Social Worker - Family Placement (part time, maternity cover)

12-month maternity cover or 12-month secondment for internal candidates

We have an exciting opportunity in our Family Placement Team for an individual who will share our commitment to improving outcomes for those children in our care for up to 12 months to cover maternity leave.

We provide children, young people and families with the right service at the right time.  Put simply, we change lives for the better.

We know that social work, whilst rewarding, is not always easy.  To support high quality consistent social work, we have a comprehensive learning and development offer, driven by our passionate Principal Social Worker.  We have resilience groups, well-being days and events, group supervision as well as peer support.  Each team has dedicated admin support.

The Family Placement Team is a small but very supportive team. The work we do can be challenging and we understand the importance of peer support and advice.

We work closely together and alongside the children’s social workers to ensure that we are providing the best support to our vulnerable children.

Our social workers have the time to get to know everyone they work with, excellent support from managers and colleagues across the department and expert guidance whenever they need it.

Our main priority is to provide our workers with a secure physical and psychological base from which to work safely and effectively.

Key responsibilities include:

• To recruit, train and assess new and substitute Foster Carers and Special Guardian applicants, for children and young people.
• To work within the context of relevant legislation and deliver services according to the department’s policies, procedures and guidelines.
• To display a commitment to the protection and safeguarding of children and young people.

Our benefits include ...

• An inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks including sports and social clubs.
• Opportunities for flexible and agile working, to support our employees’ work-life balance.
• Generous annual leave of 28 days increasing to 33 days after 3 years’ service (pro rata for part time)
• Annual leave purchase policy.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave.
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities.
• Local government pension scheme.
• Life insurance cover.
• A great office location next to travel links and the regenerated town centre.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support employees’ health and wellbeing.
• Staff dental and health plans.
• Discounted leisure centre and gym membership.
• Supermarket discount.

Interview date 

Interviews will be held on 30th December 2024.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment. 

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Want to ask us a question? 

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact: 

Sam Howard - Team Manager, Family Placement Team

Tel: 01344 351658

 

At Bracknell Forest we champion equality, diversity and inclusion. At Bracknell Forest Council, we are always learning, ambition and inclusive. Please see our candidate pack for more details.

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

Any successful internal candidate will be offered the position as a secondment and, in line with Section 8.1 of the Secondment Policy, must consult with their manager before applying. 

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council. 

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please.