Social Work Assistant - SWwF Social Work with Families

About Croydon - Internal

Social Work Assistant – Social Work with Families – Children Croydon Council

Salary: Grade 8 £37,443 - £39,264

36 per week / Monday – Friday

Permanent

Job Purpose

Social Work with Families brings together services for children subject to child protection plans, children in need and Children Looked After who may be in the Public Law Outline process or in Court proceedings. Working in a Locality service, with your Team Manager and colleagues you will be using your skills and knowledge to create the best possible outcomes for children and families in Croydon.

The Social Work Assistant will work with a Social Worker and help families enabling the use of the Strengthening Families approach. By working in a family centred and holistic way staff will ensure improved outcomes and life chances for children and families.

The Social Work Assistant will be allocated to, and work across a locality, North, South or Central. The Social Work Assistant will support babies, children, young people and their families that live or access services within the locality area. It will be necessary, on occasion to work with families in other parts of the borough to ensure timely access to services.

To contribute to the delivery of a service for families who are identified as having children and young people who are in the need for intensive support.
To undertake direct work with young people. To facilitate supervised contact arrangements. Support to families with multiple and complex needs where intensive support is required. Engage and sustain families in the programme to ensure improvements in their resilience and autonomy, improving outcomes and preventing escalation of their issues. To maintain a caseload of families, ensuring timely and effective intervention to maintain progress. To work as part of a team consisting of practitioners with multi-agency experience in order to support identified children, young people and families to access learning and services within their local authority.

About You

We are looking for Social Work Assistants who have the following experience:

Experience directly with families including engaging families and assessing need leading to delivery of effective support for families.

Experience in establishing and maintaining positive professional relationships with individuals with complex and multiple needs.

Evidence of substantial experience of direct work with babies, children, young people and parents within variety of settings and communities and from a range of ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds-including those who may not have previously accessed services.

Able to contribute to the development and delivery of a programme of family support work including group work and community activities.

Ability to be reflective and evaluate learning needs, actively seeking learning opportunities that improve practice and impact on service outcomes.

Benefits
You will be valued for your skills and expertise, supported by the team of experienced professionals, as well as the management at Croydon Council, one of the largest employers in the borough. We also offer:

Highly competitive compensation package

29-31 days (grade equivalent) annual leave in addition to Bank Holidays and option to purchase more

A pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 20%

Continuing Professional Development – genuine opportunities to grow, develop and specialise in your career

Management development programmes

Investment into your wellbeing

Access to Employee Discount scheme with a range of programmes (Cycle Benefit Scheme, GymFlex, Retail Discounts and more)

We promote flexible & hybrid working arrangements where possible to support a healthy work-life balance

Full time 36 Hours
To view the role profile please click here 
Closing date 9 June 2024 @11:59pm

Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding  Statement

Croydon Council is an inclusive employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Subject to business needs, we will be pleased to consider applications from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements and support hybrid working, whereby staff attend the workplace for part of their working week and work from home, or elsewhere, remotely for the rest of the time.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the advertised role.

Croydon council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. The Successful candidate will be subject to a DBS check