to join us on this journey.

This is an exciting opportunity for qualified Social Workers to join the Service’s social work teams that respond to children when they first arrive at Dover. These teams complete initial assessments with children before placing them in local authority accommodation. The nature of the work requires two teams, one working 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and another 1:30 pm – 10:00 pm, Monday to Friday. This post relates to the team working 1:30 pm – 10:00 pm.

You will be part of a diverse and supportive team, committed to providing a high-quality initial assessment service, with a clear focus on protection and the wider safeguarding agenda.

You will work closely with your managers, KCC colleagues and partners to deliver and improve services for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the Service, in Kent and nationally.

You will be supported to develop skills and experience in age assessment practice so proportionate and robust decisions are made when a child's age is disputed by the Home Office or significant concerns are raised by other professionals.

You will be able to evidence resilience and flexibility in working with a diverse cohort of children and circumstances to deliver good outcomes. Above all, you’ll be focused on helping unaccompanied asylum-seeking children begin to navigate a pathway to resettlement in the UK.

We support our Social Workers to ensure they have the resources they need to make a difference where it counts. Kent is the ideal place to progress your career.

You will also receive the excellent training and all the great benefits that come with working for Kent County Council.

Our Offer

- Full induction

- Manageable caseloads of between 15 – 18 cases

- A minimum of 5 days of training each year

- Basic salary of between £32,933 and £43,592 dependant on experience

- Annual Leave allowance of 29 days rising to 30 days after five years service (plus bank holidays and an extra day off at Christmas

- Up to £2,000 car market premium

- £3,000 annual market premium

- £3,000 golden hello (welcome) payment

- An additional £2,600 - £3,000 market premium

- Relocation packages up to £8,000

- Excellent local government pension scheme

- The opportunity to develop knowledge in niche areas of social work and expand your knowledge and skills of working with children seeking asylum.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England.

Contact Details

For more information regarding this role, please contact:

The Team on uascsrecruitment@kent.gov.uk

About the Company

Work that works for you and us - let’s talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county’s working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.