Enhanced Social Work Practitioner

As an Enhanced Practitioner, you will blend the skills of a case holding senior social worker with those of mentoring newly qualified colleagues. You will build effective relationships with children, young people, and families and ensure that children and young people lead their care planning. You will advocate and appreciate individual need to achieve outcomes based on evidence-based assessments. You will spend quality time with children in our care, understanding their views, their life events and supporting them to understand and recover from what has happened. You will consistently model exceptional social work practise and skill to inspire and guide our Newly Qualified Social Workers, providing ongoing advise and support to them. Working closely with the Practice Leads in the Social Work Academy and the Team Manager, you will ensure to ensure that the NQSWs have appropriate caseloads in terms of number and complexity, and that their Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) progresses well. You will guide the team, supporting the Team Manager and be a point of contact in their absence. You will be part of a strong multi-agency team including education, health and our own therapeutic service Full Circle. You will be part of a that is constantly seeking to improve outcomes for children in our care and be part of developing this service further. Your ideas and aspirations will be very important to us. WHAT IS INVOLVED? We work with children and young people aged 0 - 18 who are looked after, living with foster carers or with family and friend carers, or in a children's home. We care plan with children, their carers and family to ensure the child's needs are met well, and we plan for their future. The views of the child and their family are imbedded within our care plans and lead everything we do. Relationships with children and their families are very important to us, as is our relationships with the multi-agency teams we work with. We take a trauma informed approach, seeking to help the child recover and maintain relationships with important people in their lives. We work under a Signs of Safety framework which takes a strength-based approach and works towards the child and family goals., Durham County Council currently operates a hybrid working policy where a model of 2 days in the workplace and 3 days at home/remote will apply. This model is pro-rated for part time roles and arrangements are at managers discretion, alternatively you can work all of your contracted hours within the workplace if you prefer. EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION We are a proud equal opportunities employer and recognise that a diverse, talented workforce brings new ideas and new perspectives, which will facilitate growth and improvements to services. We are committed to ensuring that our employment policies and processes are fair and equitable to all. We welcome job applications from everyone, and successful candidates are considered only on their skills and ability to do the job. As a Disability Confident Leader, we encourage applications from disabled people and provide support throughout the recruitment process. Take a closer look: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26899/Equality-diversity-and-inclusion-in-our-workforce INTERVIEWS Interviews will be held week commencing 9th December 24. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran.

• A degree in social work or equivalent social work qualification
• Current Social Work England registration.
• Significant experience of social work with children, young people and their families.
• Commitment to work towards Practice assessor qualification PA1 and 2 in line with skills for care good practice.
  
  We are passionate about social work in County Durham. We are committed to providing a culture where good practice can flourish. We ensure our social workers are highly supported and encourage flexible working to achieve a good work-life balance.
You will benefit from a range of training opportunities and professional development through personalised induction, professional supervision, and mentoring. Take a closer look: https://www.durham.gov.uk/childrenssocialwork, REWARDS AND BENEFITS We offer generous rewards and benefits that are designed to help you perform at your best:
• Competitive salaries and 27 days holiday per year rising to 32 days after five years continuous local government service.
• Option to purchase up to 10 additional days annual leave per year.
• Excellent work/life balance through schemes including job sharing, compressed hours and flexi-time (allowing up to 13 flexi days per year).
• Hybrid working (home and office working).
• Excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Plus, top up options - Salary Sacrifice Shared Cost AVC scheme and standard AVC scheme for members of the LGPS.
• Wellbeing Portal and access to an Employee Assist Scheme.
• Wide range of learning and development opportunities including professional qualifications, coaching and mentoring.
• Employee Benefits Portal and Lifestyle Savings Scheme (discounts across a host of major retailers).
• Discounted DCC gym membership.
• Staff networks run by staff for our staff, including Race Equality and Diversity, Disability, LGBT+, Armed Forces, Carers, Menopause.
• Trade Union membership.
• A range of other salary sacrifice schemes such as car leasing.
Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions. Take a closer look: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26895/Rewards-and-benefits