Practitioners (All Children's Teams)

At Hertfordshire County Council, we believe that the children and young people in our care deserve the best. And that means ensuring the social workers who work alongside them are trained, supported, and highly motivated. As an innovative authority, we are committed to developing motivational social work practice and you will be trained to work in this way. You will be working at the forefront of best practice to deliver first class support to vulnerable children and families which will expose you to managing complex and diverse caseloads. By changing our approach to families, they are changing their approach to us and we are managing to keep far more children at home safely with their families. With dedicated Diversity & Inclusion strategy and focus groups, we promote diversity and inclusion across the delivery of services and within our workforce. We will offer a stimulating working environment, regular supervision meetings and training opportunities to help you to reach your full potential with the assistance and guidance of our specialist L&D teams. The pandemic has brought about changes in the way we work and having learnt from this and from feedback from our staff and communities, we are embedding important principles around 'Our Way Forward'. The overarching vision for Children's Services is that we work in a 'flexible and balanced' way with a focus on 'continuous improvement'; this is underpinned by a 'mix and blend' approach by adopting hybrid ways of working, balancing the need for collaborative workspaces with the right technology for staff to work from home and touchdown areas where this is right for you and for our families. About the role Each Team is made up of; a Team Manager, Consultant Social Worker(s), Senior Practitioners, Social Workers, Children's Practitioners and Family Practitioners. We are looking for experienced Senior Practitioners to join one of the following teams:

• Family Safeguarding East (Permanent or Secondment / FTC to Dec 2026), based in Stevenage
• Family Safeguarding West, based in Hemel Hempstead
• Specialist Adolescent Service (SASH), based in Stevenage
• Joint Police Team (JCPIT), based in Hatfield
• Fostering, based in Hemel Hempstead, In depth knowledge of child development and adolescence, social, emotional and mental health needs.
• Demonstrable awareness of risk factors associated with offending, exploitation, poverty and disadvantage.
• Experience of managing high risk and complex young people.
• For an informal conversation about the role, please contact
or Joint Police Children Protection & Investigation Team (JCPIT):
• Please note this role is subject to additional police checks on appointment.
• Our team is based at Police Headquarters in Hatfield.
• It is expected that you will be on duty rota which may require you to work beyond 5.30pm. On duty days you are required to be in the office.
• You will be completing safety plan with the oversight of JCPIT Team manager and police.
• You will be attending CP and SARC medicals with the health team and pre-assessments with the JCPIT police colleagues.
• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural diversity, working effectively with families from different backgrounds.
• Ability to handle urgent and often difficult situations while maintaining a calm and impartial demeanour.
• For an informal conversation about the role, please contact
Fostering:
• You will be supporting foster carers and children in the South of the county and also supporting a Mockingbird Hub.
• Knowledge of TSD standards, fostering regulations and legislation
• Experience in completing foster carers compliance, annual reviews, health and safety's, unannounced visits, and supervisions.
• You must prepared to visit foster carers who live out of county.
• Experience of drafting and delivering training.
• In-depth of knowledge of trauma focused models.
• For an informal conversation about the role, please contact
This job role is within the Health and Social Care, level 11 job profile. Please locate this via: To read more about our service and opportunities available visit our Recruitment timeline: We review all applications regularly, with interviews arranged on an ad hoc basis - please check your emails for updates. Additional Benefits for Social Work roles include:
• Monthly Market Enhanced Payment
• One off £1k Welcome Payment (terms & conditions apply)
• Lease Car Scheme
• Up to £6k relocation expenses (terms & conditions apply)
• Hybrid working model
• 5 Days additional annual leave entitlement
• SWE Registration Fee paid
  
  As a Senior Practitioner, you will already have highly developed specialist knowledge of Social Work practice. Your advanced expertise and knowledge will help you to take the lead on complex cases within the department.
This is a varied and challenging role where you will have shared responsibility for leading less experience staff. You will have a key role in researching and sharing up to date social work practice alongside creating a clear vision for the future and ensuring the best outcomes for children and their families are realised. About you We are pleased to offer sponsorship of eligible roles that met the UKV&I requirements for candidates who currently reside in the UK at the time of application. It is essential that all Senior Practitioners who apply have the following:
• Qualified and Social Work England Registered
• At least 3 years post qualifying experience
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Knowledge of legislation, guidance, policy, and procedures
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft IT package
• Full UK Driving Licence
• Regular Access to a vehicle
In addition to the above, below outlines team specific essential criteria: Family Safeguarding:
• Significant senior level frontline experience in a safeguarding team.
• Recent experience of case work in Assessments, Child Protection, Children Looked After and Care Proceedings
• In-depth knowledge of relevant childcare legislation is necessary to undertake work in this role effectively., This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.
Driving required You'll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations. English Fluency The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required).