Senior Practitioner Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers

Job Introduction

We have a great opportunity to join our Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children's Team (UASC).

In this role you'll be carrying out social work interventions to ensure the right support is in place for children who have come to the UK under what are often challenging circumstances.

Main Responsibilities

As a social worker in the UASC team you'll be carrying out a range of social work interventions as allocated by the team manager using a restorative approach to practice and where assessed as safe, you'll support families to develop their own plans via Family meetings or Family Group Conferencing, to maintain children within the support of family networks and professionals.

You'll promote strength-based relationships in all aspect of work whether that's with staff, partners, colleagues or children and families.

You'll also be supervising and supporting a Personal Advisor to ensure Care Leavers are visible and have access to appropriate information, advice, guidance and support, working exclusively with unaccompanied asylum seekers.

The Ideal Candidate

For this role you'll need to be:

• Qualified as a Social Worker
• Registered with Social Work England
• Have a current UK driving licence and vehicle
• You are a team player and prepared to respond to changing situations
• You are able to keep clear / concise records and have good planning skills

Additionally it would be great if you also have:

• Some experience with working with UASC although an enthusiastic approach with a willingness to learn is just as important
• Some experience of undertaking age assessment and the legislation and case law around these issues would be advantageous. However, for the right candidate we can provide appropriate training.

But above all, you will bring the desire to work with UASC children to give them the right support, at the right time.

For more information about this vacancy or for an informal chat please contact Team Manager david.atherton@staffordshire.gov.uk

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.