Social Worker - Grade 7/8 - £38,607- £47,805pa (Plus £4,000 annual MS payment)
The Assessment Service consists of 4 teams who work on a duty rota basis, each covering a duty week once every 4 weeks with roughly 9 people in each team, made up of a Team Manager, Advanced Practitioners, Social Workers and ASYE Social Workers. The Managers and Advanced Practitioners in the Service are permanent and provide great stability and direction for their teams. Our primary responsibility is to offer parenting and family assessments for families who have complex and additional needs while working with our partner agencies to help families keep children safe. The families we assess often present with a range of complex issues. An essential part of our approach is understanding intergenerational factors affecting parental capacity and using our systemic model of practice to build resilience within families.
We place a strong emphasis on safeguarding children, assessing risks and providing early intervention through collaboratively working with family, working in close partnership with schools, community health, the voluntary sector and other partners to develop and provide preventative and targeted support. As a service we ensure that the voice of the children and their lived experience are captured in the assessment.
We promote a hybrid model of working for our social care staff, with a flexible approach involving working from our town hall campus/hubs. In this role, you are expected to work from our town hall campus during your teams duty week, for team meetings and other development days – and at the request of your manage. We are encouraging increased face-face working for teams as we know how important this is for social workers.
Our services are diverse, and we have exciting and stimulating opportunities for everyone and various career pathways you can explore. No two days are ever the same, as you’ll be working with a number of children, young people and families who are all facing different and at times complex situations.
As a social worker in Havering, you will feel comfortable with and have substantial experience managing defined caseloads and working collaboratively to facilitate high support and high challenge through co-production. As well as being passionate about utilising creative means of engagement and collaboration in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for children, young people and families in need of support.
However, these are not the only skills and characteristics we are looking for. To be shortlisted for the position, you must be able to clearly evidence the following within your application:
Experience of work with children and families, including assessments and statutory work.
Experience in ensuring children and young people are adequately protected in line with Havering LSCB and departmental policy and procedures and relevant legislation.
Experience in delivering an effective children’s social care service as part of a social work team, improving outcomes for children and young people.
Ability to manage caseloads dependent upon experience, grade of post and complexity of cases, utilising specialist knowledge for appropriate interventions, needs and risk assessments, care planning and child protection investigations.
Experience of undertaking high quality assessments, using child-centred, community focused, and multi-agency interventions to bring about positive change through developing effective relationships and to secure the best outcomes for children and young people.
Experience of multi-disciplinary inter-agency basis and ability to negotiate on behalf of those we work with.
Hold a current Social Work England registration.
Additional Information
For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Farida Patel on 01708 431182 or by email on Farida.patel@havering.gov.uk.
This advert will close at 23:59 on 20th August 2023, however interest in this job may be high and we therefore reserve the right to close the vacancy early. You will be notified if your application has been successful. Interview date to be confirmed.
Should you require any help or advice with your online application, please contact the Recruitment Helpdesk on 01708 432770.
Havering strives to be a diverse and inclusive borough, a place where we can ALL be ourselves. We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff, and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of race, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, age, religion etc.
We want everyone to choose Havering. When you apply for a job with us, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity or sexual orientation. Our residents and service users come from all walks of life, and so do our employees.
The London Borough of Havering has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you are appointed to a job that involves working with these groups, you may be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
Please attach your supporting statement, explaining in no more than x2 A4 sides why and how you meet the criteria for this role.
We practice anonymised recruitment. Please ensure that you remove all personal information from any documents that you upload.
Havering is an outer London borough like no other. Sitting in Northeast London (Zone 6), we have three Crossrail stations in borough which means we are only 30 minutes from Oxford Street. We are well connected to the hustle and bustle of the city, whilst just a short drive or bus ride from the surrounding Essex countryside and coast, giving our residents the best of both city and rural living.
It’s no wonder that we have one of the fastest growing and increasingly diverse child populations in the country, who benefit from living in one of the greenest areas in London. We have some amazing parks, 16 of which have green flag award status, and we are served by a rich mix of foundation, community, voluntary aided and academy schools with great Ofsted ratings.
Havering Town Hall, which hosts our main offices, is in the centre of Romford - our largest town and home to a vibrant street market dating back to 1247. Our offices are a 5 minute walk from the main shopping centres which host a range of popular shops, restaurants and gyms.
We are also unique in our political makeup, with Havering Residents’ Association working to make a Havering you want to be part of.
We are dedicated to creating the right conditions to support our social care practitioners to thrive by fostering an environment where you can develop your skills and knowledge alongside like-minded individuals. We value our employees and offer a range of benefits:
If you have any questions about applying, please contact Talent Team: Talent@havering.gov.uk