Family Support Worker - Adoption
The starting salary for this position is £14,646 per annum based on an 18 hour working week, pro-rata to £29,291.
Adoption South East (ASE) is a regional adoption agency delivering adoption services on behalf of four local authorities: Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove.
We are currently looking for a confident and capable person to join our Woking Team, providing maternity cover from mid May 2023 to March 2024.
As a Family Support Worker in our team, you will work alongside Social Workers to deliver adoption services and will have a high degree of contact with prospective adopters and adopted people, online and in person. Our team are a friendly and supportive group of colleagues, including Managers, Social Workers, Caseworkers and a dedicated business support team.
This is a really rewarding role, where you'll be working with applicants undergoing assessment as prospective adopters during Stage 1 of the assessment process. Stage 1 of the adoption process is intended to provide a detailed picture of what life as an adoptive parent might entail, and so you will co-ordinate a range of learning opportunities over a two month period, as a prelude to a Social Worker led assessment during Stage 2. You will also review the outcome of a series of background checks to ensure that applicants would not pose a risk to children. As such, our Family Support Workers need to be public facing, supportive but clear communicators, and capable of providing reports summarising detailed information.
In this role you might also be providing support for 'keeping in touch' arrangements between adoptive families and the child's first family where this has been agreed to be in the child's best interest, by arranging and supporting meet ups or helping with letter writing. We also run events and support groups for adopting families which you could also be involved in. This may require occasional weekend working, for which time off in lieu is given.
To be considered for shortlisting for this position your CV and personal statement will need to clearly evidence:
- An interest in adoption
- Commitment to finding safe and secure homes for children who need to be adopted
- Commitment to inclusive practice
- Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team
- A full UK driving licence and willingness to travel within the ASE region (for which mileage is paid)
- Confident in the use of Microsoft 365, including Word and Teams
This is a very varied and interesting role, where no two days are alike, with scope to work in an office environment, out in the community and at times from home. So, if you're looking for a position that is both challenging, but genuinely rewarding, we would love to hear from you.
The job advert closes at 23:59 on 12th April 2023.
Interviews will take place in person at our Woking office on 21st April 2023.
An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.
We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.
Benefits
For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit the advert on the Surrey County Council Jobs site.
Our Commitment
Surrey County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer of first choice reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all under represented groups.