The Role

Are you passionate about working with children and families?

Do you want to make a difference in children’s lives?

Do you want to develop and enhance your assessment skills?

If yes, then we would encourage you to apply to our Family Assessment Worker role!

We are looking to recruit a permanent Family Assessment Worker to join our amazing team in Wandsworth and help play a central role in achieving positive outcomes for young people!

About the service

Our vision is to continue to be a well-respected service that produces fair, well written and evidenced based residential parenting assessments in a supportive and empathetic environment.

Falcon Grove Family Assessment Centre forms part of the Children Looked After Service within the Wandsworth Children’s Social Care Division. The division is led by energetic and supportive managers who are striving to continue improving and developing the service. You would have access to excellent training opportunities.

About the team

This is an exciting opportunity to join an established, successful and supportive team in Wandsworth’s only Residential Parenting Assessment Centre. The centre undertakes residential and community-based parenting assessments and interventions with vulnerable and at-risk children.

You will work closely alongside a team of social workers to provide high quality parenting capacity assessments of children and their families involved in care proceedings, or where the local authority is considering the need for proceedings. You will be part of a core group of workers who can make a real day to day difference to the outcomes for children in our community.

About the role

As a Family Assessment worker, you will be able to contribute to high quality assessments and should have first rate report writing skills. You will need to demonstrate ability to work in partnership with socially excluded families, a proactive and energetic approach and a commitment to bringing about best outcomes for children. You will carry out work in the centre and in families’ own homes.

The way we work with families is creative and very hands on, as we tailor make our assessments to meet the individual needs of each family. You will be required to support, teach and assess families as they develop their parenting skills and knowledge.

The centre values high quality supervision and reflective practice, and this is supported both individually but also in group settings. You will be supervised by an experienced Assistant Team Manager (who is a qualified Social Worker).

Due to the nature of our work you will need to be able to work to a varied rota which includes some evening and weekend shifts.

To be shortlisted your CV and personal statement will demonstrate:

• A relevant qualification such as NVQ; NNEB; Early Years Foundation; psychology/sociology degree; parenting programme / teaching certificate.
• Recent experience of work with children and families in a paid position, including responsibility for specific allocated tasks and/or service users.
• Someone with good knowledge and skills in undertaking childcare/parenting tasks or assessments.
• Ability to work on a shift rota that requires working some unsociable hours, evening/weekends & working some Bank Holidays. The rota includes a variety of 8am-4pm, 2pm-10pm, 9-5pm shifts as well as some home working on non-shift days. Rota’s are on a rolling 6-week pattern, that is shared well in advance.

To be considered for interview your CV and supporting statement must address the requirements listed in attached Job Profile located at the bottom of the advert.

For an informal discussion about these vacancies please contact one of our Assistant Team Managers: Daniel De Jager (0774 893 7797), Odette Milsome (0778 617 3259) or Minakshi Sircar (0781 649 2090).

Benefits

The Shared Staffing Arrangement aims to be at the forefront of innovation in local government and the organisation will invest in your development and ensure the opportunities for progression that only a large organisation can provide.

In return, we can offer you working arrangements that will enhance your work-life balance including a generous holiday allowance of 31 days plus bank holidays (pro rata). In addition, we offer a range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government contributory pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts at many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments. A wide range of developmental opportunities is also offered.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

• Closing Date: 11:59pm on Sunday 16^th August 2020
• Shortlisting Date: Week commencing 17^th August 2020
• Interview Date: Week commencing 24^th August 2020

Please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Equality Statement

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information:

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils