Children's Social Worker - Families first programme

We have an exciting opportunity for two experienced Social Workers to join our Family Safeguarding South Somerset team. We have two, six month bespoke posts available, to focus on Child in Need work, with a view to prevent unnecessarily escalation by working intensively with families at an earlier stage. The initial focus of the work will be to work with children and their families, who are already subject to child in need plans to ensure that these children and families are recieving the help they need.

We are passionate about improving the outcomes for our most vulnerable young people and families in Somerset to encourage positive change. We have successfully embedded the innovative Family Safeguarding model; working alongside adult-focussed practitioners you will be able to access intervention and advice in the specialist areas of substance misuse, domestic abuse, and mental health, to inform assessments and plans.

You will also be able to access expertise in child exploitation from the CE (WAVE) team, to address this growing area of need. Manageable caseloads will let you be the innovative and creative social worker you want to be - a key part of this is supporting direct work with children to hear their voice and understand their experiences. You will work with children, their parents, the wider family network and whole system in a strengths-based way to support change.

With permanent Team Managers, Consultant Social Workers and an established senior leadership team you'll be well supported with regular and reflective supervision. You will be passionate about relationship-based social work, proud of your profession, and able to reflect and think creatively about how you can build relationships to make a difference to children and families. You will need to be a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England for at least three years, and have experience working with children and families in social work.

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, within a team who are passionate about the work that they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset. We're supporting flexible working arrangements. Good technology is provided to help you stay connected to your team and manager through virtual meetings, team check-ins and service sessions.

At Somerset Council, we are proud to be on an ambitious journey to transform how we support children and families across the county. As part of our Families First Partnership programme, we are reshaping services to ensure families receive the right help, at the right time, in the right way-working together with partners across social care, education, Police, health, and communities.