Social Worker

37 hours per week (part-time applicants welcomed to be considered)

Work Location: County Hall, Isle of Wight, with regular travel (approximately twice weekly) to Adopt South's Head Office in Swanwick for supervision, duty cover, team meetings, and other Regional Adoption Agency activities.

Adopt South is a partnership Regional Adoption Agency, bringing together Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton to provide adoption services across the region. We are passionate about helping adopted children, young people and families thrive through innovative, relationship-based and trauma-informed practice.

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Social Worker to join Adopt South's Adoption Support Team, in a role based on the Isle of Wight.

This is an opportunity to use your relationship-based practice skills to make a real difference for adopted children and their families. Working alongside families as they navigate family life, education, identity and the lifelong impact of adoption, you will help children feel understood, strengthen family relationships, and ensure families can access the right support at the right time.

Based on the Isle of Wight, you will work primarily with local adoptive families while being part of a specialist regional service across Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton. Alongside experienced colleagues from a range of professional backgrounds, you will continue to develop your expertise in adoption, trauma-informed practice, attachment and therapeutic approaches.

About Adopt South’s Adoption Support Team

Our Adoption Support Team provides a wide range of services to adopted children and their families, including Adoption Support Needs Assessments, therapeutic parenting support, consultation sessions, support groups, workshops, advice and guidance, and the development and commissioning of tailored support packages.

We take a therapeutic and strengths-based approach, recognising the unique experiences of every adopted child and family. When families seek support, our social workers work alongside them to understand their experiences, build on existing strengths, and identify practical and therapeutic support that promotes stability, resilience and positive family relationships. Our focus is on helping families navigate the lifelong impact of adoption while ensuring children feel understood, supported and able to thrive.

When families contact us for help or support, our social workers take a compassionate and strengths-based approach, working in partnership with families to understand what is happening in their lives and help them access the support and resources that will make a positive difference.

To ensure our services are accessible to families, the role includes contributing to workshops, support groups and events, some of which take place during evenings and weekends. These responsibilities are shared across the team.

About You

You will be an experienced Social Worker with strong assessment and relationship-based practice skills and a commitment to achieving positive outcomes for children and families.

You will be a confident communicator who can build effective relationships with children, parents and professionals, work collaboratively across agencies, and bring both professional curiosity and empathy to your practice.

Whether you already have adoption experience or are looking to develop specialist knowledge in this area, you will be committed to ongoing learning and development and passionate about supporting adopted children and their families to thrive.

Key Role Responsibilities

• Provide advice and support to parents via our Adopt South Advice and Support Line team
• Develop and deliver Adopt South support services through individual, family and group work.
• Undertaking Adoption Support Needs Assessments within agreed timescales and developing, delivering and reviewing Adoption Support Plans to meet the needs of adopted children and their families.
• Refer to other relevant agencies where appropriate, to ensure all risks and needs are considered.
• Identify and appropriately escalate safeguarding concerns, working alongside Children's Services and partner agencies to ensure children and families receive the right level of support and protection.
• Managing a diverse caseload of adopted children and families, building effective relationships and delivering high-quality adoption support in line with organisational policies, procedures and statutory guidance

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experiences:

• A degree or equivalent qualification in Social Work, with a minimum of 3 years post qualifying experience
• Registration with Social Work England
• Experience of supporting children and families where there are issues relating to trauma, attachment, identity, loss and early childhood experiences
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience of undertaking complex assessments and developing outcome-focused support plans.
• Strong communication and relationship-based practice skills, including the ability to manage difficult conversations, negotiate effectively and work collaboratively with families and professionals
• Experience of report writing
• Ability to assess risks, needs, and to analyse information and recognise problems
• Understanding of the impact of trauma, attachment difficulties, loss and identity issues on adopted children and their families
• Knowledge of relevant legislation, statutory guidance and professional standards relating to social work and adoption support practice
• Understand data protection/confidentiality and need for accurate and timely recording
• Able to use digital systems effectively to maintain accurate case records, complete assessments, analyse information, and communicate with families and professionals
• Highly organised and able to manage time and conflicting demands effectively
• Willing to learn and develop in the role, with ongoing training and personal development
• Able to be flexible with working arrangements to meet the operational requirements of the post

Working conditions of the role may include:

• Potential verbal abuse and/or physical aggression.
• This is an Essential Car User post. The postholder must be able to undertake regular travel across the Adopt South region and therefore will normally be required to hold a full driving licence and have access to a vehicle for work purposes
• Display screen equipment user.

Vetting Requirements:

This post is subject to a criminal records check. As such please note, we will take up references prior to interview.

For further information or an informal discussion please contact Caroline Dandeker, Team Manager, caroline.dandeker2@hants.gov.uk

Join #TeamIWC and you'll receive our staff benefits package, including:

• Annual leave entitlement of 32 days p/a PLUS public holidays!
• Local Government pension scheme
• Discounted Solent ferry travel
• Island bus network discount
• Cycle to work scheme
• Staff parking permit scheme
• Discounted island sports & leisure gym membership
• National and local discounts & benefits schemes
• Relocation scheme of up to £8,000 may be available for some roles (subject to criteria)
• Travel allowance may be available if commuting from the mainland (subject to criteria)

To discover more about our careers please visit Jobs and careers - Isle of Wight

Find out more about Our culture and environment & living on the Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight Council currently does not have a license to sponsor overseas workers.

We actively promote the diversity of our workforce, and provide flexible working options (where appropriate) to support the different needs of our employees. We are an equal opportunities employer, proud to encourage applications from all cultures, backgrounds and abilities to better reflect the diversity within our local community.

We are a Disability Confident employer. Along with a number of commitments, this means, providing you meet the basic essential requirements of the advertised role and have declared yourself as disabled, you will be offered an opportunity for an interview within the council.

The Isle of Wight Council protects its employees from discrimination, and this is supported by;

unacceptable behaviour policy

employee code of conduct

The Isle of Wight Council’s Terms & Conditions of employment are available upon request. Please contact our recruitment team via adverts@iow.gov.uk if you would like to receive a copy.

The Isle of Wight Council reserve the right to close vacancies earlier than stated, if required. To ensure your application is considered, it is recommended to submit your application promptly.

Please note, appointment to a regulated role will require you to provide additional personal details, including full employment history, referee information, and consent for any required safeguarding checks, as part of the Council’s commitment to safer recruitment and compliance with regulatory requirements.

This council and its schools recruit according to the council’s Recruitment, Policy and Procedure and are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.

The Isle of Wight Council is committed to supporting all newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) via a robust post-graduate competency framework, the ‘Assessed and Supported Year of Employment’ (ASYE). The ASYE is intended to be the first stage of continuing professional development for Registered Social Workers. The framework will be closely allied to the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF). You will be therefore, be required to satisfactorily complete the ASYE programme within a 12-month period (or 18 months if part-time).

For support completing your online application or for further information on how to apply, phone 01983 823134 or email callcentre@iow.gov.uk Only applications submitted online by the closing date will be accepted.

We often receive a high volume of applicants for our vacancies. If you do not hear from the recruiting manager within three weeks of the closing date, we regret that your application will not have been successful on this occasion. Please revisit our job page for alternate posts that may be suitable.