Senior Social Worker - Assessment

Social Worker Duty & Assessment Team
Staffordshire County Council Children s Services
£33.30 per hour (Umbrella) Locum contract
Working pattern: Hybrid working (office presence in line with duty rota and service need)

Staffordshire County Council is looking for an experienced Duty & Assessment Social Worker to join a fast-paced frontline team handling new referrals and safeguarding concerns. If you re strong at triage, timely assessment and clear risk analysis and you can move work forward without losing quality this one s a solid opportunity.

You ll work across the front door and assessment pathway, completing Section 17 Child & Family Assessments and Section 47 enquiries, making confident threshold decisions, and progressing cases to the right outcome whether that s Early Help, CIN/CP planning, or stepping into legal processes when required.

• Screened and progressed new contacts and referrals, gathering intelligence from partner agencies and identifying immediate safeguarding risks.

• Completed high-quality S17 assessments with clear analysis of need, parenting capacity, risk and protective factors.

• Undertook S47 enquiries, strategy discussions and joint working with Police/Health when concerns indicated significant harm.

• Conducted purposeful home visits and direct work with children and families to understand lived experience and inform planning.

• Led multi-agency planning including CIN/CP processes, ensuring plans were SMART, outcomes-focused and reviewed in timescales.

• Prepared concise, evidence-based documentation (assessments, chronologies, statements) and maintained accurate case recording.

• Escalated appropriately into PLO / legal planning where thresholds were met, contributing to robust risk management and timely decision-making.

Staffordshire s approach is rooted in relationship-based, child-centred practice balancing respectful work with families alongside professional curiosity, timely analysis and clear safeguarding action when needed.

• Social Work qualification (Degree/DipSW/CQSW) and current Social Work England registration.

• Recent experience in a Duty & Assessment / Front Door children s team within a UK local authority.

• Confident working with thresholds, risk and statutory processes (CIN/CP, S17, S47).

• Strong written skills with the ability to evidence analysis and decision-making.

• Able to work at pace, manage competing demands and prioritise effectively.

• £33.30 per hour umbrella

• Hybrid working arrangement

• Supportive management and team culture

• Varied frontline experience and strong learning opportunity

• Quick start available for the right person