Experienced Social Workers - Fostering Team

Ref: GG78/OL-77272 Contract Type: Permanent Salary: Grade 7 to 8 £34,723 - £42,503 p.a. Essential Car User: Allowance Provided Hours: 36.66 per week Based: Metropolitan Place, Hobson Street, Oldham OL1 1TT Closing date: Sunday, 14th May 2023 Shortlisting: Monday, 15th May 2023 Interview: TBC Informal Enquiries: Contact Lisa Oates, Head of Service Fostering & Adoption Services Email: Lisa.oates@oldham.gov.uk
Grade 7 Grade 8
Here’s why Oldham is the best place to be a social worker right now
In Oldham we have the highest aspirations to achieve the best outcomes for our children and families and to sustain them in their communities. We put their needs at the heart of everything we do.
We’re now investing £14.7million into Children’s Social Care in Oldham as part of our commitment to giving social workers the resources they need to work effectively with children and families, including reduced caseloads.
This means creating additional social work teams across a range of service areas and we’re looking for experienced, motivated, and ambitious social workers who share our aspirations. There has never been a better time to join Oldham.
What do our social workers like most about working for us?

• Flexible and agile working arrangements
• Competitive pay with a £2,000 retention payment
• A generous relocation packages
• A supportive and enabling workplace with quality supervision from your manager
• Access to a comprehensive development programme as part of your ongoing Continuing Professional Development.
• A bespoke workplace designed for social workers with free parking and Essential Car User Allowance
• An Employment Assistance Scheme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
• Reimbursement of professional registration fees (SWE)
• Clear progression pathways and support to develop your social work career in Oldham
• Fit for Oldham Scheme which offers free health and fitness opportunities

What’s different about being a social worker in Oldham?
We work with one of the most diverse communities of any local authority in the country and this is reflected within our workforce which we believe is one of our greatest strengths. The life experiences and challenges facing our children and families are incredibly varied and require an inclusive response which recognises the family’s unique strengths and works with them to achieve solutions.
We will develop and reward you for your expertise - that’s why we make sure you have access to a range of support, continual professional development, and training opportunities to continually improve your practice. We also offer a clear career development route based on your skills and experience through our progression pathway.
Here’s the role
The Fostering Service supports mainstream Foster Carers and Connected Carers, and you will join a team of Supervising Social Workers who support our carers. We have plans to improve our support for carers by enabling our social workers to specialise in mainstream or kinship carer work and you will be part of this exciting development.
You will be responsible for a caseload of Foster Carers offering support and supervision as well as undertaking both Form F and Form C Assessments and initial Kinship Viabilities and Regulation 24 Assessments. You will additionally be expected to be involved in covering our duty service which is available during office hours and taking calls from the public enquiring about becoming a Foster Carer.
If you have a strong commitment to working to secure good outcomes for children in our care and operate in an environment that is supportive and targeted towards effective delivery, we would like to hear from you.
You will need a sound knowledge in the assessment of families and matching children’s needs, together with the skills and confidence to support and supervise Foster Carers in the best interests of children and young people in our care.
What we need from you
To apply for any of these positions we need you to be a qualified, experienced social worker and registered with Social Work England.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure from the DBS. The successful applicant will be required to register to the DBS Update Service to enable the Council to undertake rechecks throughout your employment. The cost to register is £13 and can be claimed back upon commencement to the role but will not be refunded if you do not accept the offer of employment.

If you would like support with this application, an interview or interested in looking at any courses that could help with this position please get in touch with Get Oldham Working - Get Oldham Working registration form - Oldham Council

About Us
Oldham is committed to developing a Co-operative future; one where citizens, partners and staff work together to improve the borough. Anyone joining the council is coming into an ambitious organisation with big plans. We are working hard to build a brighter future for our borough and we need people from a wide range of backgrounds to continue delivering the best for our communities.
The Council has a clear set of Values and Behaviours, our Values outline how we do business and we share these borough wide with our residents, partners and businesses. Internally we have translated these values into five cooperative behaviours which outline the priority areas of focus for all staff at all levels. You can view the Values and Behaviours on our Greater. Jobs pages Working for Oldham
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Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for an at risk employee, it can be pulled back at any point up to the post being formally offered to an external candidate or an internal candidate that is not at risk of redundancy.
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