Objectives of Service

As an Adoption Social Worker, you will work within a team of social workers, managers, and admin staff to recruit, train, assess and support prospective adopters in the North of England to provide safe, loving and nurturing families for children in need of permanent homes. To work with our adopters, the placing authorities and other professionals to maintain the best quality of service, support and outcomes for children.

Key tasks include:

• Assessment of prospective adopters and completion of assessment reports
• Attending relevant multi agency meetings such as CLA reviews, Placement Planning meetings and panels
• Timely recording and good communication with all professionals involved in placements
• Training delivery in both Group and Individual settings

The post holder will contribute as part of the team to the training and assessment of new carers, and to maintaining the office duty system. After a suitable induction period the post holder will join the Out of Hours support rota. Please note this is not a full job description; other duties and responsibilities are allocated within the team according to experience and particular skills and service need.

Supplementary Information

A professional Social Work qualification and SWE registration are essential for this post as is experience in Family Placement, Child Protection or work with Looked After Children.

The duties of this post require the applicant to have a full current driving licence that enables them to drive in the UK and have use of a car and business use insurance. Barnardo's is, however, willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by other means.

When completing your application please refer to your skills and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information Document. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's?values.? We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our?People & Culture?Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band - this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.? More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer