Role: Social Worker - Permanent
Division: Supporting Families Division
Team: Permanency, Assessment & Support Team
Salary: Grade I-K - £44,430 - £55,710 plus zone 2&3 travel card
Location: LBTH Town Hall, 106 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1BJ
About Us
We believe that the best place for children is to be raised within their own families, immediate or wider, wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so. In Tower Hamlets, we are committed to building relationships and strengthening families by working with people in a compassionate and understanding way.
We are ambitious for Tower Hamlets children and families and endeavour for every child and young person to be healthy, safe and successful.
Tower Hamlets is a progressive, ambitious and diverse place to work. We place children and families at the heart of everything that we do and are relentless in our pursuit of positive outcomes for all.
Our Better Together Practice Framework is based on the ideas and concepts which underpin Restorative Practice and draws from other strength-based approaches, such as Systemic and Trauma Informed Practice
Our C-Change approach: Connect, Curious, Community, Co-Produce, Collaborate, Check sets out “6 Cs ” for our work with children, young people, their parents and carers, and each other.
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced, qualified social worker to join our very enthusiastic and dedicated kinship team on a permanent basis. The main duties of the team is to undertake Viability Assessments, Special Guardianship/Kinship Assessments and Support Plans to court. The role will also require ongoing support of special guardians/kinship carers pre and post final order as well as present prospective kinship foster carers and the assessment to a permanency panel. This will include supporting children and families through transitions and providing post special guardianship order support.
This vital work enables children to remain safely in the family network free from significant harm to sustain their family and friends links and relationships. The service is committed to ‘child first’ principles, an approach for which collaboration with children, families and multi-agency partners is at the heart of everything we do. This is an exciting time for Kinship Care as the government has agreed 20 million pound investment for reform through 2024-2025.
About You
You will have a strong vision, be self-motivated with the ability to work individually and as part of a team of assessing social workers. Suitable candidates will also be skilled interpersonally while delivering high quality, analytical assessments. You will have knowledge of:
Children Act 1989https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/14A
Special Guardianship Regulationhttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1109/contents/made
Care Planning Regulations 2010https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/959/contents/made
Championing Kinship Care Strategyhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/championing-kinship-care-national-kinship-care-strategy
Our Offer
We've been working hard to make Tower Hamlets a great place to practice social work. We will help you to develop excellent social work practice, leading to career advancement at your own pace. We are committed to developing excellent practitioners and making Tower Hamlets an employer of choice.
We offer a competitive salary - £44, 430 - £55,710 plus zone 2&3 travel card, season ticket loan. We are committed to developing excellent Social Work practitioners and if you choose to work with us you will benefit from:
How to Apply
Please complete application via our recruitment portal.
Closing date: 16th March 2025
Shortlisting: 17th March 2025
Interview: 18th March 2025 (PM) and 19th March 2025 (PM)
Please hold these dates.
Should you wish to have an informal discussion regarding this opportunity you are welcome to contact Silvius Brasville (Team Manager) or Casey Guilbeau (Team Manager) atsilvius.brasivlle@towerhamlets.gov.ukorcasey.guilbeau@towerhamlets.gov.uk.
Additional Details
Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.
Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class.
We are a Disability Confident Employer, which means applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the post are guaranteed an interview. Care experience has also been adopted by the Council as an additional protected characteristic.
We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough.
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This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).
Tower Hamlets Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Tower Hamlets offers the best of London in one borough.
We believe the best place for children is to be raised within their own families, immediate or wider, wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so. Social Workers are at the core of our work with children and families. Our approach is about enabling social workers to build relationships and strengthen families by working with people in a compassionate and understanding way.
We are determined to continue our journey of improvement and deliver outstanding services for children and families of Tower Hamlets, and our offer to staff includes:
The opportunity to work in a richly diverse, challenging and supportive inner London Borough
Competitive remuneration package
Investing in the workforce with end-to-end career support
A manageable and diverse caseload and good quality reflective supervision
Steps to Success, coaching, and bespoke learning and development support from the Learning Academy to develop your practice, with a clear framework for career development and progression into leadership.
Travel card/season ticket loan, Cycle to Work scheme, Local Government Pension Scheme
Opportunities for agile/flexible working
Discounted gym membership, access to free eye test, rent deposit scheme and & You at Work discounts as well as many other benefits
Generous annual leave package and wellbeing service
Smarter Working with new modern technology
If you have any questions about applying for this role, please contact Saima Tahsin, Project Officer at Saima.Tahsin@towerhamlets.gov.uk. For an informal discussion about working in Supporting Families at Tower Hamlets please contact Sam Nair, our Principal Social Worker at Sam.Nair@towerhamets.gov.uk