Social Worker

Job overview:

An exciting opportunity has opened within Independent Futures where we have created a specialist Leaving Care Service for children and young people aged 16-25 years old. Islington is looking to recruit a Child & Family Social Worker (SW) who is motivated and passionate. You will be trained in Motivational Interviewing and Trauma Inform Practice to ensure sustainability of practice across the service.

As a Child and Family Social Worker you will be responsible for working with children in need of help and protection or looked after children and care experienced young people, whilst maintaining the focus on safeguarding. You will work directly with the child or young person and their family or carer to build empathic, purposeful relationships that facilitate meaningful and sustainable change, as well as stability in placement and permanency for children.

You will share and exercise the organisational practice ethos which places Motivational Practice and trauma-informed practice at the heart of working with families. You will be ambitious for every child to reach their potential in all aspects of their development including education, health, and emotional wellbeing from 0-25.

Main duties:

Our vision for the service is that children and young people are safe, can overcome difficulties and can form secure relationships through their childhood and into their adulthood.

As a SW, you will be responsible for managing the specific set of tasks relating to statutory case responsibility for children, young people, and care experienced young people in need of help and protection and in public care, with the support of an appropriately qualified supervisor. You will also be a part of developing a culture of trauma-informed practice that helps to improve the quality of relationships with children and young people, through Motivational Practice.

Some of the main duties include:

• Relationships and direct work
• Prioritise safeguarding and child protection
• Identify, analysis, and assess risk and devise multi-agency plans
• Deliver an efficient and effective service to young people 
• Multi-agency and partnership working
• Quality and timely recording 
• Support placement stability and permanence
• Advocate for and ensure the voice of young people is heard
• Engage proactively in the supervision process
• Formulate plans based on assessments and partnership working
• Confidently lead procedures and investigations to protect children
• Complete thorough, child-focused, and ongoing assessments
• Analysis, decision-making, planning and reviews
• Participate in decision-making to ensure safeguarding and permanence 
• Practice in an anti-racist, anti-discriminatory, and anti-oppressive way

The successful candidates will have the following:

• Excellent oral, written, and non-verbal communication skills
• Understanding of childhood development
• Understanding of relevant legislation and theories
• Understanding of how mental health, substance use, domestic abuse, physical health and disability 
• Awareness and curiosity of indicators of abuse, neglect, and exploitation
• Awareness and curiosity of factors impacting children in care and care experienced young people
• Experience working with children in care and care experienced young people
• Experience in statutory settings
• Excellent organisational and IT skills
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and ability to form meaningful and positive relationships
• Trauma-informed and motivational interviewing skills
• Analysis and problem-solving
• Reflective and empathetic 
• Understand anti-racist, anti-discriminatory, and anti-oppressive practice 

 Working for your organisation:

In December 2024, we underwent a full OFSTED inspect. Although we are still awaiting formal feedback, we are pleased and proud to share we have maintained our outstanding rating. 

In October 2023, Independent Futures received a focused visit from OFSTED looking at the Local Authority’s arrangements for care experienced children and young people (care leavers). We proudly share some highlights from the report:

• Young people are effusive about Independent Futures, Islington’s leaving care service.
• Care experienced children and young people in Islington benefit from teams of highly committed, ambitious and determined professionals who work extremely well together, helping the children and young people to remain safe and to achieve in life.   
• Exceptional and aspirational corporate and operational leaders work together to listen to care experienced young people, to understand their world and to act on their views.  
• Islington’s motivational practice model ensures that all staff and many partner agencies provide trauma-informed assessments.
• The genuine warmth of staff and their affection and pride in children’s progress and achievements are evident in their direct work and frequent contact and visits. 
• Staff report that they feel valued by their managers. This improves and supports practitioners’ emotional health and well-being. 
• Skilled social workers and YPAs are appropriately proud of their work.
• Good opportunities for development, training and promotion are increasing the number of staff transferring from agency to permanent contracts.  
• A localised approach to commissioning housing support means that young people can maintain local links and have access to important local services, such as colleges, employment and training opportunities that will support them to achieve independence.

The Independent Futures Service is well resourced and enjoys a stable and supportive workforce. You will be joining a multi-professional team made up of experienced managers, Senior Social Workers, Social Workers, Young Person Advisors, Mental Health Social Worker, CAMHS professionals, a UASC specialist and Social Work Coordinators. We have opportunities to consult with clinicians and you will receive supervision and manage support from a Senior Social Worker.

Our children, young people and their families are at the heart of everything we do and the development of our practice model allows us to them towards their version of meaningful and sustained changed. Islington’s Motivational Practice Model provides an integrated care, safeguarding and change model, which includes Motivational Interviewing skills helping to build meaningful relationships and promote safety, collaboration and purposeful change.

What is Motivational Practice?

Motivational Practice is Islington’s Practice Model. There are core elements that underpin the practice framework that provide a set of skills around how to communicate in a helpful way with workers that you supervise, the professional network as a whole and families we work with, supporting a process of change.

Our practice model is further complemented by Trauma-informed practice (including Dyadic Development Practice), as we believe that by better understanding the lived experiences of those we are here to serve, we are better positioned to engage, support and assist children and young people to reach their full potential. Relationships are also central to achieving the very best outcome for our children, young people, their families, and their carers. We work closely with our fostering team and placements service to support our carers in offering a trauma informed approach to care, and to offer stable placements where our children and young people can achieve their potential.

For further information or for an informal conversation about the post, please contact Independent Futures Team Managers:

Lila Wisbeach or Mehmet Krasniqi