Are you passionate about leading high-quality social work for adolescents when they need it most?

The Cambridgeshire Adolescent Service is focused on safeguarding vulnerable young people who are facing risks outside the home. We achieve that by building:

• Relationships with children and their networks, using a trauma-informed approach.
• Safety, through direct work with children and addressing the contexts of harm.
• Connections with community resources that can move children towards positive futures.

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced social worker to join the South Adolescent Team as a Senior Practitioner on a full time, 12 month, fixed term contract or secondment. You must speak to your line manager before applying for a secondment role, to confirm that you can be released from your substantive post.

The Adolescent South Team is a motivated and well supported team working across Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire. It is at the forefront of our new pathways for children facing risks outside the home, and closely connected with colleagues in the Missing and Exploitation Team and Youth Justice Service. Young people are referred to the team for one or more of these reasons: they regularly go missing; they are at risk of criminal or sexual exploitation; they are involved in serious violence; they have significant challenges with their mental health or substance misuse; they are aged 16/17 and homeless.

In Cambridgeshire we strive to ensure that children are at the heart of everything we do and to provide practitioners with the tools and resources they need to do their best practice.

If you would like an informal chat or require any further information please contact Team Manager Clare Pontais at clare.pontais@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

This is a rolling campaign and we check applications daily. We will close the advert once the position is filled so don’t wait to apply!

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?

You will be responsible for a small caseload of approximately 6-8 children aged 12 and above where the primary safeguarding concerns relate to risk outside the home. Most children open to the team are supported through Child In Need Plans, but you will also undertake some Child and Family Assessments and work with some Children in Care and some subject to Child Protection Plans (including through our ROTH CP framework).

Your days will be varied, but include core tasks such as visiting children at home or in the community, attending meetings with professional networks, and completing written tasks.

As a Senior Practitioner, you will be responsible for supporting the Team Manager with the mentoring of colleagues and the development of good practice in the team, as well as sometimes deputising for the Team Manager. You will take a leading role for the Adolescent Service in the implementation of the Families First reforms, and particularly the pilot phase in East Cambridgeshire.

We operate flexible working including regular home working, but ensure that staff are well connected to their team-mates, including weekly check-in calls and in-person team meetings on a fortnightly basis.

About you

We’re looking for an experienced, confident and dynamic social worker, who enjoys working with teenagers and their families and making a difference in their local community. You will be curious and creative, enjoy building relationships and be a team player.

You will have experience working in statutory social work settings and have a high level of knowledge and skills in the areas of assessment, Child In Need, Child Protection and Children in Care.

You will be able to provide professional leadership for children with multiple complex needs and vulnerabilities, in situations which involve risk, complexity and safety.

You must:

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

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 relocation package (eligibility applies)
• Scalable retention payments of up to £9,118 (pro rata) over a 3 year period, starting after your first full year of employment
• 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.