Social Worker

Are you passionate about making a lasting difference in the lives of children and young people? We are looking for a dedicated Social Worker to join one of our Children We Care For Teams. Following the granting of a Care Order, our priority is to support children in achieving stable, loving, and permanent homes through Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs), long-term fostering, or reunification with their families whenever it is safe and appropriate to do so. We welcome applications from Social Workers with relevant experience working with children we care for. We will also consider applicants interested in gaining new experience. The teams work closely together, and we offer a supportive working environment with many opportunities to develop skills, knowledge and career pathways. As a Social Worker working in the Children We Care For service you will: -

• Assess the vulnerability of Sandwell's children, providing a service that will significantly improve their quality of life.
• Utilise your developing skills and knowledge to inform Care Planning in order to promote change and positive outcomes for our young people.
• You will be passionate about supporting and advocating for young people to ensure they reach their goals and have the best possible futures.
• For young people approaching adulthood, you will focus on Pathway Planning and help young people to prepare for independence. This will involve ensuring young people are at the centre of their plans and fully understand and are involved in their planning.
• Develop and apply your knowledge of specific issues impacting on our older young people including Child Exploitation, missing, substance misuse, mental health, placement breakdown, return to family, accessing Adult Social Care and working with unaccompanied Asylum Seeking children.
• Most importantly you will need to be passionate about listening to our children and young people to ensure that they are heard, using your social work skills to advocate, plan and take action to enhance the opportunities, achievements and their quality of life.
  
  You must be social work qualified, registered with Social Work England and have completed your ASYE programme in a children and families setting.
• Have excellent analytical skills and be able to make informed decisions with information you have gathered, that has a positive impact on the child's journey.
• A skilled listener, you will demonstrate how you have understood and ensured a child's voice is heard.
• You will need to be self-motivated, organised with effective communication skills both written and verbally.
• Be a clear decision maker and good team worker
• Have an ability to assess risk and the knowledge of the relevant procedures to manage and reduce risk.
• You will need to demonstrate that you have experience of working with children in care, which could have been gained through working in other teams.
• Have knowledge of the relevant legislation and procedures that relate to looked after children and young people.
So, if you think your future could lie with a 'Good' Team, then we'd love to hear from you.

Sandwell Children's Trust rated as a 'Good' provider. At Sandwell Children's Trust, we firmly believe that the voice of the child should be at the centre of everything we do. We are on an ambitious journey to ensure that children and families in Sandwell are safe and empowered to thrive. Our 'Sandwell Deal', brings together our offering that make Sandwell Children's Trust a great place to work., At Sandwell Children's Trust we strive for excellence to improve the lives of children. To achieve this, we know how important it is to retain and attract high performing, forward thinking and innovative people and provide them with all the support they need. With a culture of collaboration, partnership working and the child at the heart of everything we do, it really is an exciting time to join Sandwell Children's Trust. Working for us There are lots of great reasons to work with us in Sandwell Children's Trust. From a generous rewards package to a culture of learning and development. Our 12 reasons to work for Sandwell Children's Trust sets us apart as the place to grow your career and feel part of a great team. Please visit the Sandwell Deal and our 12 reasons via this hyperlink: https://sandwelldeal.co.uk, Sandwell sits in the heart of the West Midlands and has a diverse population of 341,729 people. While Sandwell is the 12^th most deprived local authority in England, it is a community where our families have high aspirations and where we pride ourselves on equality of opportunity and our adaptability and resilience.

What we can offer you:-
• Generous annual leave of up to 31 days, plus 5 additional days for long service recognition.
• Retention bonus of £2,000 in year 1, £3,000 in year 2 and £5,000 in year 3.
• Your birthday off paid in addition to annual leave entitlement and 8 Bank Holidays, plus a concessionary day at Christmas.
• We recognise individual loyalty with service awards from 2, 5, 10 and every 5 years onwards.
• Flexible working patterns that suit you and all of our roles have well-defined career progression., Flexible working patterns that suit you and all of our roles have well-defined career progression.
• Access to our Learning & Development portal offering virtual training programmes, learning & development info bursts, learning events and much more.
• The latest technology enabling more effective and streamlined working.
• Detailed and effective appraisals to strengthen your practice.
• Access to a range of family friendly policies.
Benefits & Rewards
• Up to £6,500 re-location package
• Generous annual leave entitlement, plus 5 additional days for long service recognition.
• The opportunity to purchase up to 10 days additional holiday through our salary sacrifice scheme.
• Your birthday off paid in addition to annual leave entitlement and 8 bank holidays, plus a concessionary day at Christmas.
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme, this is a nationwide career average scheme with employer contributions of 21.6%.
• We recognise individual loyalty with service awards from 2, 5, 10 and every 5 years onwards.
• Reimbursement of Social Work England registration
• 24/7 access to free and confidential employee counselling service
• Access to a range of discounts on products and services
• Salary sacrifice schemes for cars, bikes and technology.
• Refer a friend scheme
• Wellbeing initiatives and forums
• Discounted gym membership
• Eye care vouchers