Supervising Social Worker - Fostering Support Team

In 2022, Bexley Fostering service established an exciting new team, Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team. The Team is dedicated to the retention, recruiting and assessing of prospective foster carers and host and support providers to ensure they provide safe and nurturing environments for our children. Our goal is to build a supportive network of compassionate individuals committed to making a positive difference in the lives of vulnerable children.

Bexley’s Fostering Service is determined to provide and outstanding service to all children in foster care and a standard of care that meets or exceeds their needs. Bexley recognises the key importance of foster care for transforming the lives of children in foster care.

Foster carer’s are extremely important to provide this valuable contribution and, therefore, should be provided with excellent preparation, support and training to carry out their role to their best. Bexley is committed to listening to children’s and young people’s views and wishes, assessing their needs and working together to plan to meet them.

The Fostering Service works in partnership with others with the objective of delivering the best possible care and support to the children and young people we care for.

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to grow, develop and progress whatever stage of their careers they are at. We offer a comprehensive range of training and professional development opportunities including access to research, group and e-learning, coaching and group supervision. Practitioners are invited to contribute to our learning and development offer in Bexley and to enhance Continuing Professional Development, there is opportunity to co-design and deliver training if this is of interest. We invest in our staff so they can invest in the children, young people and families we support.

Here in Bexley, we recognise that our greatest asset is our workforce. Staff well-being is important to us and you will have access to our weekly staff well-being drop in sessions, our Employee Assistance Programme and our corporate offer of emotional and physical well-being sessions.

If this sounds exciting and reassuring, get in touch with us. Our workforce is stable with a high level of permanent staff but we are always looking for practitioners wanting to practice confidently as part of our team making a difference for families and children.

Fostering Support Team

The team are responsible for

• Providing supervision and support to foster carers.
• Providing support for Connected Carers who have looked after children in their care.
• Delivering training and group supervision to foster carers
• Working in partnership with other professionals
• Attendance at statutory meetings
• Chairing professional’s meetings when required
• Participating in events for foster carers
• Co-ordination of annual reviews and completion of relevant paperwork
• Attending Fostering Panel and supporting foster carers at panel.

The team are based within the Fostering and Adoption Service yet work very closely with the Children’s Looked After Service.

We have an active Signs of Safety Implementation group and we will support and encourage you to work creatively in order to secure positive outcomes for children and young people. We are passionate about the work we do and if you want excellent support and supervision and if you care as much as we do about achieving permanence for children and young people then this is the service for you.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service

Bexley is a vibrant and diverse outer London Borough nestled in the Thames Gateway between London and Kent which means it combines the perfect blend of city vibe and the tranquillity of Kent. It's got award-winning parks, open spaces, and heritage sites. The borough has excellent transport connections, including the Elizabeth Line and proximity to the M25. Bexley offers fantastic amenities such as libraries, leisure centres, and shopping areas. Our borough is also home to numerous primary and secondary schools, as well as further education institutions.

Our Offer to you

We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, coaching and mentoring programmes, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.

Recruitment Information

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on recruitment@bexley.gov.uk

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees. The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here. If this option is of interest, please contact the recruiting manager.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.