Social Worker

Social Workers in our Child Disability Team will be responsible for managing risk and care planning for our children subject to child in need of care and support plans, child protection plans and the Public Law Outline, as well as assessing Mental Capacity and Deprivations of Liberty, applying the least restrictive option in our work with families, social workers will be supported by an experienced team to complete Mental Capacity Assessments, chair Best Interest meetings and apply for Deprivations of Liberty Orders.

Our vision in Swansea which is well understood by the current workforce is ‘doing what matters at the right time to make things better for children, young people, and families’. This is reflected in our drive that wherever safe children should remain in the care of their birth families. Signs of Safety is our practice framework and our social work teams work in small pods which allows us to work systemically with families to effect change. This supports good supervision and collaboration between staff which includes individual supervision and peer supervision. Building positive respectful relationships with families, listening to children and ensuring they are involved in decisions that affect their lives is at the heart of what we do.

Swansea Child and Family Services have a range of services (also known as provisions) to meet the needs of children, young people and their families, these range from universal services up to statutory services (this is known as a continuum of need).

Swansea Child and Family Services offer support to families at Tiers 3 and 4. Sometimes, it might be considered that the issues that your family/child is experiencing can be met by either the early help hubs or social work teams (who also have a level of knowledge around disability), this would be when the primary reason for support arises from needs within the family that are not focused solely on the child’s disability, such as issues that impact on parenting or keeping children safe (this is not an exhaustive list).

However, If it is considered that the child/young person’s disability is having a significant impact on the individual and/or family and the needs cannot be met by any other service, then the case would be transferred over to either the Child Disability Pod of the Academy (Tier 3) if the child is considered as a child in need of care and support or The Child Disability Team (CDT) at Tier 4 if transitional planning for adult services is required or if they are receiving a statutory response from Social Services, for example if their name is included within the child protection register or they are a looked-after child (again, this is not an exhaustive list).

CDT is a dedicated social care service for children/young people with disabilities and their families at Tier 4 of the Continuum of Need, and they can work with children from birth until 18 years of age, and their families/carers.

As a Social Worker in Swansea Child and Family Services you will experience:

- A positive and supportive working culture where staff are trusted to do their job, problems are shared, and solutions identified through regular conversations and reflection.
- Opportunities are taken to learn from things that did not work so well and seen as a positive way to support change when necessary.
- A whole service commitment to understanding and identifying the waste in our systems so that as workers you can spend less time completing paperwork and more time with children and their families.
- Innovative and creative ways of working so that there are always opportunities for your own personal development and reflection to consider how things can be done differently.
- Supportive leadership and managers who listen and value your input into the way our service can continue to develop and improve.
- Regular and quality supervision both formally and informally which values the importance of your well-being as well as opportunities to reflect on cases.
- The opportunity to work in small pods within a larger Hub and a Practice Lead who will support you to develop your practice through regular reflection and discussion.
- A Senior Management Team who are visible, approachable and want to both hear and respond to staff.
- A culture where staff are regularly praised and acknowledged for the excellent work they undertake as valued members of the service.
- An innovative service who promotes creative approaches to case management and are risk sensible.
- Access to coaching, mentoring and opportunities for peer group supervision.
- An excellent induction programme and tailored support to develop the skills, knowledge, resilience, and confidence of all workers.
- Opportunities to work under a hybrid model where workers share their time between with the office and home.
- The importance and benefit of peer support is recognised with additional time dedicated to team development.

About you:

- You need to be at least one year’s post qualifying to apply for this post.
- You will be passionate about relationship-based social work and able to think creatively and reflect about how you can build relationships to understand what matters to children and their families and support them to achieve this.
- You will be committed to your own professional development and take up learning and training opportunities to continue to develop your existing skill and knowledge base.
- You will ensure that children and their families are at the heart of all decision-making and their voices are heard and evidenced throughout all aspects of your work.
- You will be motivated, dynamic and passionate about securing the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
- You will be compassionate, open, honest, and respectful in all aspects of your work.

https://www.swansea.gov.uk/media/29821/Gweithiwr-Cymdeithasol_Social-Worker_CY_EN/pdf/i2Gweithiwr_Cymdeithasol_Social_Worker_CY_EN.pdf?m=1791272243577