Social Worker - Fostering & Kinship

Achieving for Children has an exciting opportunity within its expanding Independent Fostering Agency, located in Kingston.

Your role will be to work with colleagues to provide the full range of fostering services, including recruitment, assessment, training and supervision / support, duty services, supervising regulation 24 arrangements, as well as Form F, Form C and Special Guardianship Assessment.

You will undertake a range of tasks to safely place and work to achieve permanency plans for children. Within the team we also complete initial family assessments aka viability assessments.

There will be opportunities to be involved in the development / engagement of carer training, support groups, duty and out of hours support.

Achieving for Children work within the framework of signs of safety and we place a strong emphasis on signs of belonging, as well as peer group supervision sessions.

Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently., This post will be in the fostering and kinship team based in Kingston. We are looking for an experienced social worker with good assessment, communication and report writing skills, and the motivation to achieve excellent standards in contributing to the development of our service.

Ideally, you will also have experience of working with mainstream and / or connected carers, completing a variety of assessments including special guardianship, as well as experience supervising carers.

Our fostering service has a strong focus on stability and permanency for the children we care for. We are expanding our service and if you think you would be a good fit we would like to hear from you.,

• You will be required to hold a professional qualification (DipSW / CQSW / CSS or equivalent)


• Active Social Work England registration and proven evidence of continuing professional development


• Knowledge and experience in working with current legislation and regulations especially fostering regulations and national minimum standards.


• Experience in completing thorough assessments, ideally Form F / C & special guardianship assessments.


• Experiencing in supporting foster carers through regular supervision visits, tracking of training engagement and supporting overall placement stability


• Experience of building strong partnerships, maintaining relationships and working with a range of professionals, especially foster carers.
  
  We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working.


In AfC you will also have access to :

• 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month(Or for term term workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract.)


• Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC


• Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)


• Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance


• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme


• A range of staff benefits and discounts


• An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway


To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children . For our social work offer .

Important Information

Start dates : Achieving for Children have meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.

Right to work : The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements.

We advise checking the for right to work guidance.

Equality : We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams.

Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Safeguarding : We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.