Job Summary
Working Pattern:
Full time
Advert Start Date:
29/01/2025
Advert End Date:
Closed for applications on 12/02/2025 23:59
Salary:
Grade 11 £39,513 - £43,693
Allowances:
£2,500 lump sum recruitment and retention allowance (reviewed annually) which is paid to Social Workers post AYSE
Job Category:
Social Care - Children Service
Employment Location:
Your normal place of work will be at an approved team location in County Durham, but you may be required to work at any Council workplace within County Durham. Hybrid working options are available.
Further Information
Durham’s Pre-Birth team is regularly recognised as completing high quality social work with at risk families and achieving positive outcomes. This includes being mentioned within the most recent Nuffield Report for children born into care for the way assessments with parents with Learning Disabilities are completed (Nuffield 2025).
WHAT IS INVOLVED?
Following a service redesign which started in 2022, Durham’s Pre-Birth team work with a range of at risk families with the aim of providing intensive intervention to allow children to remain within their birth family. The team work with care leavers, young parents and some parents with experience of care proceedings to try and break the cycle of repeated social work involvement.
The team have worked hard to redesign the assessment pathways to allow for bespoke assessment of parents prior to the birth of the child and these are about to launch county wide.
As a passionate and nurturing pre-birth social worker, you will provide intensive support to parents in order for them to achieve sustainable change to safely care for their child from birth. In order to do this, your caseload will be capped to provide you with the space and time to complete meaningful work with families.
Where this is not in the child’s best interest, you will work to find a permanent home for the child as early as possible utilising our early permanence procedures. You will also ensure the completion of comprehensive and high-quality assessments alongside a supportive management team.
We encourage you to contact Jacqui Allen, Team Manager via email at jacqui.allen@durham.gov.uk to arrange an informal discussion about the role.
HOW WILL I BE SUPPORTED?
We are passionate about social work in County Durham, and we are committed to providing a culture where good practice can flourish. Durham is also proud to be recognised as ‘Supportive Employer of the Year’, at the Social Work Awards 2022. When you join our highly skilled team you will be supported to succeed!
For more information about children’s Social Work in Durham, visit: https://www.durham.gov.uk/childrenssocialwork
WHAT WILL I NEED?
You will need to be an experienced, pro-active Social Worker who wants to work intensively with families and promote the voice of the child. You will also need:
- A degree in social work or equivalent social work qualification, and a current Social Work England Registration
- Successful completion of the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)
- Experience of building effective relationships with children, young people, and families
- Experience in producing focused written case notes and reports
- Knowledge of social work theories relevant to the role
- Commitment, enthusiasm, and professional confidence
Please refer to the attached person specification for the full criteria.
If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure.
REWARDS AND BENEFITS
We offer generous rewards and benefits that are designed to help you perform at your best:
- Competitive salaries and 27 days holiday per year rising to 32 days after five years continuous local government service.
- Option to purchase up to 10 additional days annual leave per year.
- Excellent work/life balance through schemes including job sharing, compressed hours and flexi-time (allowing up to 13 flexi days per year).
- Hybrid working (home and office working).
- Excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Plus, top up options - Salary Sacrifice Shared Cost AVC scheme and standard AVC scheme for members of the LGPS.
- Wellbeing Portal and access to an Employee Assist Scheme.
- Wide range of learning and development opportunities including professional qualifications, coaching and mentoring.
- Employee Benefits Portal and Lifestyle Savings Scheme (discounts across a host of major retailers).
- Discounted DCC gym membership.
- Staff networks run by staff for our staff, including Race Equality and Diversity, Disability, LGBT+, Armed Forces, Carers, Menopause.
- Trade Union membership.
- A range of other salary sacrifice schemes such as car leasing.
Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions.
Take a closer look:
Rewards and Benefits
HYBRID WORKING
Durham County Council currently operates a hybrid working policy where a model of 2 days in the workplace and 3 days at home/remote will apply. This model is pro-rated for part time roles and arrangements are at managers discretion, alternatively you can work all of your contracted hours within the workplace if you prefer.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION
We are a proud equal opportunities employer and recognise that a diverse, talented workforce brings new ideas and new perspectives, which will facilitate growth and improvements to services.
We are committed to ensuring that our employment policies and processes are fair and equitable to all. We welcome job applications from everyone, and successful candidates are considered only on their skills and ability to do the job.
As a Disability Confident Leader, we encourage applications from disabled people and provide support throughout the recruitment process.
Take a closer look: Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
INTERVIEWS
Interviews will be held 21st February 2025.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran.
HOW TO APPLY
In line with the County Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy, please note that we are unable to accept CVs. Applications must be submitted on-line via the Northeast Jobs portal.
Please use the ‘Person Specification’ section of your application form to demonstrate that you have the essential and where possible, desirable experience, skills, and knowledge. Candidates who do not evidence that they meet the essential qualifications and experience listed on the person specification will not be short-listed.
If you have any support needs or require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27 (option 2), or the Recruitment Team via email at RecruitmentCYPS@durham.gov.uk
We collect personal information from you when you register with North East Jobs and make an application. Details on how we process your personal data is available in our Privacy Notice. https://www.durham.gov.uk/media/24645/Privacy-notice-human-resources/pdf/PrivacyNotice-HR.pdf
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Please note
This job is closed for applications.