Agency Decision Maker - Adoption

About the role

Are you an experienced Social Work practitioner with a strong grasp of permanence planning and a comprehensive understanding of childcare law and practice?

We’re looking for an Adoption Agency Decision Maker to support us in approving adoption plans and placements in the best interests of the children and young people in our care.

Reporting to the Service Director for Fostering, Adoption and Corporate Parenting, you will make sound and impartial decisions based on available information, while adhering to timeframes set by courts, ensuring that all necessary legal steps are followed, and that the child or young person’s rights are protected throughout the adoption process.

For more information or to chat about this opportunity please contact Ranjit Chambers, Service Director, by emailing Ranjit.Chambers@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to reflect this diversity, which we believe is beneficial for our employees, the organisation, and the communities we serve.

What will you be doing?

Holding the accountability for our compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements in fostering and adoption, you’ll be reviewing adoption plans, making and communicating decisions to relevant parties, and providing training where required on completion of these plans.

Championing best practice, you’ll be working closely with Regional Adoption Agency Panel Advisor to ensure reports are completed within agreed timescales in order for timely decisions to be made.

This is a non-case holding position to allow you to make decisions objectively and in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

About you

As a qualified and registered Social Worker, you’ll be able to demonstrate detailed knowledge on the legislative framework governing social care, as well as a solid understanding of relevant policies and procedures related to Fostering and Adoption.

You’ll be able to work independently while managing your own workload, with excellent written and verbal communication skills and be able to work collaboratively with a range of key stakeholders.

Experience of working in Fostering, Adoption and Children in Care is essential for this role.

You must also have the ability to work from a variety of locations and travel countywide independently.

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits:

• Flexible and creative working arrangements
• Flexible Bank Holidays
• A comprehensive wellbeing package
• Our Cambs Rewards employee discounts
• A comprehensive pension scheme
• IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
• CamWeb - our staff intranet helping keep you informed
• An employee recognition scheme
• We offer a generous mileage allowance

About us

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off.   We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered.  We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Some examples of adjustments could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers

Attached documents

• Agency Decision Maker JDPS.pdf