Job Introduction
This is what our current workforce say about working for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) in Dorset:
"I've never felt so supported"
"BCP is like ‘"One big family … which is really rewarding."
About Aspire Adoption:
Aspire Regional Adoption Agency delivers adoption services for BCP and Dorset. Hosted by BCP, employees have the benefits of LA terms and conditions. We use innovative and creative ways of working to ensure that we offer the best possible services and outcomes those whose lives have been touched by adoption. If you are interested in high quality, evidenced practise, and training in therapeutic work, we could be the agency for you.
Adoption Recruitment & Assessment Team:
The Adoption Recruitment and Assessment Team are responsible for recruiting and assessing prospective adopters to meet the need of our most vulnerable children needing permanence through adoption. The team provides pre and post approval training and workshops to support prospective adopters understand adoption from different perspectives and to give them the tools to be able to support the children in their care. The Recruitment and Assessment team support prospective adopters with the family finding process, guiding them with linking, matching, placement through to Adoption Order. The team also facilitate social events for adoptive families throughout the year, including the summer picnic and Christmas party.
If you are interested in this level of social work, you will need to:
- post qualification experience in children and families social worker, either as a fieldwork social worker or in family placement work
- experience in assessments, ideally in writing prospective adopter reports, but otherwise in other aspects of children's social work and be able to evidence an ability to gather and analyse information accurately and succinctly
- experience of working in a safeguarding children role
- an ability to work under pressure and prioritise competing workload demands
- a sound understanding of relevant legislation
- a knowledge of current research in child development including an understanding of the relevance of attachment difficulties
We will require you to:
- be able to travel both within the BCP and Dorset area and further afield.
- have significant experience of front line SW safeguarding.
- have excellent communication skills both written and verbal and with adults, children and professionals across a wide range of ages and backgrounds
- a commitment to promoting diversity and equal opportunities
We can offer you:
- Full induction, with a very supportive Practice Fundamentals offer.
- Clear career progression pathway and excellent learning opportunities.
- Manageable and diverse caseloads.
- Regular Supervision.
- 25 days annual leave (pro rata, for those without continuous service), plus bank holidays.
- Competitive salary with access to local government pension scheme.
- Flexible working arrangements in our newly refurbished Civic Offices with Local Offices near to where you need to work.
- Employee Assistance Programme.
- Relocation Scheme.
- Staff network groups.
For an informal discussion about any of the roles above, please contact:
Venessa Collins, Team Manager for Adoption Recruitment & Assessment Team at venessa.collins@aspireadoption.co.uk
Check out our academy website for more details BCP Partnership Academy or on Aspire Adoption.
About BCP Council
BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people. Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline. We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services. By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.
Our Benefits
We offer an excellent benefits package for further details see here
As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We have been in a process of collective bargaining since 2019 and have positively worked forward to reach an agreed position with the unions for the new contractual offer. This has taken longer than we hoped and therefore we are having to consider all alternative avenues available to enable us to remove inequality in the organisation as a result of bringing together 3 councils.
We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation, and all colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. We want to reassure everyone that whichever route is taken to reach the new terms and conditions, we can honour continuous service and there will not be any job reduction as a result of the implementation of Pay and Reward. If you have any questions at all about this process, please feel free to raise this with the hiring manager.
DBS
BCP Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the community and expects all staff and volunteers to share the same commitment. Applicants to this post will be required to complete the appropriate level of Disclosure & Barring Service Check. Please refer to the Job Description or Role Profile for more details.
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