Senior Social Worker - Assessment

Position: Senior Social Worker - Assessment (Contract)
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.

About the Role

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.

Key responsibilities

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.

Practice Model

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.

Requirements

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.

Benefits

£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