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Join an Outstanding Authority…

Bracknell Forest Council Children’s Social Care were graded as Outstanding by Ofsted in June 2022 (ILACS Inspection):

“Leaders lead by example and are available to all staff when needed for case exploration and discussion”.

“Children and young people in the care of Bracknell Forest benefit from consistently good support and care from their committed and caring social workers and foster carers”.

We have an exciting opportunity in our Permanency Service for an individual who shares our commitment to improving outcomes for the children we are working with and for. You will make a significant contribution to the care planning for children subject to pre proceedings (PLO) and care proceedings by undertaking comprehensive and analytical parenting assessments.

If you are looking for a team that is inclusive, ambitious, and always learning, we’d welcome your application to join us.

What it’s like working in our team…

We are a small and friendly local authority. The leaders and managers know that it is essential for social care workers to have a secure physical and psychological base from which to be the best workers they can be. Working collaboratively with families to keep them together, where it is safe to do so, is at the heart of our embedded Family Safeguarding Model and our approach is underpinned by Motivational Interviewing (MI).

The Duty Team is the front door to Children’s Social Care Services, providing advice and information to the public and professionals and undertaking assessments when the child and family appear to need support. If a contact or referral to the team does not meet the threshold for social work assessment, it is signposted to appropriate services or other early help resources. This team also carries out child protection enquiries and child in need assessments, visiting families when there are concerns about children’s safety and/or welfare.

Following an assessment if further intervention is required, the family are allocated a social worker from one of the long term Family Safeguarding Teams or Children’s Specialist Support Team if the child has a disability. .

Our Children Looked After Team and Leaving Care Service is centred around making a difference to each individual child who is looked after, including as they approach and enter adulthood. Working alongside children and their social worker to achieve permanence for our most vulnerable, we are committed to finding safe and secure ‘forever homes’ and the development of All About Me and Life Journey work for children.

The Permanency Service:

Bracknell Forest Council’s Permanency Service is part of Children’s Social Care and is a multi-disciplinary team consisting of a Parenting Assessor, Behaviour Specialist, an Under 1’s Project Worker, an Education Psychologist, a Play Therapist, a Drama Therapist, and a Therapeutic Life Story Worker. The Permanency Service offers a tailored service to enhance children’s experience of permanence and stability.

The Permanency Service complements Bracknell Forest’s Duty, Family Safeguarding, Children Looked After and Leaving Care Teams, enabling children to be cared for safely within their own families wherever possible. If children are unable to be safely cared for within their families, we support the child and their carers to enhance placement stability and in turn the child’s long-term life chances.

The Parenting Assessor role plays an important part in informing care planning for children subject to pre proceedings and care proceedings.

Our social workers have the time to get to know everyone they work with, excellent support from managers and colleagues across the department and expert guidance whenever they need it.

Our workforce tells us:

• There is a supportive and approachable leadership and management team
• All teams offer each other good peer support; there is a strong focus on shared problem solving
• They feel appreciated and their development is prioritised
• Supervision is of high quality, reflective and routinely provided

You will be supported to carry out the following duties, responsibilities and training…

As a Parenting Assessor you will undertake assessments of parents or stepparents of children who are subject to pre proceedings (PLO) or care proceedings. You will make recommendations in the best interests of the child(ren) and these will play a significant part in the care planning for the children. You will work closely with the children’s allocated social worker, and the adult workers from the Family Safeguarding Teams, attending reflective Group Case Supervision.

Social Workers are equipped with the tools to build meaningful relationships and facilitate lasting changes for families. To further support you to provide high quality consistent social work, we have a comprehensive learning and development offer, driven by a dedicated Principal Social Worker. We have resilience groups, well-being events, regular, reflective one to one and group supervisions and peer support. Bracknell Forest is a great place to learn and develop your practice.

This role will enable you to continually develop your skills and knowledge, as well as contribute to the ongoing improvement of the services and support we deliver.

The benefits you will experience are…

• Flexible working opportunities including working remotely for part of the week
• A comprehensive induction and excellent ongoing training programme
• Annual retention bonus, and relocation package
• Funded Social Work England annual registration fee
• Generous holiday allowance with the option to buy, sell and bank annual leave
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• An interest free loan for a rail season ticket
• Access to Cycle to Work Scheme
• Internal sports and social club opportunities with discounted leisure centre and gym membership
• Supermarket discount
• A great office location next to travel links and the regenerated town centre (Lexicon)

What we’re looking for…

We are looking for practitioners who can engage with children and their parents and carers, be reliable and provide stability and ambition for children and their families during the time they are working with us.

To be successful, you must have current registration with Social Work England and have experience of working within the legal frameworks that support our work. You must have a commitment to facilitating better outcomes for children, be organised and skilled in effective engagement of families.

If you have the skills, knowledge, experience and enthusiasm we are looking for, and if you want to work for a local authority that values and invests in staff, we would love to hear from you.

Part-time hours and Job Share opportunities will be considered

Interview date

Interviews will be held: TBC

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:

Beth Patterson, Assistant Team Manager - Permanency Service; 01344 352547 [email protected]

Or

Hannah Morris, Team Manager - Life Chances on 01344 351379; [email protected]

As part of the Council’s ongoing commitment to redeployment, please note that this vacancy may be withdrawn at any stage of the recruitment process if a suitable redeployee is identified.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council.

Any candidates wishing to apply who would require sponsorship can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the role by assessing their circumstances against the relevant criteria.

No agencies please.

Equal Opportunities

Bracknell Forest Council – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

How to apply

Please note, we do not accept CVs submitted without a fully completed online application form.