An exciting opportunity has arisen to join us as a Youth Justice Social Worker. You will work with children who have been referred to the service by the Police for an out of court disposal or have been made subject to an order by the courts.
We are a high performing service and welcome candidates who share our obsession to help children overcome barriers to achieve and succeed. You will need to have a social work qualification and have significant experience in working with adolescents.
It is important that you have a creative approach, plenty of energy, initiative, and the ability to forge effective partnerships with other agencies. We are especially interested in candidates who are familiar with trauma-informed practice and have experience of delivering interventions within such a framework.
Bexley Children’s Services has adopted Signs of Safety as its practice model. This strengths and solution focused ethos of working with families and colleagues is threaded throughout all areas of Children’s Social Care. As part of your role, you will work alongside this practice framework.
Bexley provides exceptional training, development, and supervision and our YJS staff retention rates are excellent. Within the YJS, you will be supported to develop and strengthen your knowledge and skills in trauma-informed practice and have access to a wide range of multi-disciplinary training as well as clinical supervision. We also encourage practitioners to take on the lead in and develop expertise in specific areas of practice through champion roles.
Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information.
For an informal discussion about the role please contact Teresa Creighan, Team Manager, 02030455780, teresa.creighan@bexley.gov.uk.
We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.
We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.
For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached.
Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
Bexley is well connected, there are good transport links to central London, the Kent countryside and the Coast! It is the best of both worlds. Our residents and workers can benefit from the new high-speed Elizabeth Line which goes from Abbey Wood, here in Bexley and all the way to Reading, Southeast England.
We are a diverse and growing borough. By 2030 our population will be over 260,000 and almost 300,000 by 2050. Almost 25% of our population is Black and Asian Multi-Ethnic. Bexley is one of London’s greenest boroughs and has recently been awarded Public Sector Campaign of the year by Sustainable City’s prestigious annual awards.
We believe that everyone in Bexley Children’s Social Care should have the opportunity to grow and develop, in every role and at every stage of their career and offer a wide variety of social work roles, both for qualified and unqualified practitioners. Bexley Children’s Social Care offers the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in different areas of Children’s Services: we offer a comprehensive range of professional development opportunities and are committed to ensuring that Bexley is a welcoming and enjoyable place to work.
The children and families we work with, are always kept at the centre of our practice. We believe:
children should stay with their families whenever it’s in their best interests and safe to do so
where it’s not, we must act quickly through the courts to help children find a safe space
success depends on positive, respectful relationships with families and with each other
working with families is unpredictable, so we have to create a supportive environment for our teams
the most effective practice is based on ‘showing your working out’ – so that even when things don’t go to plan, the thinking behind decisions is clear and defensible
Working in social care in Bexley is endlessly rewarding. As well as helping some of the most vulnerable people in our borough, we invest in looking after you and your career.
We offer excellent benefits, from competitive salaries and generous leave to flexible working and a wealth of health and wellness programmes.
flexible working - including opportunities for hybrid working, job sharing, compressed hours, and career breaks
a comprehensive range of training and professional development opportunities including access to research, group and e-learning, coaching and group supervision for colleagues in all roles and at every stage of their career
clear career progression pathways, within a nurturing environment, which allows social work to flourish. From opportunities to undertake social work qualification; our dedicated ASYE Academy; to our Leadership Academy offering bespoke development for our aspiring and existing leaders. There are also opportunities for practitioners to be involved in university research & academic delivery with our partner universities and students.
family leave - includes maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave
mental health and physical wellbeing - including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, help to quit smoking, access to private healthcare, free eye tests and discounted leisure offers
financial wellbeing - excellent pension scheme, charitable giving options
generous annual leave - 25 to 33 days, with the option to purchase extra leave plus an extra bank holiday at Christmas
competitive pay - performance assessments with the opportunity for salary increments and transparent salary scales
transport offers - cycle to work scheme, carpooling, subsidised parking and interest-free season ticket loans
recognition - Thank you messaging to celebrate staff success and sharing of compliments received
professional and personal development - training and workshops to help you thrive and a discount on most Learning and Enterprise College Bexley courses
staff support networks - our networks support and encourage networking between staff with various events throughout the year
employee volunteering - get out of the office and help a local project blossom
MyChoice benefit scheme - your pick of perks from vouchers to car leasing
local authority discount scheme - attraction and theme park discounts and local offers in partnership with KAARP .
We work together in a modern, well-equipped, energising environment that supports team working and collaboration across the service and with partners