Children's Adoption Social Worker

Due to the nature of the role social workers require at least three years post qualifying post-qualifying experience in childcare social work under the Restriction on the Preparation of Reports Regulations 2005. Practice in an Outstanding Children’s Service and with Adopt South (RAA) to work closely with birth families, children and prospective adopters.

The Role:

As a Children’s Adoption Social Worker within Hampshire County Council, you will be practicing in one of just a few local authorities in the country rated Outstanding by Ofsted. You will also have the added benefits of being under the management umbrella of Adopt South and as such you will working in close collaboration with the Regional Adoption Agency to find permanency for children within adoption.

You will be working closely with all the children and families teams across Hampshire County Council for Parallel Planning prior to Placement Orders being granted.

What you’ll do:

You will have flexibility to work across a large county and although the main office base is in Swanwick, you will have access to all HCC buildings for increased flexibility. Our Social Workers are an asset to us, and we encourage our workforce to be creative and autonomous, while enabling them to work flexibly. We are committed to providing regular, reflective and effective supervision to support you, while ensuring you also have the working conditions you need for good practice to flourish.

When service demands are high, the postholder may be required to undertake assessments in other areas of the service to support operational needs. To support colleagues and ensure continuity of service during periods of high demand, the postholder may be asked to contribute to assessments across different areas of the service. In response to changing service pressures, the postholder may be expected to flexibly undertake assessments in other parts of the service as needed.

What we’re looking for:

Registered with Social Work England, you will be highly skilled at building meaningful relationships with children and families to engage them in life story work and ensuring children moving on to adoption are supported throughout. You will need to be creative, flexible and forward thinking in your approach, whilst constantly striving for continuous improvement to provide the best outcomes for children.

Why join us? We will provide you with: A 9 day working fortnight. Annual leave starting from 25 days per annum FTE and rising to 28 days FTE based on experience and length of service. A hybrid tablet device, so you can work more effectively and flexibly. 5 personal development days per annum (pro-rata for part time staff). Ample progression opportunities.

Flexible working options to fit around today’s lifestyles.