Newly Qualified Social Worker role profile

Primary purpose of role

This is a statutory role whose primary purpose is to safeguard children and young people who have either suffered or who are likely to be at risk of suffering significant harm as defined by the Children Act 1989. This role also encompasses other statutory duties and responsibilities of Children’s Social Care as defined by legislation and guidance.

To identify the full range of risks to children and help manage those risks; ensure proportionate intervention, including securing and supporting alternative homes for children, including those in and beyond public care placed with family and friends and for adoption.

Key accountabilities and key measures

Role outcomes

• Undertaking casework with children, young people and families, working within the legislative and policy frameworks that underpin the casework (80%)
• Work based and off-site training and developmental activity as defined by the relevant government directed programme for newly qualified social workers (20%)

Role measures

Maintain satisfactory performance as measured through probation, performance review and continued assessment under the relevant 12 month government directed programme for newly qualified social workers

Key activities

• Directing work with children, young people and families in multiple settings/locations, ensuring the child/young person’s voice is central to all case work and recording including:
  • Delivering recognised packages of support and tools to engage children, young people and families to achieve positive outcomes. This will require climbing stairs and lifting small children and their equipment, travel to and from destinations, lone working and occasional weekend and evening working
  • Building purposeful, effective relationships with children and families, demonstrating a high level of skill in evidence based, effective social work approaches to helping children and families which support change
  • Working to tight deadlines, managing conflicting demands and interruptions (30%)

• Undertaking assessments of need and risk; plan for outcomes, reviewing in line with procedures and applying understanding of the key risk factors affecting child welfare and development including:
  • Analysis of the decision-making, the difference between opinion and fact, the role of evidence and the reasoning of any conclusions reached and recommendations made
  • Maintaining timely and accurate case recording in line with practice standards, managing information in line with the council’s policies, procedures and guidance on data protection (40%)

• Undertaking Court work and may be called upon to give evidence on behalf of the Local Authority (15%).
• Participating positively in supervision, practice development and newly qualified worker scheme requirements (15%)

Essential qualifications/knowledge

• Degree or higher qualification in Social Work that has resulted in registration with relevant professional regulatory body for the profession
• Knowledge of the legislative frameworks for child and family social work

Desirable qualifications/knowledge

• Knowledge of child and family social work in a statutory setting
• Understanding of child development, including the impact of different parenting styles on development; the impact of loss, change and uncertainty in the development of resilience and assessment of vulnerability

Essential experience

Some experience of working in a child care setting, which may have been gained though student placement or voluntary or paid work

Desirable experience

• Assessing risk and need
• Planning and reviewing outcomes to achieve sustained change
• Working with service users who demonstrate challenging behaviour

Essential skills

• Be able to recognise the risk indicators of different forms of harm to children including sexual, physical and emotional abuse and neglect; the impact of cumulative harm, particularly in relation to early indicators of neglect
• Effective communication skills (written, verbal and use of technology)
• Ability to build effective relationships in contexts that may encompass resistance to change, ambivalence or selective cooperation with services
• Excellent time management skills and ability to prioritise competing demands
• Ability to use strategies that promote professional resilience and management of self in circumstances that may at times be challenging

The nature of the role includes lone working in home environments where basic rules of hygiene and safety are not observed and where the unpredictability of the home environment can also result in the potential risk of abuse and violence.

• Involvement on a daily basis with service users who are experiencing or who have experienced all forms of child abuse. The subject material is often distressing and this is an integral feature of the role
• Due to service users experiences and their emotional state often of anxiety/ distress there is a heightened risk that the post holder may experience, sometimes on a regular basis, significant verbal abuse, aggression and other anti-social behaviour from service users and/or members of the public

Corporate standards

• In accordance with Council policies and guidance on information management and security, it is your personal responsibility for data protection, client confidentiality and information governance.
• Act at all times in accordance with appropriate legislation and regulations, codes of practice, the provisions of the Council’s constitution and its policies and procedures.
• Work within the requirements of the Council’s Health and Safety policy, performance standards, safe systems of work and procedures.
• Undertake all duties with due regard to the corporate equalities policy and relevant legislation.