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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.
Social Worker - Leaving Care Team
We are offering a £3000 annual market supplement for this role!
Achieving for Children has implemented a Cluster Model of service delivery. Our model focuses on providing a range of services for children and families in their local area, based on need, not professional structures. Our Clusters are supported by Central Teams, including the Leaving Care service, that deliver organisational wide functions which are too small or too specialist to be split across geographical areas.
The Leaving Care service works across Kingston and Richmond to support young people from the age of 16 who are looked after, have recently left care (up to the age of 25) or who are unaccompanied asylum seeking children, to become independent and inspire them to set ambitious goals for themselves. Goals such as, having the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to live independently, including to manage their money; having appropriate accommodation options; access to education, training and employment; live a healthy lifestyle and access health support when they need it and develop and maintain social networks that will sustain them throughout their lives.
About the role
Social Workers in the Leaving Care service support young people who are looked after (LAC) and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) from around age 16, working with the Permanence Team to transfer cases at the most appropriate point for the young person. Social Workers lead on the identification of needs and pathway planning, and provide direct support to young people to achieve their aims.
Social Workers will carry some cases beyond the young person’s 18th birthday but may increasingly hand over support for older young people to Personal Advisors, as appropriate for each case.
If you wish to have an informal discussion about the role please contact Shaira Makorie by email on: shaira.makorie@achievingforchildren.org.uk
About you
- Educated to a degree level with a relevant professional qualification in social work
- Postgraduate qualification in a relevant field i.e. social work, leadership and management
- Active HCPC registration and proven evidence of continuing professional development
- To manage an agreed caseload of young people in compliance with casework objectives, statutory and departmental policy and procedural requirements, consistently maintaining the highest level of professional standards, including undertaking statutory case holding responsibilities for children who are looked after
- Where the child is looked after, to ensure the review and supervision of care arrangements in accordance with statutory regulation and to produce written reports and other documentation for this purpose
- To review plans and use relevant Assessment Frameworks and tools in collaboration with the individual to robustly assess their needs and to develop corresponding Pathway Plans setting out clear goals and who is going to provide assistance
- Ensure the mental, physical and sexual health needs and young people are assessed and met and to assist them in accessing health services as well as local leisure facilities, social networks and other community facilities and links
- Ensuring that young people who are seeking asylum, or who have an unresolved immigration status, have good quality legal representation and to help with the resettlement process
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.
