Job Introduction
Role Purpose
An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Aspire Adoption Service. The Birth Relative Support Service is an independent birth relative support service for those that have been affected by adoption. Its aim is to support birth relatives both emotionally and practically, whose children have a plan for or have been adopted. We are looking for someone who is able to deliver excellent customer service and strives to deliver high professional standards.
Main Responsibilities
- To offer support, advice, counselling and literature relating to the effect and implications of adoption to birth relatives
- To offer trauma-informed, respectful and empathic support to birth relatives and acknowledgement to the lifelong impact of adoption
- To enable birth relatives to understand the legal changes when an Adoption Order is made
- To help the birth relative to understand the benefits to the child of having some form of contact with their birth family
- To support the birth relative with meeting their child’s adoptive parents
- To contribute to the development and evaluation of the service, including seeking user feedback and suggesting strategies for future practice
The Ideal Candidate
- Must hold a Social Work Degree/Qualification
- Be a member of Social Work England
- Have a valid and up to date DBS check
- Have a minimum of three years post qualification experience in childcare social work
- Experience of working with families in the context of adoption and child protection is crucial.
- An understanding of the lifelong impact of trauma and loss
- Professional up to date knowledge of adoption law and practice
- Full UK drivers licence and access to own transport to travel across BCP and Dorset Local Authority areas.
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.
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.
Attached documents
