Supervising Social Worker - Independent Fostering Service

Brighter Futures for Children

Fostering, Adoption and Permanence Service

 

Supervising Social Worker – Independent Fostering Agency

 

Full-time, Permanent post
Salary: £44,648 - £49,418 per annum (includes £8,000 annual market supplement)

 

Work location: Civic Centre, Reading (hybrid working available in-line with BFfC agreed expectations and service needs)

About us
Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC) is a not-for-profit company, owned by, but independent of, Reading Borough Council. As BFfC’s Independent Fostering Agency (IFA), we are very much part of the Reading Family. Our staff enjoy many of the same benefits as Council employees, including membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and continuous service. 

 

We are closely integrated with BFfC’s Children’s Social Care services and also work closely with partners in the local community and key organisations including Reading Borough Council, policy, public health and voluntary groups. We are members of the SESLIP (South-East Sector Led Improvement Programme) which is a DfE initiative aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of foster carers by local authorities. We also work closely with our local Foster Carers’ Association to hear the voice of Foster Carers, and this is central to shaping our service delivery.

 

Our main aim is to provide local foster placements for Reading Children Looked After, who need to live apart from their families, that protect and enhance the lives of these children, enabling them to lead happy, healthy and successful lives with dedicated Foster Carers.

 

About the Team/role

We are seeking to develop our IFA service in line with the changing expectations of the courts around permanence through fostering being a suitable long-term care option of Children Looked After, and the need to increase our in-house fostering resource and to reduce the numbers of children being placed away from the Reading area. It is an exciting time to join our IFA and help us to shape its future development.

Joining our IFA will give you the opportunity to have a varied case load covering different aspects of carer recruitment and retention. This will include assisting with the preparation, assessment, supervision, support and ongoing training of Foster Carers. You will also contribute to the matching process and assist with placing children with Foster Carers, in accordance with the Agency’s ethos and guidelines. In addition, as part of our social work team you will help us to provide a level of out of hours support to our carers, on a rota basis, during the evening and at weekends, in order to assist them to maintain high standards of care for all children who are placed with them (an extra allowance is paid for this).

Essential Qualification/Experience:

• Social Work Qualification – Diploma in Social Worker, BA or equivalent.
• Social Work England (SWE) registration.
• Being able to understand and apply knowledge of the legal, social, economic, and ecological context of social work practice.
• Having a good understanding of the range of issues relevant to fostering services, including relevant fostering legislation and standards.
• Being reasonable computer literate, including the ability and confidence to use email, to access the internet, and to use basic IT systems to maintain electronic records.
• Having a good understanding of safeguarding policies, in particular:
• The role of the LADO
• Handling Allegation/Standards of Care Management
• Child Protection and Working Together. 

Our offer

We offer a very supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to be creative and focus on innovative and ambitious interventions that leads to sustainable change for children placed with our Foster Carers.  We seek to be supportive of our staff, to work respectfully and collaboratively with colleagues and carers, and to consistently work in ways that uphold our company values.  We offer a competitive salary along with a range of benefits:

• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Relocation Scheme
• 26 days’ holiday (from 1 April 2023) plus public holidays (rising to 33 after 10 years’ service)
• Discounted Child Care (on site nursery)
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Season ticket loans
• A range of local discounts
• Free parking
• Salary sacrifice car lease scheme

 

Post specific training will be made available to the successful applicant dependent on previous experience.

 

Training will also be made available around:

• Relevant BFfC IFA policies, procedures and Practice Guidance
• The BFfC Mosaic records system

 

Professional supervision will be available and Individual objectives will be set as part of your continuous professional development and reviewed through professional supervision and annual appraisals (with a six-monthly review).

 

Inclusion and Diversity

We want Brighter Futures for Children to be a great place to work and to ensure that our children, young people and families are represented in leadership roles and positions of power. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking.

 

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBTQ+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our children, young people and families so that equalities and justice remains at the heart of everything we do.

 

Asking for Adjustments

Brighter Futures for Children is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions.

 

If you would like us to do anything differently during the application, interview or assessment process, including providing information in an alternative format, please let us know.

 

Closing date: 8 December 2024

Interview date: 13 December 2024

Note: Interviews will be held face-to-face at the Civic Offices in Reading

 

We very much look forward to hearing from you!