Team: COP - Adoption Support

Job Family: CBG10 - Supporting
Salary: £34,067 - £35,611 per annum - Plus MRS £5,150 per annum pro rata
Hours: 37 hours per week

Base Location: Working from home and any CBC offices, including Priory House, Shefford or Civic Offices, Milton Keynes. You will be expected to attend a CBC office location on a monthly basis, and as needed to carry out your role

Contract Type: Permanent - Hybrid
Closing Date: 20th March 2023
Interview Date: TBC

About Us

Central Bedfordshire is an ambitious authority, determined to be an exemplary one. Our strategic location and high quality of life mean we are one of the fastest growing areas in the country.

As a council we face the same challenges every business does - investing in the right places and delivering great results. Except for us, it’s all about our 289,000 residents. We’re totally focussed on helping to improve their lives and making Central Bedfordshire a great place to live and work.

We have set values and principles to represent the way we work and how we operate as an organisation. You can view a list of these in detail on our website.

This is a great time to join us on our journey.

About the role:

In Children’s Services, we are determined to safeguard and protect vulnerable children and achieve great outcomes. Adoption Connects is proud to serve both Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes Council. There are 2 teams within our service, this post is for the Post Adoption Support Team, the other team recruit and assess and support prospective adopters who are able to provide placement choice and high-quality care to children who require adoption. The service provides adoption support to families and adults to enable them to live well and have positive, healthy relationships. It’s all about creating better outcomes and a bright new generation for our community. Help children to thrive by supporting adoptive families, enabling you to find your greatness too.

Being an Adoption Support Social Worker is an important and rewarding role. You’ll be part of a dedicated Adoption support team with an excellent record of supporting families. You’ll make sure that each adopter understands their role and responsibilities and that the service is able to provide a choice of high-quality support for children to achieve great outcomes. By providing training, assessment of needs and support you will ensure that everyone connected by adoption receives a great service.

You will be a qualified Social Worker who’s HCPC/SWE registered and have three years work experience within the social care arena with an awareness of the needs of fostered and adopted young people. You will know about statutory social work practice and completing complex assessments. Experience of using a wide range of social work techniques with children and families will also be of benefit. Your technical talents should come with a calm, organised approach. You will be supporting others in a crisis and using your initiative to solve issues and recommend support plans. You will also have the communication skills to present high-quality reports when required and work with other agencies. You will need sound IT skills and be able offer professional conduct at all times. You must also be able to drive and have a car to use for work purposes.

Join us and take advantage of our rewards package plus the chance to learn, train and progress. You can also expect a manageable and varied caseload. Find your greatness by helping children excel in their adoptive families.

What we can offer you 

As well as joining a friendly, dedicated, and hardworking team you will have access to numerous benefits, including:

• A hybrid working arrangement giving you the option to work from home and access any CBC office location. We recognise and value the importance of supporting our employees to balance their home and work life and to be able to work in the most efficient way.
• A £250 one-off hybrid worker payment to help you adapt your home for safe and suitable working conditions
• A comprehensive IT package to support you to work safely and effectively
• The ability to work abroad for up to a month a year
• Annually paid social work fees for qualified social workers in adults and children’s (including senior practitioners) and Team Managers where required
• Generous family friendly policies and practices
• A welcoming and inclusive environment that empowers differences
• Friendly and supportive staff networks
• Annual leave allowance 24 days + statutory holidays rising to 31 days with length of service.
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). This is a valuable part of our rewards package for employees and includes Life Assurance. You can find out more on the Bedfordshire Pension Fund website.
• An exceptional Employee Assistance Programme which helps support employees with workplace changes as well as other work, family and personal issues
• A huge variety of courses and role-specific training and learning to help you succeed and develop
• Access to discounts on top UK retailers and local retailers

Central Bedfordshire Council has its own vision and values that are integral to everything we do. Our area vision is to make Central Bedfordshire 'A great place to live and work’.

Sustainability matters to us. We aim to lead by example in tackling climate change. Read more about the action we’re taking on our website: Climate change – tackling it and our strategy

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer.  We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.

You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies detailed within this Recruitment Pack; Adoption Social Worker

For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Anne Devine at Anne.Devine@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 4915.

For queries related to the recruitment of this vacancy, please contact: The Recruitment Team at recruitment@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.

Safeguarding:

Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.  

Central Bedfordshire Council is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to improving the diversity of our workforce to better reflect the communities we serve.  Therefore we welcome applications from everyone. In addition we are a  Disability Confident employer, we are working to become a Disability Confident leader in our community.

To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.

If you require assistance to apply for our roles, help with writing your CV, interview techniques or careers advice please contact our team of careers advisors at ncs@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk Our service is confidential, impartial and free for all.