Social Worker – 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?

Our generous retention package is up to £3,000 per annum, after a qualifying period. In addition, subject to eligibility employees will receive a car allowance of £2000 per annum. In specific circumstances a relocation package and golden hello payment worth up to £11,000 is available to qualifying applicants.

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 opportunity to work in a niche Service where you will be responding to newly arrived unaccompanied asylum-seeking children; you will support them on the start of the journey in the UK and ensure that their voice is heard.

We support our social workers to ensure they have the resources they need to make a difference where it counts; as a social worker in the service, you will have the opportunity to enhance and develop your social work knowledge and skills. There are opportunities to apply your skills to a variety of scenarios and use your social worker theories and tools to achieve the best outcomes for vulnerable children.

Kent is the ideal place to progress your career, working in the UAS children’s service will allow you to develop skills in age assessments, working with children in care, managing child protection concerns and interagency working with key partners.

As a social worker in the service, you will work across Kent, and will also have the opportunity to work nationally across the UK both with other Local Authorities under the National Transfer Scheme. In addition, you could be part of exploring family that our young persons have in the UK and consider family reunifications and whether these are viable; thus allowing you to network nationally as part of your role.

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

Our Offer includes

• Full induction
• Manageable caseloads of between 15 – 18 cases
• A minimum of 5 days of training each year
• Annual Leave allowance of 29 to 30 days (plus bank holidays and an extra day off at Christmas)
• 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

If you have queries regarding this role, please contact the Team on uascsrecruitment@kent.gov.uk

About the Company

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.