Social Worker - Children with Disability

We have an exciting opportunity for two Social Worker positions in our Children with Disability Service in Leicestershire

About Us

At Leicestershire County Council, we are committed to doing our very best for vulnerable children and families; working to make a positive impact on their lives so they can achieve their potential and flourish.

We are proud of our Achieving Excellence Plan, which sets out our key values, behaviours and ambitions. We have embedded the Signs of Safety approach throughout our services, and this approach mirrors our values of Aspiration, Being Curious and Collaboration. We are focused on working with families and the networks of family, friends and professionals around children to work in collaboration to achieve shared goals. We are proud to have developed an Empowered Futures Agenda to promote choice, inclusion and independence in planning for young adulthood.

As Children and Family Service, we are committed to our vision of becoming a trauma-informed, responsive department. We believe that we are “stronger together” Our culture is one of partnership, where we look for solutions and recognise the potential impact of trauma on the children and families we work with and on our staff. We will strive to create a safe, compassionate, healing environment demonstrated through relationships based on trust, respect, hope and empathy. We will achieve this through a spirit of curiosity, by purposeful practice, making a deliberate effort to know and understand people and by providing hope for growth and recovery.

We are committed to supporting our staff to be the best workers that they can be. We will give you the support and resources that you need to work in collaboration with children and families.

We are focused on being an inclusive department where a culture to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion is embedded and discrimination is challenged at every level together as a department and as Council. We warmly welcome applicants from black, minority, ethnic (BME) communities, disabled people and lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) communities, as they are currently under-represented within our workforce. This diversity is vital to our journey and is fundamental to our values, and enriches the service we offer our Children and Families.

We want all our staff to be inspired to go the extra mile. We are doing our best to create the sort of culture where practice excellence can flourish. We want to learn from what works, as much, if not more, than from when things go badly – we are ambitious to create a true ‘learning organisation. So…

• Every year, we run three annual conferences for staff to come together and reflect and learn.
• Every month, each team sets aside time for team learning.
• You will receive consistent, regular and reflective supervision
• You will receive group supervision support
• Twice a year, our senior leaders take a week ou,t spending time with social workers, observing practice and talking to young people and parents, and carers about their experience of services
• All Social Work England registered workers have three extra Continuous Professional Development days over the year.
• Our training offer to social workers is refreshed each year and is highly valued by our staff
• We provide courses and training to support workforce career progression, including Practice Educator Awards, Aspiring Managers Program, and Social Work Apprenticeship Program.
• We have a team dedicated to supporting practice excellence. They work alongside practitioners and offer monthly training and learning, coaching and mentoring to build practitioner confidence, 1:1 or group reflective case discussions, and other support to staff and teams that can be requested.
• Our Practice Development Group is well established for practitioners to collaborate on practice development.
• We have a Critical Incident Response service for staff, which provides independent therapeutic support within 48 hours if you experience a significant traumatic event at work.
• We have a well-respected Wellbeing Service that provides specific support to staff when needed and also offers events throughout the year.

In all service areas, you are expected to work closely with colleagues across team and agency boundaries to ensure that families get the most appropriate level of support. Staff workloads are managed and monitored closely. Managers and staff all have regular monthly supervision, and you will be supported in your practice by an experienced senior management team.

For more about working in Leicestershire, go to:

https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/sites/default/files/field/pdf/2017/11/9/working-at-leicestershire-county-council.pdf

For further information about our service areas:

https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/education-and-children/social-care-and-supporting-families

A DBS enhanced check for a regulated activity is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.

About You

To apply for this post, you must:

• Have a Social Work degree or equivalent, e.g. CQSW, DipSW (with specialism in children’s services).be registered with Social Work England and have evidence of continuing professional development
• Hold a valid driving licence and access to a vehicle.
• Have experience of working in statutory child protection services and completion of Care Proceedings.
• Have an in-depth understanding of the interventions required to build safety and protect children from harm.
• Be able to evidence your skills and knowledge of creative, innovative and relationship-based social work, working in collaboration with families and professionals. Ideally, you will already be confident in the application of the Signs of Safety methodology.
• Have knowledge and experience of working with Children with Disability and/or complex health needs.
• Demonstrate enthusiasm and passion for practice and be committed to helping us build a real culture of reflection and learning. Have retained a strong interest in research and the evidence base for practice, and are confident about how this can be used in practice

You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence them when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Helen Middleton, Service Manager

Telephone: 0116 3059230

Email: [email protected]