Social Worker

Would you like to be a part of The London Borough of Hounslow, whose diverse workforce are committed to making a positive difference for our residents and visitors by ensuring the quality of our services are maintained to a high standard?

The Council is embarking upon a major programme of change to modernise the way we work and reduce our carbon footprint. In April 2019 we moved to Hounslow House, a new landmark building located in Hounslow town centre, our new technology will enable staff to work remotely and flexibly to improve the service we provide to residents and to help our staff achieve a better work/life balance.

About the Team

The Safeguarding and Support Teams work with families and children from Child in Need through to Adoption. There is scope for a varied caseload that requires professional curiosity, commitment, and creativity. There are opportunities to develop your skills further and a high level of supervision is provided to enable you to have the skills and confidence to deliver the highest standards of social work to our families, young people, and children. At full capacity the Team comprises of 1 Team Manager, 2 Assistant Team Managers, 2 Advance Practitioners, and 11 Social Workers. The Team is committed to supporting each other and offer group supervision sessions monthly to develop a positive and supportive team culture.

The caseloads are based on experience, complexity and where possible on the interests of the Social Worker. There is a weighted system that allows consideration for the complexity of the case, time commitments and needs of the Social Worker. We are committed to growing our own Social Work teams, hence focusing on development, and creating opportunities for Social Workers to have a long career in Hounslow.

Hounslow has been awarded Council of the year 2021 and has a strong learning culture. Our practice framework incorporates Relationship based social work, Strength based working, Safeguarding and Risk Management, Community development and supervision.

Our Advanced Social Work Practitioner group has grown, and our focus on group supervision, opportunities to develop specialisms and secondments has created a supportive and inspiring learning culture with opportunities to engage in new experiences. Hounslow is committed to career development and providing our Social Workers with the opportunity to develop their skills further. You will receive regular, reflective supervision from experienced Social Work Managers and there is training through the London Alliance and through the local Safeguarding Partnership. As you progress through your career there is support for training for managers such as Level 3 and 5 Leadership, as well as coaching and mentoring schemes.

Our flexible and remote working arrangements allow our workforce to balance work with family and other personal commitments.

Key Responsibilities

1. Your focus will be to keep children safe and to undertake or contribute towards child protection investigations and to provide assessments and recommendations that facilitate decision-making by appropriate line managers.

2. You will undertake assessments of the needs of children and their families, taking into account their views, and to ensure that a comprehensive plan is in place which has been discussed, and where possible, agreed by all parties.

3. You will undertake reviews of plans for children and seek appropriate resources and undertake social work interventions in line with Hounslow’s Practice Framework, to support implementation of plans and improved outcomes for children and young people.

4. You will have a good understanding of childcare legislation and be able to proactively manage both Private Law Proceedings and Public Law Care Proceedings.

Your Skills

1. You will be a highly motivated Social Worker who can work collaboratively with professionals from both within Children’s Services and other multi-disciplinary services to ensure that plans are developed and implemented effectively in the best interest of children and families.

2. You will prepare court statements and give evidence in court, when required.

3. You will provide clear verbal and written reports to a high standard, which may be used in a wide range of meetings and legal proceedings

4. You will maintain accurate and full records of contact and interventions with service users in line with the department’s Practice Standards.

Essential for The Role

1. You will need to be a qualified Social Worker, registered with Social Work England and have at least 2 years statutory experience.

2. You will need to hold an Enhanced DBS.

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the employee specification.

If you would like an informal conversation regarding the position please contact Alison.Billinge@hounslow.gov.uk or Blessing.Ruzengwe@hounslow.gov.uk or 020 8583 5196