Advanced Practitioner - Permanence Team

Advanced Practitioner - Permanence Team

About the role

We have an exciting opportunity for an Advanced Social Work Practitioner to join the Permanence team, to contribute to working collaboratively with families and supporting children, who are looked after by the Local Authority with a Care Plan of adoption, to achieve permanence.

Skilled Social Workers in this team keep children at the heart of all we do; building meaningful relationships with children and young people, their families and carers, to ensure we plan proactively and effectively for the future of every child.

What will you be doing?

You will supervise Family Support Workers, offer case supervision and advice to Social Workers as well as promoting the implementation of the Trust's Practice Model and providing space for reflection. The Advanced Practitioner will also organise regular group supervisions with Social Workers and Family Support Workers focusing on specific issues where workers may be challenged, or specific themes and issues workers come across with.

An Advanced Practitioner will hold a small, complex case load that will include high risk, high need looked after children. This will involve collaborative working with the children and young people, their families and partner agencies to achieve the best outcome possible.

You will be based in Northampton but there would be a requirement to travel across the county and outside of the county where necessary to support our families effectively.

We welcome the opportunity to speak to any interested candidates so please feel free to email: and they can agree a mutually agreeable time to call you

About you

You are an experienced Social Worker and must hold a recognised Social Work qualification (degree/diploma) and be registered with Social Work England.

You have experience of frontline Social Work and have worked within Child in Need/ Child Protection and Children in Care, including experience of care and adoption court proceedings.

You are a good communicator, a team player and equally capable of individual practice.

You will have experience of completing and reviewing assessments and reports for care proceedings and permanence planning, including Child Permanence Reports (CPR) and Annex A Reports, and you will have sound knowledge of life story practice, including the completion of life story books and later life letters.

You are confident in your analysis and decision making to deliver purposeful and effective interventions and care planning. You are skilled in offering mentoring, supervision, and quality assurance of various assessments and reports to ensure high quality and consistent practice.

Your work draws on specialist knowledge, skills and experience to support and develop practice. In this important and varied role, you will provide support and guidance to colleagues, including supporting new starters and mentoring some team members.

You can manage a small, complex and diverse caseload to the required standards.

You will have a strong desire to develop social work expertise to support the Children's Trust with its improvement journey.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Barred List check

When applying please ensure your supporting statement covers how you fulfil the essential criteria set out in the person specification as this will be used for shortlisting. You will need to provide a full employment history including any gaps since leaving full time education

Our benefits

We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do.

We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:

• SWE Registration paid yearly (social care colleagues)

• Recruitment Welcome Bonus of £4,000

• Relocation costs of up to £8,000

• 28 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years

• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.

• Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days annual leave

• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.

• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.

• Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits

• A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions

• Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities

• Subsidised town centre car parking scheme

About us

At Northamptonshire Children's Trust, children, young people and families are at the heart of all we do - in every decision we make and every action we take. Our mission is driven by the unwavering commitment to achieving the best outcomes for them. The Trust is wholly owned and funded but operationally independent from the Councils.

Our workforce are our most valuable asset and are pivotal to making the services and support we offer to children, young people and families who need us to be the absolute best we can be.

We value our colleagues and empower them to be able to do the best job of their lives every single day, working in a culture of support and kindness where achievements are celebrated and creativity is very much welcomed.

At NCT equality, diversity and inclusion are part of us and in everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and thrive in our organisation. We are a disability confident employer and have a commitment to care leavers who we guarantee an interview if they meet the essential criteria.

Join our dedicated team and be a part of an organisation where your work makes a real difference.

Attached documents

• Job Description and Person Specification