Social Worker - Court Team (Children's)

Posted 20th Nov, 2024
Location
Sutton
Salary/rate
£40,755 – £50,574
Hours
Full-time
Working arrangements
Blended
Contract type
Permanent
Closing date
3rd Jan, 2025
About the role

Join the Court Team as a Social Worker on a starting salary of £40,755 and enjoy a Golden Hello along with a Retention Bonus, outlined as follows:

  • £1,000 paid with your first month's salary
  • £1,000 for your first completed year of service
  • £2,000 for your second completed year of service
  • £3,000 for your third completed year of service and each year thereafter
  • Reimbursement of Social Work England Registration
  • Flexible working model that allows social workers to manage their diary to meet the needs of the service.

This is an excellent opportunity to advance your career in social care by developing your parent assessment skills, report writing and knowledge of court work.

We've got an exciting opportunity for confident and skilled Court Social Workers within Children’ Social Care at the London Borough of Sutton. Our objective is to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people. 

Your responsibilities will include:

  • Conduct thorough assessments and evaluations of the children and families involved in family court and care proceedings.
  • Provide counselling and advocacy for the children and families, ensuring the best interests of the children is key to all decision making.
  • Work collaboratively with judges, solicitors, and other court officials to prepare comprehensive reports and present findings and recommendations.

As a Court Social Worker, you will play a crucial role in assessing the needs of families and individuals engaged in court proceedings, where our cases are connected to Children Looked After or living at home. You will provide essential support, collaborate with legal professionals, and advocate for the best interests of the children and their families. This will include the undertaking of all tasks associated with working with Children under statutory frameworks, whilst ensuring compliance with Court direction, and providing the Court with child-focused evidence, analysis and well-informed care plans. You will play an intrinsic role in working directly with the children and young people, ensuring their wishes and views are heard, respected, and relayed to the court.

Are you ready to progress your career? We are committed to supporting your development as you embark on your journey with Suttons Children Social Care service.

Our Ideal Candidate

This opportunity invites experienced social workers with a strong commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and families within court proceedings. You should possess excellent assessment and planning skills, with the ability to create and implement tailored plans that address each child’s unique needs. Strong advocacy skills are essential, as you will be responsible for ensuring that children’s voices are heard and their rights upheld. Collaboration with families, and other professionals is key, so effective communication and the ability to articulate yourself is essential for the role, in order to build strong relationships with the children, families, and other professionals.

In addition, we would expect the following from all suitable candidates:

  • To be registered with Social Work England and hold a degree in Social Care or similar.
  • At least three years post qualifying experience as a registered social worker practising in a child and family setting, ideally with experience in managing cases and court proceedings.
  • Successful completion of an Assisted and Supported Year in employment (ASYE).
  • Knowledge of the UK Court system and its application with children's social care.
  • Ability to communicate complex social issues clearly to both our service users and professionals.
  • Ideally, experience in working with legal professionals -  judges, solicitors, and other court officials to prepare comprehensive reports and present findings and recommendations.

This role also presents an opportunity for social workers that are capable of demonstrating a passion to work with children, a dedication to the best interest of children to deliver the best outcomes and want to develop their skills and experience within the UK Court System and its application with children social care. 

If you are driven to helping children and young people and want to make a positive impact for the next generation, we would love to hear from you. 

About you

Social work qualification and at least one year's post qualifying experience in a social work role and be able to meet the requirements of the social work regulator. With the exception of Newly qualified Social Workers (ASYE).
A current valid UK driving licence and the use of a car for work, with valid insurance covering business use - where required.
Demonstrate an effective and active use of supervision for accountability, professional reflection and development
Demonstrate an ability and understanding of the frameworks, theory and research which are applicable to the practice setting.
Demonstrate a working knowledge and understanding of the legal and policy frameworks and guidance that inform social work practice and which safeguard vulnerable service users. (Relating specifically to the area in which this post is placed).
Demonstrate an ability to clearly and effectively communicate with service users, families and carers colleagues, and other professionals ensuring that individual’s views opinions and wishes are explicitly recorded using a range of tools and techniques applicable to the service sector.
Have excellent organisational skills and be able to prioritise workload according to risk and need.
Demonstrate the ability to work as an autonomous professional and an ability to produce succinct and clear professional documentation which is of an excellent standard and in line with statutory and local timescales and local protocol. 

About Sutton

Sutton combines a high quality of life, green and spacious, with distinctive town centres providing access to jobs and culture the capital has to offer.

Ofsted rated us as ‘Good’, with 'Outstanding' leadership, in December 2021. However, we have not rested but continue to strive to do more for families, strengthen practice and bring innovative ways of working across our systems.

Our offer to you

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

  • Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)

  • Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)

  • Comprehensive learning and development programme

  • Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities

  • Interest free season ticket loans

  • Local Government Pension Scheme

  • Car parking scheme

  • Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme

  • Zip car scheme

  • Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses

  • Confidential wellbeing and counselling support

  • Subsidised gym membership

Interested in working in Sutton? Hear from our staff below on why they think Sutton is a great place to be a Social Worker.

If you have any questions about applying for this role, please contact recruitment@sutton.gov.uk