Social Worker – Solutions North Part Time

Horsham, Sussex
West Sussex County Council

The Solutions Service is a countywide service working with children and their families from 10 to 18 years to help prevent entries to care or to reconnect and reunify a cared for child with their family or extended kinship network. The service aims to help families reconnect and relate, to develop the right conditions for families to live together with stability and confidence. The key priority for the service is to support families where there is a young person who is at the edge of care, with the aim of enabling the young person to remain or return living with their family, or to reconnect and reunify a cared for child with their family or extended kinship network, where it is safe for them to do so, to secure better outcomes for those children.

For further information about us and about working in Children’s Social Care at West Sussex County Council, please visit Careers in children’s social work in West Sussex .

About The Job

We’re seeking a dedicated and experienced Social Worker to join our Solutions North team based in Horsham. We’re looking for somebody who is passionate about making a difference and able to use creative and personalised strengths-based approaches to achieve positive outcomes for children. The successful candidate will be committed to supporting children to live within their family network and looking forward to being part of a team achieving positive outcomes for children across West Sussex.

As a Social Worker within the Solutions North team, you will offer a specialist social work service for children (aged 10-17) at the edge of care, enabling them to remain or return living with their family. Social workers in the Solutions teams lead on creating holistic case formulations and needs led plans. You will deliver family network meetings and a range of solution focussed and relationship-based interventions with children, parents and families. You will utilise strength-based approaches that work in partnership with children and families/carers to make sustainable changes and build resilience.

Experience and Skills

Key Skills – (These will be used as the shortlisting criteria)

1. Ability to analyse and interpret complex information about children on the edge of care, understand the impact of trauma and crises on family life, create holistic case formulations, identify and prioritise needs and implement effective plans to achieve stability and maintain change.
2. Ability to deliver direct work with children, parents, and whole families using a range of strengths based and solution focussed interventions. Proactive and responsive at the point when families are in crisis, using negotiation and motivational skills to manage conflict and drive change, containing your own and others anxieties and maintaining a focus on collective strengths and resources whilst working within the boundaries of the role.
3. Demonstrate good listening, communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to explain complicated information to children and families. Have sound and accurate IT skills, including report writing, maintaining accurate records, ensuring confidentiality, and protecting information.
4. Ability to collaborate and coordinate with colleagues and external agencies to deliver an effective and collaborative service across Children’s and Adult’s Services, Education, Health, Police and the Voluntary & Community sector.
5. Ability to reflect on own practice and learn from experience, prioritise and manage own workload, co-ordinating a range of tasks in a clear and logical way to meet agreed deadlines. Recognise limits of own accountability and responsibility and seek appropriate support, advice and supervision. Take responsibility for own performance and be proactive in relation to own work and professional development.

Qualifications and Experience:

• A recognised Social Work qualification e.g. Degree in Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Social Work, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent as recognised by the relevant professional body.
• Completion of relevant post qualifying training.
• Evidence of at least one year’s experience post qualification.
• Registration with the relevant professional registration body and maintaining registration with that body.
• Knowledge of theoretical Social Work concepts and practices, with demonstrable examples of dealing with a breadth of complex issues and situations, for example, attachment, impact of developmental trauma and child development, motivational interviewing, relational practice, solution-focussed interventions and systemic working. A good understanding and demonstration of anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice in social work.
• Experience of effective partnership working and forming effective working relationships with individuals and colleagues, focusing on the needs and handling conflict and disagreement.
• Experience of effectively coaching and supervising others, acting as practice role model and promoting exemplary practice.
• Experience of managing levels of risk within a caseload of complex cases.