Social Worker x , Kinship Team

About Us

North Somerset Council is committed to providing high-quality services to our community. We are committed to creating a fair, green, and more inclusive environment for all our residents. Join us and contribute to making a positive impact on our community.

We are seeking dedicated and experienced Social Workers to join the Kinship Team within our Fostering Service. The Kinship Team are responsible for assessing potential Kinship Carers in addition to providing them with support and supervision in order to meet the needs of the children in their care.

In this role, you will provide support to ensure that our Kinship Carers meet the National Minimum Standards. The Social Worker’s role is to ensure that Kinship Carers are supported to provide a high standard of care to our most vulnerable children. We are looking for an experienced Social Worker who is able to balance the need to challenge with the need to provide support.

We work with extended families to enable them to support the children that they care for, which we know can at times be difficult for them.

Key responsibilities:

• Assess potential Kinship Carers suitability to foster, or Special Guardians suitability to care for children until adulthood.
• Complete regular home visits including unannounced visits during and following the assessment process.
• Regular communication with everyone involved in the child or young person’s life including meetings, reviews and information sharing.
• Support Kinship Carers to attend meetings, help with their report writing and ensure that they keep appropriate records.
• Work with the child(ren)’s Social Worker and Kinship Carers to manage and maintain family time between the children and their parents.
• Support the carers to access relevant training opportunities each carer may need.
• Support carers to meet the national minimum standards and regulatory requirements which are needed to become a Kinship Carer.
• Write balanced reports including annual foster carer reviews, present reviews at fostering panel with carers and contribute to writing standards of care/allegation reports when necessary.
• Offer practical and emotional support to Kinship Carers.

This position is exempt under the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions) Order 1975 and is subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Valid driving licence and own transport, or be able to provide alternative, suitable method of travel is an essential condition for this role.

This position is currently based at the Town Hall office in Weston-Super-Mare.

Work Style

At North Somerset Council, we offer a hybrid working environment based on four distinct work styles. Depending on the role and personal circumstances, you will fall into one of these categories. However, please note that during the induction period, it may be necessary to spend more time in the office to support your learning and development. We are flexible and open to discussions about your preferred working style, and if you wish to be in the office more frequently, this can be negotiated.

This role falls into the category of Flexible Worker which means you can expect to work in the following way:

• 1- 2 days in the office
• Works both from home and the office, depending on the task at hand.
• Training is provided to help balance work-life and manage time effectively, with an emphasis on communication for team touchpoints and planning in-office days for collaboration.

We are looking for an individual who is passionate about fostering, has knowledge of kinship fostering, and who possesses the following skills and experience:

Essential Criteria:

• A Social Work Degree and are registered with Social Work England
• Completed their Assessed and Supported Year of Employment
• Have worked in a safeguarding setting
• Experience of writing balanced reports
• Confident in preparing and presenting reports
• Excellent ICT, communication and organisational skills
• Experience and some knowledge of the Fostering National Minimum Standards
• Knowledge and ideally some experience of using strengths-based approaches, restorative practice and knowledge of the Mockingbird Model
• Ability to recognise when…