SOCIAL WORK Assistant Fostering Service

Are you interested in a career in Social Work?

Becoming a Social Work Assistant offers a great opportunity to become involved in making a real difference to the lives of children, young people and families in Cardiff.

Cardiff Children’s Services offer a range of opportunities for career development, including funded secondments to various degree and post graduate training courses.

Cardiff offers the opportunity to grow and develop through high quality training, regular and effective supervision, and a wide variety of opportunities to pursue career development, for example we have funded Social Work Assistants to go to university to obtain their Social Work qualification.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the service which puts the individual at the heart of our work. The teams work from a strengths-based approach to meet the needs of young people and their families.

Cardiff is one of the fastest growing cities in Britain and is the first city in the UK to be declared as a UNICEF Child Friendly City that places the rights of children and young people at the head of our policies and strategies.

Parents have the most significant influence on children and on their future lives. It is our belief that outcomes for children are best when they are supported to grow and achieve within their own families. This belief has driven the ‘Think Family’ approach which looks at the family as a whole and co-ordinates support across the public services, tailored to each family’s needs and strengths.

If you are interested in being part of Cardiff’s journey to becoming one of the most vibrant and successful cities within the UK that puts Children first with the ambition of being a lead force behind practice development in Wales we would be excited to hear from you.

Benefits offered

Cardiff is frequently found at the top of lists of best cities in the UK to live in so come join us and see what we can offer.

• A generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days per year to a maximum of 33 days per year after 5 years, with the option to purchase additional annual leave to a maximum of 10 days.
• Our working culture is flexible
• Hybrid working – supporting you to flexibly deliver your role whether on visits, from an office or your home.

We are looking for Social work Assistants to work within Cardiff Children’s Fostering Service.

The successful candidate will join our established and supportive team who, with the support of the Principal Social Worker (PSW) and will assist with the delivery of services. The successful candidate will be responsible for case allocation of a caseload of foster carers to provide support and supervision to foster carers.

There may be occasions when you will be required to attend events to support foster carer recruitment and promotional campaigns.

You will bring to the role experience of working with children and young people, experience of working with multi-agency professionals, skills in assessment and planning and have a flexible approach as the service develops.

An understanding of the relevant legislation for children, including an overview of the Social Services and Well Being Act, Fostering Regulations and preferably some experience of trauma informed approach.

You will have an understanding of the fostering task and the ability to build effective working relationships with foster carers, children and their families. You will be skilled in supporting and supervising foster carers, identifying training and development needs, contributing to fostering assessments and reviews, and recognising the impact of trauma, loss and disrupted attachments on children’s behaviour and development. You will also be confident in working collaboratively…