Placement Fostering Social Worker
Job Title: Placement Fostering Social Worker
Salary: £34,014 per annum (£31,764 per annum salary + £1,500 per annum Out of Hours Rota Allowance + £750 per annum Homeworking Allowance)
Hours & Contract: 35 Hours per week - Permanent Role
Location: Homebased in the South West area including North Somerset, Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, Gloucestershire, Swindon, Wiltshire & South Gloucestershire
A rare opportunity to work for an ‘OUTSTANDING’ team where trauma-informed practice is the foundation of everything we do. Brilliant training opportunities, clinical supervision, and support. “Members of the team who spoke to the inspector said that they felt valued in their role. They considered that they had access to opportunities that they had not experienced in previous employment. The agency provides exceptional resources for staff to ensure that their emotional well-being and a healthy work-life balance are promoted.” (OFSTED 2022)
As a ‘not for profit’ organisation, TACT puts the needs of our children and carers first and look to appoint individuals who are as passionate about fostering as we are. We are a homeworking organisation, and we pride ourselves on our flexible working opportunities, available from day one, an extensive wellbeing programme and our benefits package, all curated to nurture a healthy work life balance for all our employees so they can give an excellent service to our carers and the young people and children we care for.
As a foster care charity, TACT invests all surplus income into services, staff, carers, and child development. This means that we have been able to invest unique projects like TACT Connect, our unique and ground-breaking scheme for TACT care experienced young people and adults, as well as our expanding TACT Education Service and our new Health Service. All our activities are built on our commitment to becoming a fully trauma informed organisation, in line with our key values and ethos.
TACT achieved 16th place in the UK Best Companies Work For survey results in 2023, with 91% of employees acknowledging that the organisation is run on strong values and principles and 94% stating they feel proud to work for this organisation.
This is a Placement / Duty Fostering Social Worker role with a focus on ensuring the best possible outcomes for children and young people who have experienced trauma due to adverse childhood experiences. The successful candidate will need to be confident in negotiating fostering fees, attending commissioning meetings, and adopting a therapeutic and trauma-informed approach when sharing monitoring information with local authorities.
Whilst being homebased, the Placement / Duty Fostering Social Worker will visit and support foster families across the TACT South West area including North Somerset, Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, Gloucestershire, Swindon, Wiltshire & South Gloucestershire areas but will also travel within the wider region for team meetings, training and other in person events.
Overall Duties of the Senior Supervising Social Worker will include:
- An appropriate social work qualification
- Up-to-date registration with Social Work England
- Experience in fostering/family placements or other childcare settings
- Up-to-date knowledge of relevant legislation including the Fostering National Minimum Standards and Fostering regulations.
- Experience of working with/supporting looked after children and their foster carers.
- Knowledge of matching criteria and stability of placments.
- Capable of using electronic records systems and IT effectively, including participating in virtual meetings and webinars.
TACT offer an excellent employee benefits package including:
- 31 days paid holiday plus bank holidays.
- Flexible working arrangements (including compressed hours, flexibility around core hours, volunteer days policy).
- Family friendly policies.
- Homeworking ‘bundle’ including annual allowance, IT equipment and a loan for home office set up.
- Perkbox – retail discount scheme.
- Stakeholder pension scheme (salary sacrifice).
- Fantastic learning and development opportunities.
- Employee Assistance Programme (including CBT counselling, remote GP appointments, physiotherapy, mental health support and second opinions).
An Enhanced DBS clearance is required for this role and will be processed by TACT on your behalf.
Please see the Job Information Pack, Job Description and TACT website at tactcare.org.uk for more detailed information.
- Closing Date: Tuesday 19th March 2024
- Interview Date: Wednesday 27th March 2024 (via Microsoft Teams)
Safeguarding is everyone’s business and TACT believes that only the people with the right skills and values should work in social work. As part of TACT’s commitment to safeguarding, we properly examine the skills, experience, qualifications, and values of potential staff in relation to our work with vulnerable young children. We use rigorous and consistent recruitment approaches to help safeguard TACT’s young people. All our staff are expected to work in line with TACT’s safeguarding policies.
We reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than advertised if the volume of applications is excessive, you are therefore advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
TACT does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies, nor the fees associated with them.