Social Worker

Are you passionate about kinship care? If so a fantastic opportunity has arisen to work within the Kinship Supervision and Permanence Support Team Here at Staffordshire we recognise the need for specialist Kinship support, this team will boost our provision and provides a fantastic opportunity to provide nurture, support and supervision working creatively to ensure children remain within the family and friends network. Overview Our new Kinship Supervision and Permanence team will provide: Supervision and support to kinship foster carers across the county following their approval from panel, this can include families where there are additional support needs. Provide more directive support to kinship foster carers with a focus on alleviating any barriers progressing to a permanenceroute which best suits their family life, but most importantly is in a child’s best interest. Progress the Special Guardianship (SGO) report for Court, including the SGO support plan, and manage Court proceedings to conclusion where the care plan for the child in their care is Special Guardianship. Once an SGO is granted they will support the transition from this team to the Special Guardianship Post Order Support Team. This is a county wide team based in Stafford. You will be undertaking visits to families in a range of areas as such a mixture of home and office working is promoted. Main Responsibilities Undertaking regular supervision, support, and unannounced visits to a variety of approved kinship foster carers. Also undertake fostering assessments in relation to changes of approval and foster carer annual reviews and Special Guardianship reports for Court. Close liaison is maintained with children’s teams and others involved in the team around fostered children to ensure good outcomes for children. As part of this dynamic service you will be involved in Smarter working practices in order to continuously strive for best practice, offering positive experiences for applicants whilst providing high quality reports. You will have access to Fostering Training and will work closely with other Fostering and Kinship Teams across the service. The Ideal Candidate You will: Be a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England with post qualification experience. Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the Fostering National Minimum Standards / Fostering Regulations / Special Guardianship Regulations. Have excellent report writing and communication skills. Be highly organised and able to prioritise and manage a busy workload in order to meet deadlines. Be able to work as part of our team and the wider service, whilst having the initiative and confidence to work autonomously when required. Have experience in a wide range of aspects of the social work role. We’re happy to talk flexible working. If you'd like to discuss the role further, please contact Team Manager, Chloe Ottley at chloe.ottley@staffordshire.gov.uk. Interviews will be held on the 18th December 2025. Our Recruitment Process We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role. Equal Opportunities Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and a Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities. As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers, we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post. This position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. #J-18808-Ljbffr