Social Worker - Family Safeguarding - Bognor Regis

Salary: £42,003 - £54,533 (market supplements included)

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full time, hybrid working 37 hours per week

Location: Durban House, Bogor Regis with Countywide travel

Please note, we are reviewing applications on an ongoing basis, so we welcome your application at your earliest convenience.

We are committed to improving our services for the children and families we support in West Sussex. In May 2023 Ofsted Inspectors praised West Sussex County Council’s Children’s Services for its ‘relentless approach to improving practice,’ giving the service an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’, with ‘good’ judgements for children in care and leadership and management. The judgements on children needing help and protection and children leaving care are they ‘require improvement to be good’.

Inspectors recognised the ‘strong, determined and cohesive leadership team’ who have made significant improvements since 2019 and their commitment and focus to make further improvements.

For further information about us and about working in Children’s Social Care at West Sussex County Council, please visit Careers in children's social work in West Sussex.

We offer small practice teams of Social Workers managed by a Team Manager and supported by Child & Family Workers as well as additional flexible administrative support from Coordinators embedded within the service.

We provide regular group supervision and peer learning alongside specialist roles within the team to focus on the most vulnerable children. As a Social Worker, you’ll have a minimum of 5 CPD and training days per year with access to excellent learning and development provisions such as Research in Practice and Community Care Inform, and Social Work England fees paid.

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including:

• an excellent local government pension scheme
• generous holiday entitlement of up to 29 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave)
• a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
• maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• volunteering opportunities
• training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see our Staff discounts page if you are a business looking to offer a discount)
• health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

As of 01 February 2022, the first phase of our service redesign to move to the Family Safeguarding Model has begun. As such, our previous Family Support & Protection teams have become our Family Safeguarding teams. We’re seeking dedicated and experienced Social Workers to join us in Chichester.

Family Safeguarding is a strengths-based model and a new way of working with families so that they can stay together, and children can remain safely at home. We will help families to identify what changes need to be made in their daily life and support them to achieve these.

The Family Safeguarding Model is based on multi-disciplinary joint children’s and adult teams. The model will therefore be implemented by building on the skills mix of our current children’s social work teams by adding the expertise of community mental health staff, domestic abuse specialists and substance misuse workers. In addition to this the offer will be enhanced by co-locating the teams with early help teams.

Joining the Family Safeguarding team in Chichester, you will be undertaking meaningful evidence-based interventions that contribute to improved levels of engagement and safeguarding with parents and children. All of our current staff are currently undergoing training on the new model and motivational interview. You will work within a positive, nurturing environment where successes are celebrated and individuals within the team are supported to grow and develop.

You will be able to:

• Analyse and interpret complex information and data, being able to prioritise needs and devise plans for intervention and provision.
• Proactively work as a member of the team
• Develop strong relationships, working alongside carers, colleagues and external agencies to deliver an effective service.
• Communicate clearly and effectively in both written and oral format, including the ability to explain complicated information to a variety of people and use negotiation and persuasion skills to encourage others to adopt a course of action they may not wish to take.
• Recognise limits of own accountability and responsibility, and seek appropriate support and advice when needed.

You will need:

• A recognised Social Work qualification e.g. Degree in Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Social Work, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent as recognised by the relevant professional body.
• Completion of relevant post qualifying training.
• Evidence of at least two years experience post qualification working in the UK within front line operational practice.
• Registration with the relevant professional registration body and maintaining registration with that body.
• You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

The reference number for this role is CAFHE04799.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Joan Green atjoan.green@westsussex.gov.ukor Moira Keen atmoira.keen@westsussex.gov.uk.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to Social Work England registration, an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application helppage.