Jobs, fresher vacancy - Family Solutions Social Work Assistant • UK

Company: London Borough of Bexley

UK

General information Reference 001550 Publication start date 02/01/2025 Application Closing Date 31/01/2025 Title Family Solutions Social Work Assistant Service Area/School Childrens Services (excl Schools) - Children's Social Care & Safeguarding About Us Bexley is an outer London Borough with the best of both worlds, located between the hustle and bustle of London and the Garden of England, Kent. Within the borough we have award winning parks, open spaces and listed heritage sites. Bexley is an Outstanding Local Authority driven to meet the needs of children, promote their well-being to achieve their potential and ensure that children are safeguarded. Bexley’s Fostering Service is determined to provide an outstanding service to all children in foster care and a standard of care that meets and exceeds their needs. Bexley recognises the key importance of foster care for transforming the lives of children in foster care. Foster carer’s are extremely important to provide this valuable contribution and, therefore should be provided with excellent preparation, support and training to carry out their role to their best. Bexley is committed to listening to children’s and young people’s views and wishes, assessing their needs and working together to plan to meet them. The Fostering Service works in partnership with others with the objective of delivering the best possible care and support to the children and young people we care for About the Role Bexley has an outstanding foster care service dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable children and families. Our Family Solutions Team is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for children in need, and we are seeking a passionate and dedicated Social Work Assistant to join our team.As a Social Work Assistant in our Family Solutions Team, you will play a crucial role in supporting professionals responsible for the welfare of children in foster care. Your responsibilities will include: - Collaborating with social workers to assess the needs of children and families.- Assisting in the development and implementation of plans.- Monitoring the well-being and progress of children in foster care.- Providing emotional support and guidance to children and their foster families.- Maintaining accurate records and documentation.- Coordinating and participating in team meetings and case reviews.- Arranging and delivering appropriate training to foster carers- Participation in fostering events- Supporting the service with administrative tasks Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information. This is a permanent post in the fostering service, hours are 9 to 5pm Monday to Friday (36 hours) with some occasional working outside these hours for which toil will be given. For an informal discussion about the role please contact Karen Fitzgibbon@bexley.gov.uk, Fostering Team Manager or Fontaine.Gardner@bexley.gov.uk Assistant Team Manager, Fostering Team We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached. We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date. Candidate Profile To be successful in this role, you should possess:- Strong communication and interpersonal skills.- Compassion, empathy, and a genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of children.- Ability to work collaboratively in a team.- Previous experience in a similar role is preferred. For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached. Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. 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 sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages. How To Apply Use the ‘Apply for vacancy’ button. Please note that the system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised and have your CV and/or Supporting statement ready to upload. If any mandatory fields are missing, a pop-up box will appear at the top of the page advising which sections require completion. Please check your Junk email for any correspondence. Additional InformationAs a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on recruitment@bexley.gov.uk This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees. The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here. If this option is of interest, please contact the recruiting manager. Grade BEXLEY06 Contract Type PermanentEmployment Details Contract Hours 36.00 Salary £29,346 - £30,630 pa Location South East, London, Bexley Civic Offices