Advanced Social Worker - Reunification

About the team we are recruiting to

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

At Coventry City Council, we are embarking on an incredible journey to create a brighter future for Coventry's children. As a 'Good' Local Authority, we believe in pushing boundaries and delivering excellence for children and families. Our vision is clear, and our social workers are unwavering in their commitment to putting children and families at the centre of their practice.

Be part of our inspiring team, making a meaningful difference in the lives of Coventry's children. Together, let's create a nurturing environment where every child's potential can flourish.

Children’s Services is proud of its achievements to date and is continuing to ensure children and families remain at the heart of all it does. We will provide you with an environment where social work can flourish, with high support, high challenge and manageable caseloads.

Children’s Services is proud of its workforce, who are committed, dedicated, and work to a high standard. We are seeking other like minded practitioners who would like to join us. We pride ourselves on building relationships with families and partners and hold respectful practice at the centre of all we do.

What is the job role?

We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic Advanced Social Worker to work within the Through Care service. This service works with looked-after children and care leavers from 12-25.

This particular post as an Advanced Social Worker is a unique and specialist role within a targeted and bespoke intense reunification programme, with an objective to rehabilitate children from the care system to live successfully back with their parent(s).

This post is a fixed term post for 12 months.

This role will entail holding a small caseload of looked after children, to whom have been identified within the project to be supported to return to the full-time care of their parent(s).

Within this role you will work closely with therapeutic practitioners and reunification workers, to work collaboratively in developing robust and bespoke plans, with targeted intervention, in order to be successful in the rehabilitation home for the child.

Within this role you will have the opportunity to form relationships with children and their families in which will be key in understanding and assessing their needs to develop bespoke plans and interventions.

You should have a sound knowledge of the legislation and regulations surrounding looked-after children, with the ability to apply this to your practice.

The role will involve court work, as part of the project will entail revocation of care orders following successful rehabilitation.

The roles also involve managing adolescent risk and a good understanding of contextual safeguarding is desirable.

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).

Who are we looking for?

The children, families and young people we work with come from a variety of backgrounds and in order to deliver the best possible care it is vital that we have a workforce that is culturally competent, representative and understands their unique experiences and perspectives.

Our workforce data shows that men and people from minority ethnic backgrounds are under-represented at Advanced Social Worker level and encourage applicants from these backgrounds to apply. This does not prevent individuals with or without other protected characteristics as set out within the Equality Act 2010 from applying for this post.

You will be committed and passionate about practice, sharing learning and knowledge and developing others. You will have a solid understanding of and be an advocate for the principles of diversity and inclusion in relation to workplace culture and service delivery.

The successful candidate will have experience of:

Completing comprehensive assessments
Preparing Care/ Pathway Plans
Court work
Undertaking statutory LAC reviews and visits
Attending multi-agency meetings
Managing adolescent risk
Supervising, support and monitoring young people who are moving into independent living.
The Service will welcome candidates committed to improving the lives of children and young people and who can demonstrate behaviours that positively contribute to service development.

For an informal conversation about this role please contact Victoria Goodband - victoria.goodband@coventry.gov.uk

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
Are currently in care or have previously been in care
If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. If there is any evidence of a candidate using AI to complete their application, then the application will be rejected unless the candidate can provide a justification which the Council considers to be reasonable.