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Job Introduction

Our Children in Care and Care Leavers Team in Staffordshire Moorlands works with children between 0 and 18 years and support their families to make positive changes to be able to care for their children safely once again. Providing advice, guidance, programs of support and access to services which support positive change and build families support networks.

We also support those children for whom this is not a safe option. We help and support our children to develop key life skills, to get services around them to help them cope with life, learn and achieve in school, nursery and community groups, develop key life skills that will support them in adulthood, ensure all their health needs are met and that they have a safe secure home with carers that can support their development.

For those who remain in our care until they are 18 years old we look to support and plan how they will manage and cope with adulthood. Putting plans in place to support their independence with the support of their Personal Advisor, making sure they have the services they can access around them so they are able to keep themselves safe and contribute to their community. We support them to navigate challenges they may encounter and promote safe family networks that can support them when they need it.

Main Responsibilities

As a Social Worker, you will:

• Manage a caseload of children in care and care leavers, providing effective support and intervention for those with complex needs, while promoting positive outcomes and stability.
• Work collaboratively with children, young people, foster carers, families, and partner agencies to develop and implement robust care plans.
• Lead and contribute to permanency planning, including reunification assessments, Placement with Parents assessments, Special Guardianship Orders, discharge of Care Orders, and other long-term care arrangements.
• Navigate childcare proceedings and ensure all practice is compliant with relevant legislation, statutory guidance, policies, and care planning requirements.
• Respond effectively to placement challenges, including foster placement breakdowns, alternative provision arrangements, and safeguarding processes such as LADO investigations.
• Support children and young people to achieve their full potential by progressing Personal Education Plans (PEPs), contributing to annual reviews, and developing Pathway Plans to prepare care leavers for independence.

The Ideal Candidate

For this role its essential you are:

• Qualified Social Worker which would include having worked within a children's social work team
• Experience of working with complex and traumatised children and young people
• Experience of direct work with children
• Registered with Social Work England
• Have a current UK driving licence and vehicle

But above all, you will bring the desire to work with children and families to give them the right support, at the right time with the aim of keeping and bringing families back together where it is safe to do so.

For more information about this vacancy please contact Alison Machin at alison.machin@staffordshire.gov.uk

Interviews will be held: Week commencing 7 September

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role. Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes detailed below.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.