Social Worker - Older People's Team South East

3 x Social Worker - Older People
South East Essex based in Basildon
Salary from GBP30,000- GBP35,000 per annum
Permanent, Full Time Contract

If shortlisted, interviews have been scheduled for Tuesday 17th October 2017.

This is your opportunity to be the Social Worker you want to be. You became a social worker to help change lives for the better. By following the Care Act and promoting Good Lives you can make a difference in changing the life for our vulnerable adults. It's about having the time to really get to know your service users and understand the issues they face, and the autonomy to deliver creatively tailored solutions.

By assessing the individual's needs you can discuss options available to ensure the customer feels supported and valued. Adult Operations truly believe in their value statement "Helping People to Help Themselves by Making Personalisation Real".

Essex County Council has an award winning training academy to support with your continued learning which allows you to further your career whether that be into a more senior role or remain front line with additional learning opportunities of becoming a Practice Educator, Approved Mental Health Professional Specialist (AMPH) or Best Interest Assessor.

About the team

The older peoples team are responsible for working with individuals who have complex social needs and are more vulnerable as a result of disability, exclusion, or diminished capacity, for example, working with people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities or diminished capacity and working with communities, families and individuals social workers maximise or promote personal strengths, social networks and resources.

To undertake assessment of risk involving safeguarding of vulnerable adults/carers and their families across a range of settings. Taking responsibility and working with individuals facing complex social and family crisis across a range of settings. Promoting autonomy and development with individuals who have complex needs and are more vulnerable to exclusion. Working with communities, individuals and families to promote their personal strengths.

Key Accountabilities:

• To assess, review and provide help to an individual, family or carer with complex family or social care needs, taking full account of appropriate policy and guidance. This will include taking due account of the principles of personalisation, service eligibility criteria and legal framework
  
• To intervene and provide help to an individual or family whose complex family or social care needs or risks indicate that they need ongoing professional support which they might not normally be willing to accept
  
• To carry out an assessment or enquiry and plan responses with an adult, or their representative or advocate if they lack capacity, to safeguard them from abuse, neglect or exploitation, building effective relationships with individuals and families as appropriate
  
• To enable an adult who has been abused or neglected to improve their circumstances, where it is unclear whether the person lacks mental capacity to make decisions, or where it is unclear whether their decisions are compromised by the undue influence of others
  
• To seek to promote social justice and rights by challenging neglect, discrimination and exclusion, and helping to build safe, strong and caring social networks and communities
  
• To be the lead professional in collaborative work in situations where a social work perspective is needed to inform or drive decision-making, ensuring that a legally based, human rights perspective is applied to when and how interventions are made in the lives of individuals, families and communities experiencing complex social and family problems
  
• To help people facing significant personal adversity to improve their health, well-being and social engagement. To build relationships with individuals and families who find it difficult to engage with services but need support to develop or maintain independence or autonomy
  
• Facilitate service user choice and empowerment through promoting independence as far as possible, by using knowledge and skills to promote quality of life, through the application of the principles of the personalisation agenda, such as support planning, at validation / risk management board discussions and Family Group Conferencing
  
• To refer, liaise, consult and work effectively with other professionals in order to identify and meet service user / carers needs e.g. Social Care Staff, Essex Equipment Service, Health Care Professionals, District Councils, Housing Teams, Home Improvement Agencies and contractors. In integrated teams, to positively contribute to the achievement of joint working practices
  
• To hold a caseload of a level of complexity and provide case management, guidance, support and expert advice to social care staff, students and newly qualified social workers, as and when required. Accountable for making recommendations about whether a case has reached the threshold for statutory intervention
  
• Record, investigate and respond to safeguards and risk management boards, complaints and compliments, and provide detailed and professional responses in accordance with relevant standards and time frames
  

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Diploma / Degree in Social Work
  
• HCPC registered
  
• Excellent organisation skills with the ability to manage your own time
  
• Ability to engage and influence with multiple agencies
  
• Passionate and driven to support your own continuing personal development (CPD)
  

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wide operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

As part of employment with Essex County Council should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please visit:

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees, including:

• A local government pension scheme (LGPS), a career average scheme with employee and employer contributions
  
• Annual leave entitlement of up to 29 days per year (depending upon grade and length of service)
  
• Purchase of additional annual leave (up to agreed limits)
  
• Flexible working arrangements (for most roles but depending upon service requirements)
  
• Discounted shopping through a dedicated Reward Portal (including discounts at major supermarkets)
  
• Training and development and payment of professional fees (approved professions only)
  
• Relocation package (up to GBP8,000) where agreed
  
• Employee assistance programme provided in-house (wellbeing and counselling provision)
  
• Childcare vouchers, through salary sacrifice
  

Please note ECC regularly reviews its reward and benefits

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity is key to our success.

If you have any queries regarding this role, or require anything further, please contact the Essex Recruitment Team on *.

*Calls to this number will cost 7 pence per minute plus your telephone company's access charge