Children's Adoption Social Worker

Job Details:

Job Reference: HCC621320
Salary Range: £30,382 – £43,679 per-annum, plus a market supplement of up to £3,000 depending on payscale
Work Location: Countywide, Hampshire (office base Totton)
Hours per week: 37 
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 22 June 2025

Practice in an Outstanding Children’s Service and with Adopt South (RAA) to work closely with birth families, children and prospective adopters

Are you looking for a new role that is unique and specialist and provides great working conditions and benefits?

We are looking for a Children’s Adoption Social Worker within Hampshire County Council, to practice in one of just a few local authorities in the country rated Outstanding by Ofsted. You will also have the added benefits of being under the management umbrella of Adopt South and as such you will working in close collaboration with the Regional Adoption Agency to find permanency for children within adoption. You will be working closely with all the children and families teams across Hampshire County Council for Parallel Planning prior to Placement Orders being granted.

You will have flexibility to work across a large county and although the main office base is in Totton, you will have access to all HCC buildings and home working for increased flexibility.

The Role:

Our Social Workers are an asset to us, and we encourage our workforce to be creative and autonomous, while enabling them to work flexibly. We are committed to providing regular, reflective and effective supervision to support you, while ensuring you also have the working conditions you need for good practice to flourish.

Registered with Social Work England, you will be highly skilled at building meaningful relationships with children and families to engage them in life story work and ensuring children moving on to adoption are supported throughout. You will need to be creative, flexible and forward thinking in your approach, whilst constantly striving for continuous improvement to provide the best outcomes for children.

What you'll do:

• Work in collaboration with Family Help and Disabled Children’s Teams across Hampshire Children’s Services for Parallel Planning to consider plans of adoption
• Work with colleagues within Adopt South to help find growing up families for children with a care plan of adoption to secure their permanency
• Work in a strength-based and child-focused approach to help achieve permanency for children within adoption
• Advocate for the children when required to ensure that their wishes and thoughts are considered throughout
• Ensure that plans are progressed in a timely manner to ensure children achieve their permanency and timescales are met
• Get alongside children to understand their needs to support them at each stage of the adoption process
• Engage with birth families to develop good relationships and encourage on going keeping in touch arrangements throughout the child’s
• Create meaningful and bespoke life story work for each child adopted so that they have a strong sense of identity growing up
  
  

What we’re looking for:

We are seeking an experienced and passionate Children’s Adoption Social Worker who can apply professional knowledge to transform the outcomes for children, relatives, foster carers and adopters whilst facilitating effective multi-agency solutions. With your significant Social Work experience, you will have excellent communication skills and the ability to relate to all different kinds of people, plus have the motivation to grow your role through personal and professional development. We are committed to providing a service that is accessible to our families, including planned evening work.

Above all, you will be determined to make a difference for both service and children and families who need it. You will know what excellent practice looks like and will be able to improve outcomes for the children and adoptive families. Most importantly, however, you will have a passion for supporting children and families to ensure that they thrive and flourish.

You will be required to travel to various locations within Hampshire [and the Isle of Wight or other local authority], and it is essential that you have a current drivers’ licence and access to a reliable vehicle on a regular basis

Due to the nature of the role social workers require at least three years post qualifying experience in childcare social work under the Restriction on the Preparation of Reports Regulations 2005

Why join us?

• We will provide you with:
• A 9 day working fortnight.
• Annual leave starting from 25 days per annum FTE and rising to 28 days FTE based on experience and length of service. 
• A hybrid tablet device, so you can work more effectively and flexibly.
• 5 personal development days per annum (pro rata for part time staff). 
• Ample progression opportunities. 
• Flexible working options to fit around today’s lifestyles.
  
  

In addition to working for one of the top performing children’s social care authorities in the country, Hampshire is also one of the best places to live and work. Located on the south coast, with excellent transport links up and down the country, Hampshire offers the perfect blend of rural and city living. You’ll find miles of lovely coastline, nature reserves and heritage sites, which are just some of the benefits of living in Hampshire.

If you think you have what it takes to make a real difference in Hampshire, get in touch!

Hampshire County Council is recognised nationally as one of the highest performing local authorities in the UK. A modern, forward-looking local authority, it offers a pleasant, supportive, and collaborative working environment.

Hampshire County Council is also a flexible employer interested in making the most of your skills and offers a great work life balance

Additional Information:

Children's Adoption Social Worker Candidate Pack

Vetting Requirements:

This post is subject to a Criminal Records Check. As such, please note that under safer recruitment requirements for Children’s Services, references will be requested prior to interview.

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

Lucy Tate, Team Manager, Children’s Adoption Team on lucy.tate@hants.gov.uk or 0370 779 1394