Social Worker

Role Responsibility

We are recruiting for a Social Work to join the Family Finding Team within Adoption Partnership South East.

This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of this newly launched Regional Adoption Agency which provides adoption services on behalf of the London Borough of Bexley, Kent County Council and Medway Council. 

The Family Finding Team is responsible for ensuring that children are matched and placed with the most suitable adopters that can meet the child’s needs. Where appropriate, there will be an expectation that the social worker will carry out direct work, helping a child or sibling group to get ready for an adoptive move and settling in their new family.  The social worker will also be responsible for ensuring that sections of the life story book are completed.

For this role, you will need experience in assessment and understanding the needs of a child.  You will need good communication skills and a comprehensive knowledge of attachment theory and the impact of developmental trauma on children. You must also have experience of working within children's social work teams so that you understand about assessment processes, have an understanding of children’s needs, siblings assessment, contact arrangements, child permanence reports, life story work, and direct work and preparation of the child. 

As a family finding social worker, it is essential that you are able to work in partnership with children’s social work colleagues and prospective adopters to secure timely, well planned adoption placement for children. 

Your work will also involve some assessment of potential adopters; this includes assessment work, preparing reports, matching with children and supporting adopters throughout the process until the adoption order is granted. 

About you:

We are looking for someone with a degree in Social Work, CQSW, DipSW or equivalent; you will have an understanding of adoption, be willing to learn and be committed to delivering excellent outcomes for children and young people. In addition to your experience of supporting families, report writing and meeting deadlines, you must be able to work independently as well as part of a team with a positive performance culture. Above all, you will be child focused.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wide operational area including travelling around the region and beyond to transport children and their belongings and be available to do so in an emergency. 

This is a full-time post, with occasional evening work required. 

This is an exciting time in Adoption Partnership, as we are building new teams and striving to provide an excellent service to our children and families. This post will be subject to Kent County Council Terms and Conditions, but you will work across the three local authorities.  

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.

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.

Application Closing date: 21st January 2021

Interview Date: 29th January 2021 please note the interview will be conducted online via MS Teams

Contact Details

If you would like to discuss this position, please contact either Service Manager Rachel Dobson on 03000 413001 or Adoption Support Team Manager Julie Gibbs on 03000 413264.

About the Company

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.