Adopt London North is the Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) for 6 North London boroughs - Haringey, Enfield, Camden, Hackney, Barnet, and Islington (our host borough). On behalf of our boroughs, we provide all adoption services which include:
Adopt London North (ALN) is a group of around 40 friendly and supportive staff, based in our dedicated office space in the Laycock Centre, N1 1TH (just 2 minutes’ walk from Highbury & Islington station). Our staff group is very stable, and you will benefit from working in a team of experienced and specialist adoption social workers.
Adopt London North is part of a wider partnership called Adopt London that covers 24 London boroughs and over 160 staff. We work together to develop and share best practice, and to connect people impacted by adoption across London. We have exciting, shared projects in place to develop our practice across early permanency, matching practice, models of adoption support, and our ‘Black Adoption Project’ which is committed to reducing disparities for Black children in adoption by addressing systemic and cultural barriers throughout the system.
You can find out more about Adopt London here: https://adoptlondon.org.uk/ and about the Black Adoption Project here: https://adoptlondon.org.uk/want-to-adopt/our-children/black-adoption-project/
The role
We are looking to recruit Social Workers to both our Adoption Support team and our Recruitment & Assessment team.
The Adoption Support team runs a busy service supporting adoptive families, adopted adults, and birth families. Work includes arranging therapeutic support under the Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund, case working with families who need advice, support and advocacy, accessing and sharing adoption records with adopted adults, and helping birth families and adoptive families remain in contact. The team also provides support through groups run for a range of clients including adopted adults and parents of adopted teenagers.
The Recruitment & Assessment team lead our work to encourage people to consider adoption, and to provide training, support, and assessment to take prospective adopters to the point of approval, and through the family finding process to the successful placement of a child or children in the family. Work includes dealing with initial enquiries, undertaking prospective adopter assessments, providing specialist training for prospective adopters, and supervising new adoptive parents as their children settle into the family.
We give the opportunity for staff to express an interest in moving to a different team within Adopt London North as spaces in the service become available, to ensure you are provided with a broad range of opportunities to develop your knowledge and expertise.
Working Arrangements
We have a flexible hybrid working style. You will be required to work from the office several times a week and will also undertake meetings with clients in the office and in their homes, but you will have flexibility to choose whether you prefer to be home or office-based on other days. We have regular training and development days, and there are opportunities to specialise your skills through delivering training and workshops, facilitating group work, and taking part in practice development projects.
About You
To be considered for this role you will need to demonstrate (in both your application and your interview):
Our commitment to supporting the diversity of our workforce
We are committed to ensuring that our communities are represented across our workforce at all levels. We are taking concerted, meaningful and intentional action to create an inclusive culture because we believe this is at the heart of enabling diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking, to thrive in our organisation. We are aware of systemic oppression and its impact on individuals and communities in terms of unequal access to services and opportunities. As such, we are taking positive action to challenge all forms of discrimination and injustice. As part of our ‘Black Adoption Project’, we provide confidential, therapeutically supported Safer Spaces sessions on a monthly basis to Black staff.
We welcome questions and requests for discussion about the roles available. Please email Teresa Stratford, Service Manager (teresa.stratford@islington.gov.uk) to arrange a time to speak.
Person specification
You should demonstrate on your application form how you meet the essential criteria. Please
ensure that you address each of the criteria as this will be assessed to determine your
suitability for the post.
Essential criteria
Qualifications
Essential Criteria description Assessed by
criteria
1 SWE recognised social work qualification. Application
Experience & Skills
Essential Criteria description Assessed by
criteria
2 Good understanding of relevant legislation, Application/Interview
regulation, safeguarding practices and research
on what works to improve outcomes for
children and families. Understanding of the
relevant statutory guidance and National
Minimum Standards.
3 Relationship and effective direct work Interview/Test
Demonstrated evidence of building purposeful
relationships balancing empathy and authority.
You will show experience of direct work,
working with the impact of trauma and
ensuring safeguarding is always prioritised.
Demonstrate an ability to facilitate direct work
with adoptive parents, individually, facilitating
groups and delivering training.
