Family Finding Social Worker - Social Care Qualified
Birmingham Children's Trust
2 days in office 3 remote.
Job Purpose
To secure timely, stable and nurturing family-based fostering placements for children and young people by undertaking creative and proactive family-finding activity. The Family Finder will work collaboratively with social workers, placement services and external providers to identify and promote suitable care arrangements that meet children's individual needs and support permanence planning. We are keen to hear from applicants with placements and/or family finding experience.
Key Responsibilities
Family Finding and Permanence Planning
- Undertake comprehensive family-finding/placement finding activity for children requiring foster care, long-term fostering or other family-based permanence arrangements.
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with children's social workers and placement services.
- Contribute to permanence planning by providing specialist advice regarding family-finding opportunities and barriers.
Child Profiling and Marketing
- Develop high-quality, strengths-based child profiles, pen pictures and promotional materials that accurately reflect the child's identity, needs, wishes and aspirations.
- Produce engaging family-finding resources including videos, digital profiles and other media to promote children requiring placements.
- Ensure all family-finding documentation is child-focused, trauma-informed and professionally presented.
- Support social workers to complete high-quality referrals and matching information.
Partnership Working and Recruitment
- Build and maintain effective relationships with fostering services, independent fostering agencies and other placement providers.
- Promote children requiring placements through appropriate networks and marketing opportunities.
- Coordinate and facilitate family-finding events, matching events and community engagement activities.
- Develop innovative approaches to attract potential carers for children who may traditionally be more difficult to place, including older children, sibling groups and children with complex needs.
Matching and Placement Support
- Work closely with fostering teams to identify and assess potential matches.
- Assist with matching discussions and provide information to support decision-making.
- Support transition planning where a match has been identified.
- Monitor and track family-finding activity to ensure children experience minimal delay in achieving permanence.
Performance and Quality Assurance
- Maintain accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date records of all family-finding activity.
- Provide management information regarding progress, outcomes and barriers.
- Contribute to service audits, quality assurance processes and performance monitoring.
- Ensure practice complies with statutory guidance, local policies and safeguarding procedures.
Person Specification
Essential Qualifications
- Relevant professional qualification in Social Work or equivalent children's services qualification.
- Registration with Social Work England
Essential Knowledge and Experience
- Experience of family finding and/or placement finding for children
- Experience of working with children in care
- Knowledge of fostering regulations, permanence planning and care planning processes.
- Experience of multi-agency working and partnership development.
- Experience of creating written assessments, profiles and reports.
- Understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and children's legislation.
Essential Skills
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
- Strong analytical and assessment abilities.
- Ability to engage children and young people effectively.
- Creative approach to problem-solving and placement finding.
- Ability to manage competing priorities and work independently.
- Strong organisational and IT skills.
- Experience of family finding, fostering recruitment or adoption services.
- Knowledge of matching processes and placement sufficiency planning.