Social Worker

The role

Adoption Social Workers work to assess and prepare adoptive families to meet the needs of our children who are looking for stable and secure homes to grow and thrive in. We work with adoptive families and children, adopted adults and birth parents.

Reducing race disparity in adoption is a key objective for everyone in ALS, ensuring we have the right adopters for our children. In the assessment team and pre-order support teams 34 South London children have benefitted from Early Permanence and a new London wide project is developing this further.

We are looking for a qualified social worker who have completed their ASYE, with experience of planning for permanence for vulnerable children and with an interest in developing and honing their skills in the adoption process.

There will be opportunities to develop your group work and training skills in preparing adopters to meet the therapeutic needs of children affected by early traumatic events and the experience of loss.

The vacancy is in South West Assessment a Team. Our base office is in vibrant London Bridge at Tooley Street but meetings can take place at venues across our region of 10 South London authorities and surrounding areas. Agile working is established in ALS, with home visits often from home.

About Southwark:

We are the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues and social enterprises and we have a young, diverse and growing population.

At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities. Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals and attend our universities. Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality) underpins all that we do.

About Adopt London South - Regional Adoption Agency:

Adopt London South is a forward-looking Regional Adoption Agency partnership, working across 10 South London councils. As the Regional Adoption Agency we work closely with Adopt London partners and also with national projects to improve adoption. We have a strong partnership with We are Family support community and others across the sector. This is an exciting time to join ALS and there will be opportunities to join Adopt London projects.

Join our committed, stable and diverse adoption social work teams preparing or supporting families for South London children.

Additional details

Please note a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is required at enhanced level.

For an informal discussion or to find out more about the role, please e-mail Nicola.Sadler@southwark.gov.uk

Benefits and more information:

In your role, we want you to feel supported, challenged and rewarded. You will benefit from our family-friendly policies including flexible working, home working, and a local government pension scheme, plus many other staff benefits. You will join a motivated, driven and supportive team that strives for excellence and values its members. You will also be part of a successful and high-achieving development team that is making a real difference to the lives of residents in the borough. Our offer includes:

- A systemic framework of Social Work practice

- A vibrant place and Service to work with and a diverse community

- Strong commitment to partnership working with our Local Authority colleagues.

For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Staff Benefits page.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme:

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

•  Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
•  Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
•  If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

Recruitment timetable

Closing Date: Monday 4th December 2023 at 23:59
Interview and Assessment Date: Tuesday 19th December 2023

SWCHTF

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Attachments

• Click here to view the Job Description and Person Specification