4 Communication (oral) Interview/Test
Demonstrate evidence of communicating and
listening with children and families/carers
taking into account diversity and the need to
tailor communication style to engage and
motivate people to participate in support
services. To demonstrate an ability to supervise
Essential Criteria description Assessed by
criteria
others in partnership within the regulatory
requirements.
5 Communication (written) Application
Produce written cases notes and reports that
are well argued, focused and jargon free with
sound analysis and rationale for actions.
6 Child Development Interview
Demonstrate ability to engage children in their
environment, understand the world in which
they live and the quality of their key
relationships; to recognise signs that the child
may not be meeting developmental milestones,
has been harmed or is at risk of harm; to utilise
research and evidenced-based approaches to
actively inform casework. To promote stable
and permanent outcomes for children, enabling
carers to prepare and plan for caring for
children long term, making use of all relevant
services.
7 Adult mental ill health, substance Interview
misuse, domestic abuse,
physical ill health and disability
To demonstrate the ability to assess the
impact of secondary trauma on carers and
families caring for children and young people
and an ability to enable carers to maintain
caring through periods of stress.
8 Abuse and neglect in children Interview
Demonstrate the ability to assess the impact of
cumulative trauma and be clear about
concerns.
Demonstrate the ability to facilitate the
development of others to provide attuned care
to children affected by abuse and neglect.
9 Assessments Application/Interview
Demonstrated ability to collaboratively carry
out multi-agency, in-depth and ongoing
assessments of social need and risk to children
with particular emphasis on capacity for
change, leading to effective planning to
address the impact of trauma, where the voice
of the child is given precedence.
An ability to assess and review the potential of
applicants to offer attuned care to children and
Essential Criteria description Assessed by
criteria
young people and to prepare them effectively
to meet the needs of children.
An ability to propose matching and selection of
placements, with timescales as required and
identify support needs and ensure support is
provided.
10 Analysis, decision making, planning and Application/Interview/Test
review
Evidence of being able to identify thresholds
within the continuum of risks and
needs. Ability to make clear recommendations
about how to enable change to address risk
and need based on evidence and professional
judgement.
Collaborate with the child, family or carers to
set out clear goals about what needs to
change and when. Evidence of drawing the
relevant people into the plan, including family’s
own support network, ensuring plans are
purposeful and support children to reach their
potential.
To evidence the suitability of an applicant to
care for looked after children through
assessment and review.
11 The law and the family, and youth justice Application
systems
To work in partnership with colleagues to
provide appropriate evidence for Court. To
ensure all relevant information is available for
Independent Panels including the Independent
review mechanism.
12 Role of supervision Application/Interview
Demonstrated ability to make effective use of
reflective and discussion opportunities to
enhance your professional practice. Awareness
of your own emotional response to the work
and the ability to identify strategies to ensure
a high quality of service.
Demonstrate an ability to provide effective
supervision and support of foster carers under
regulatory requirements, helping carers
become aware of their own emotional
response to the care and to identify strategies
to ensure a high quality service.
Essential Criteria description Assessed by
criteria
13 Organisational context Application/Interview/Test
Demonstrated high organisational skills and
ability to prioritise workload in order to meet
the requirements of the organisation and
national systems.
Advocate for the children and young people
you work with to receive organisational focus,
resource and support from internal and
external agencies.
To advocate for good practice in the
partnership between carers and internal and
external agencies, ensuring carers are treated
fairly.
Special requirements of the post
Essential Criteria description Assessed by
criteria
14 This role requires registration and good Application
standing with Social Work England (SWE) and satisfactory enhanced clearance from the
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Islington is one of the most vibrant areas of London, with a diverse population, a unique cultural identity and a wealth of open spaces, theatres, museums, cinemas, and galleries.
Our Children’s Social Care services have been rated by OFSTED as Outstanding and praises an “unwavering commitment to improving and enriching the lives of children and their families”
A snapshot of what we offer our social workers:
For more information and a discussion about working for London Borough of Islington, contact our Principal Social Worker Wynand McDonald, Principal Child and Family Social Worker at Wynand.mcdonald@islington.gov.uk.