Social Worker – Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team

Job description

Job responsibilities

Are you a passionate social worker looking for a rewarding and dynamic role?

We have an exciting opportunity for you to join our Cambridgeshire Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team (FRAT) as a permanent full-time Social Worker.

Join us and make a difference in the lives of children and families in Cambridgeshire. Your expertise and dedication can help shape a brighter future!

Does this sound like the perfect role for you or someone you know?

Why This Role is Special:

• Hybrid Working: Enjoy the flexibility of working both from home and at our office in Scott House, Huntingdon.
• Supportive Environment: Be part of a collaborative, energetic, and creative team that values sharing experiences and discussing cases.
• Professional Growth: Benefit from regular supervision, monthly team meetings, and practice meetings to support your professional development. We encourage personal development and participation in training for foster carers.

For more information, contact Team Managers Vanessa Canning on 07467 337694 or at vanessa.canning@cambridgeshire.gov.uk or Jo Laur on 07717 646463 or at Joanna.laur@Cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Interviews will be held in person, week commencing 14th July 2025.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• 6 days of protected time each year to support in maintaining your Continuous Professional Development
• ARefer a Friend Schemewhere if you refer another Social Worker to us who is subsequently employed by us as a result of that introduction, well pay you an introduction fee of £350
• Access to our Cambridgeshire Academy for Reaching Excellence (CARE) who will support your development, enabling you to become the best practitioner you can be

For more information and to see our other benefits, take a look at the benefits brochure attached to this advert.

Your Day-to-Day:

• Assessments: Conduct Special Guardian and Connected Persons Assessments using the new Coram BAAF Form K, and provide supervision to temporary Connected Persons Foster Carers.
• Fostering: Undertake Fostering Form F assessments for prospective foster carers, guiding them through their journey to approval and supporting with recruitment events..
• Private Fostering: Perform Private Fostering Assessments and Regulation 8 visits.

Team Highlights:

• Supportive & Collaborative: The FRAT team is known for its supportive, energetic, and creative environment.
• Professional Development: Regular supervision from experienced managers and encouragement for personal development.
• Inclusive Approach: The team operates inclusively, sharing experiences and discussing cases regularly. There are monthly team meetings and monthly practice meetings.

We are looking for:

• Qualified & Experienced: A registered social worker with excellent assessment and critical analysis skills.
• Court Experience: Some court experience is preferred but not essential.
• Great Communicator: Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Flexible & Mobile: Ability to work from various locations and travel countywide or even countrywide, independently.

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities.If you dont meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please dont be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Some examples of adjustments could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers

Person Specification

General Requirements

Essential

• Please refer to job description above

Desirable

• Please refer to job description above

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Cambridgeshire County Council

Address

Huntingdon

PE28 4YE

Employer's website

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)