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Job Information
Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us click here.
Please review our Candidate Application Guide before submitting your application, it’s packed with helpful tips to guide you through our application and interview process, while showing you what we are looking for.
Senior Social Worker - Children in Care
The Children in Care and Care Leaving Service provides assessment, support and care planning for children and young people aged 0–18 who are looked after by the Local Authority, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The service is committed to ensuring vulnerable children and young people receive high-quality care, appropriate placements and the support they need to safeguard their safety and wellbeing. The service also supports young people aged 16–25, including care leavers and unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people, helping them develop the skills, confidence and independence needed to lead fulfilling lives.
Please note: This is a 6-month fixed-term opportunity, working 30 hours per week. The advertised salary is the full-time equivalent and will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.
About the role
The Senior Practitioner - CIC is to pursue the best possible outcomes for children and young people through good value arrangements, secure stability and permanence for vulnerable children and young people and to safeguard and promote the welfare of our vulnerable young people. They will manage an agreed caseload of children and young people in compliance with casework objectives, statutory and departmental policy and procedural requirements, consistently maintaining the highest level of professional standards, including the most complex cases.
If you wish to have an informal discussion about this role please contact Laura Roche at laura.roche@achievingforchildren.org.uk
About you
As a Senior Practitioner in the Children in Care Team for Achieving for Children (AfC), you will be responsible for:
- Progress long term care planning including pathway planning and helping young people for their transition to adulthood.
- Working with families, foster carer, residential settings and semi independent settings to support them to meet their children’s needs
- Court work under the Children Act 1989 & 2004
- Contributing to the ongoing development and improvement of the team
- Supporting other members of the team/ service and taking on some supervisory duties e.g. ASYE’s
- Have a high level of determination, organisations skills, personal drive, energy and ambition to achieve challenging targets and improve outcomes.
About our benefits
We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:
- 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month (Or for term-time workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract)
- Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
- Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
- Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
- A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
- A range of staff benefits and discounts
- An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway
To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children click here. For our social work offer click here. For our Recruitment Journey, click here.
Important Information
Start dates: Achieving for Children have set start dates meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.
Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.
Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.
Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
