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The Family Help Service has an exciting opportunity for a full-time social worker in Coalville, who will be part of the team ensuring that a high-quality Child in Need service is provided for children and their families.

‘Right support at the right time.’ Working with the whole family to offer practical help, building on strengths and community support to improve daily life, positively impacting upon outcomes for children and young people.

About the Role

Family Help is a service that offers intensive and timely family support for families on the continuum from Targeted Early Help to Child in Need.

Learning from the recommendations in the Independent National Review of Children’s Social Care and the government response to this, we have created an integrated service called Family Help, where both Social Workers and Keyworkers (AQWs) engage, support and encourage families to make positive changes in their lives.

Family Help focuses on strong and consistent professional relationships, responding more quickly and intensively to families so that they get the right help at the right time. Building on workers’ capacity to listen, understand and respond to trauma, and supporting children and families to build strength, resilience, confidence and parenting capacity. By unlocking the potential of family and community networks, we support more children to stay safely at home, and when this is not possible, to remain with wider family and friends.

By supporting staff through regular reflective supervision, ensuring positive training and career pathways, we hope that staff will embrace this more intensive way of working and remain in post longer, providing our families with the professional consistency they need, want and deserve.

We are currently developing our approaches in Leicestershire to implement the national Family First Partnership Programme reforms, so this role may be subject to change and review.

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

We want a creative and supportive worker who will provide intensive and focused support to families in their homes. Developing effective relationships and using strengths-based and trauma-informed approaches will help to motivate and encourage behaviour change, leading to positive differences in children’s lives.

To apply for this post, you must have/be:

Degree in Social Work approved by Social Work England (SWE) or equivalent social work qualification i.e. Certificate of Qualification in Social Work or Diploma in Social Work, and evidence of continuing professional development. You must also be registered with Social Work England. You must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence (or be able to convert your current licence) and have access to a vehicle.
Have post-qualification experience of working with children and families, knowledge of childcare legislation and Local Safeguarding Children Partnership procedures, particularly in relation to child protection and child in need. Be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theoretical underpinning of social work practice and models used. Experience must include child in need, safeguarding, child protection, private law, and care proceedings.
Have an awareness of the cultural, racial, linguistic, and religious backgrounds of children, young people, and families applying principles in practice across your work.
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. Ability to undertake assessments to a high standard, including child and family assessments, conference reports, risk assessments, and private law reports for court.
The ability to prioritise effectively across a wide range of competing demands to meet deadlines, for example, being part of a duty rota, attending court hearings, and completing section 47’s enquiries.
Experience of using performance indicators to monitor and improve performance.
Able to analyse information to reach sound decisions, often under pressure, and take responsibility for their outcome and regular reporting to the Team manager.

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:

Jason Pickett - Team Manager

Telephone: 0116 305 9536

Email: jason.pickett@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

£43,222 - £45,982 per year