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The Fostering and Adoption Assessment Team has a vacancy for a permanent, part-time Support Worker to join our friendly team. The team's work includes undertaking mainstream fostering assessments, private fostering assessments, and non-agency adoption assessments.

As a team, we are committed to achieving the very best outcomes for Leicestershire children and ensuring they have safe, stable, and loving homes. We undertake comprehensive and analytical assessments to achieve this aim, and the Stage One work carried out as part of these assessments is vital in ensuring they are thorough and robust.

Our newly created Stage One Support Worker role will support Social Workers in completing these assessments. The role will include tasks such as monitoring statutory checks and references, maintaining accurate records, liaising with Social Workers where concerns are identified through statutory checks or references, and following up on delays that may impact assessment timescales. The successful candidate will also visit families, where required, to progress Stage One tasks in a timely manner and liaise with partner agencies to minimise delays caused by outstanding references.

Whilst administrative experience is essential, experience of supporting fostering or adoption assessments would be desirable but is not essential. We are keen to hear from candidates who are enthusiastic, motivated, and eager to learn more about this area of work.

We support and empower our staff to be the best they can be. We will provide you with the support and resources you need to work collaboratively with children and families. In return, we offer flexible working arrangements, a supportive and approachable manager, continued professional development opportunities, and a stable and welcoming team that is always on hand to provide advice and support.

An enhanced with barred list DBS check 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:

NVQ Level 2 in child care, or willingness to undertake training or evidnce of child care training.
Experience in an administrative role, together with a commitment to providing high-quality, accurate, and timely support to colleagues and service users.
Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, including experience of using Microsoft Office and database systems. You will be able to communicate confidently and effectively with a wide range of people, including children, young people, parents/carers, colleagues, and partner agencies.
The ability to work independently, use your initiative, prioritise competing demands, and manage workloads effectively. You must also be able to travel to locations across Leicestershire (and occasionally further afield) and work outside normal office hours when required.
Experience of working with children and families would be desirable, together with a genuine interest in and commitment to learning more about fostering, adoption, and children's social care.
An awareness of the diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and religious backgrounds of children, young people, and families, and an understanding of the importance of providing inclusive and responsive support.
Knowledge of the factors that can impact the well-being and outcomes of children and families, including child development, attachment, neglect, substance misuse, domestic abuse, and mental health.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Emily Moss, Team Manager

Telephone: 0116 3056502

Email: emily.moss@leics.gov.uk

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support.

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About us

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone.

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits
Working for Us

Salary range

£28,605 - £31,029 per year