What could be more rewarding than helping care-experienced young people build the confidence, independence and opportunities they need to thrive in adulthood? Do you have the expertise and passion to lead practice that transforms outcomes for young people leaving care?

If so then this could be the ideal opportunity for you. We have a part time (30 hours), 12 month, fixed term or secondment opportunity in our Leaving Care Team for a Senior Practitioner. If you are applying for the role as a secondment you must speak to your line manager before applying, to confirm that you can be released from your substantive post.

We work with young people aged 16 to 25 who are in care or care experienced, supporting them to develop independence, access education, employment and training opportunities, maintain positive relationships, and achieve stability in adulthood. We use a strengths-based and relationship-focused approach, working in partnership with young people and professionals to achieve sustainable change and improved outcomes.

Practitioners in the Leaving Care Team tell us how much they value the supportive relationships they have with their colleagues and the strong focus on helping young people achieve positive outcomes as they move into adulthood.

The role is hybrid with a mix of home and office working. It covers the whole of Cambridgeshire but the office base can be Noble House in Ely or Scott House in Huntingdon.

If this sounds like an environment where you would thrive, we would love to hear from you! For more information or an informal chat, email Head of Service Melissa Jiggins, melissa.jiggins@cambridgeshire.gov.uk to arrange a call or simply apply today!

Closing date 29th September. Interviews will be held in person week commencing 5th October.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

What will you be doing?

Day-to-day responsibilities of a Senior Practitioner in the Leaving Care Team include:

• Providing leadership in highly complex cases involving care experienced young people, risk management, vulnerability, homelessness prevention, and transition planning.
• Providing written and verbal reports for a variety of settings that are concise, informative and based on analysis of complex information and evidence.
• Leading, guiding and directing Social Workers, Personal Advisers and other practitioners, supporting their performance and development, including supervision.
• Supporting the planning, allocation and review of children across the team.
• Providing oversight and quality assurance of Pathway Plans and transition planning.
• Supporting partnership working with housing, education, health, DWP and other agencies to promote positive outcomes for young people.
• Supporting the induction and retention of staff.

About you

We’re looking for confident and dynamic individuals who enjoy making a difference in their local community, are curious and spot things that others might not see, enjoy building relationships and like to explore possibilities.

You must:

• Be a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England registration.
• Have the ability to work from a variety of locations and travel countywide independently.

This is a Senior Practitioner post, so you must be able to demonstrate experience in complex case management, safeguarding practice, permanence and transition planning, and providing informal support or supervision to others.

Experience of working with care experienced young people and an understanding of the statutory responsibilities towards care leavers would be advantageous.

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• 6 days of protected time each year to support in maintaining your Continuous Professional Development
• A Refer a Friend Scheme where if you refer another Social Worker to us who is subsequently employed by us as a result of that introduction, we’ll pay you an introduction fee of £350
• Access to our Cambridgeshire Academy for Reaching Excellence (CARE) who will support your development, enabling you to become the best practitioner you can be

For more information and to see our other benefits, take a look at the benefits brochure attached to this advert.