Fostering Senior Practitioner
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Fostering Senior Practitioner
Role Responsibility
The Kent Kinship Assessment Service is recruiting to the position of senior social worker within Kinship Assessment team 2. This is one of three kinship assessment teams established in April 2024 .
You will be a motivated practitioner, passionate about children's wellbeing within kinship care and fostering .You will demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and proven experience in completing high quality, evidence based and analytical assessments with adults and children within a family setting .
As well as completing Kinship Foster Carer assessments, you will deliver preparatory training for kinship carers; completing Special Guardianship Assessments; Child Arrangement Order assessments and viability assessments. You will also attend fostering panels and court hearings which will require professional and confident presentation skills .
Part of the role will be to assess, support and supervise Kinship foster Carers, working collaboratively with the team around the child to achieve the very best outcomes. You will need to show that you have a thorough understanding of child focused social work , professional experience working with families and that you are highly organised and able to work to very tight deadlines.
You will be expected to undertake complex assessment work, particularly with kinship carers where there might be higher levels of risk and vulnerability. You will develop areas of specialist practice and be a role model and mentor for less experienced staff, including sharing knowledge and experience through leading Practice Meetings and completing joint visits where required. On occasion you will deputise for the Team Manager delivering clearly defined tasks, including quality assurance of reports and joining fostering panel membership.
The role includes evening and weekend work and requires a flexible approach .This role involves travel outside Kent - it is essential that you can travel in a timely manner .
You should have a good understanding of the Fostering Regulations, National Minimum Standards and the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations .
This is a unique opportunity to be joining a team whose goals are to improve the outcomes of children by completing thorough kinship assessments along with preparation courses for carers to equip them with the knowledge and skills to care for children and promote their identity .
This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.
This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service and to registration as a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England.
Interview date at Kroner House, Ashford on Friday 25th October
Contact Details
For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Mim Nichols (Team Manager, Kinship Assessment Team 2 Kroner House) via mim.nichols@kent.gov.uk
About the Company
Work that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!
KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.
Please note - if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.