Address
Form of work
SalaryAbout Us
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.
As a member of the Solutions Team, you will work in partnership with other professionals to support and strengthen families in caring for their own children or prepare for and manage a child that has been living in the care of the local authority to return to live within the family.
There will be a requirement to work flexibly across a 37 hour week to suit the needs of a Child and their family with availability to work outside of normal working hours (9am-5pm), weekends and bank holidays. You'll need to be able to travel independently throughout the county, including to areas that might not be easily accessible by public transport. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.
Key Skills:
- Ability to engage children, young people, their families, and a range of external agencies to build effective working relationships, gain the trust of service users and other professionals, and work in partnership to effect positive and lasting change.
- Ability to analyse and interpret information to understand and prioritise needs, negotiate and implement effective plans and direct work using a range of interventions to achieve stability and maintain change.
- Ability to work in an empowering way with families in crisis. Manage conflict, contain your own and other anxieties, and focus on collective strengths and resources, working within the boundaries of the role.
- Ability to prioritise and manage own workload, co-ordinating a range of tasks in a clear and logical way to meet agreed deadlines, whilst working work autonomously towards clear goals.
- Able to reflect on own practice and learn from experience, taking responsibility for own performance and be proactive in relation to own work and professional development.
- Have good communication, organisational and interpersonal skills. Sound and accurate IT skills, including report writing, maintaining accurate records, ensuring confidentiality, and protecting information.
Qualifications and/or experience:
- Degree in Social Work, or relevant degree in education, youth work, health for the Children and Young People's Workforce (or equivalent), or demonstrable equivalent comparable experience, and appropriately registered with Social Work England (if postholder has a degree in Social Work) or other professional registration as appropriate. (Essential)
- Experience of forming effective working relationships with children and families and providing a range of direct work interventions in working with children, young people and their families to achieve change, such as Solution Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Family Functioning Therapy, Family Group Conferencing (Essential).
- Experience of collaborative working with a range of professionals, demonstrating an awareness of differing roles and responsibilities and effective methods of collaboration, e.g. health, housing, learning, statutory, voluntary and independent sector. (Essential)
- Understand the impact of childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences on the development and behaviour of children and young people. (Desirable)
- Understand systems, procedures, legislation and national policy developments regarding children and families, and their implications for practice. (Desirable)
- Requirement to communicate in English with members of the public. (Essential)
- Valid and full driving licence. (Essential)
Rewards and Benefits
In addition to working within a great team and a brilliant opportunity you will receive:
- A competitive salary
- A generous pension scheme
- Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
- Flexible working
- A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers with the opportunity to save over £1,000 (Including: Argos, Samsung, Asos, B&Q and many more)
- Free access to employee assistance programmes
- Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres
- A range of commuting and business travel discounts and initiatives
Further Information
The reference number for this role is CAFHE05070.
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Megan Harper at for issues or queries regarding your application please contact .
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and complete the application form.
This post is subject to an enhanced SWE Registration, DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.
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.
