Youth Justice Social Worker WCC621778

Job Details:

Salary range: £41,580 - £55,710 per annum. Salary negotiable depending upon experience 
Work location: 101 Orchardson Street, London NW8 8EA
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Permanent
Vetting requirements: Enhanced DBS Check  
Closing date: 27 August 2025
Interview date: 10 - 11 September 2025

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF KAKOLI’S PASSION AND DRIVE

Children’s Services in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where inspirational people like Kakoli are dedicated to encouraging everyone they work with to be the very best they can be.

Ever since she was a child, Kakoli has believed that children are the ones who’ll change the world for the better. Who’ll create the future we all wish for. And she always knew her calling was to get on the front line and help those who might not be as fortunate as herself.

Driven and passionate about making a difference, she first joined Westminster as a Social Work Assistant, and her managers immediately saw she had huge potential, so they encouraged her to apply to study for a degree in social work. She passed with flying colours, and over the next fourteen years worked as a frontline Social Worker, a Senior Social Worker, a Deputy Service Manager and is now one of our Service Managers.

Kakoli’s vision is as clear now as it was all those years ago – to encourage and support children, and help them grow in safe, vibrant communities. Her achievements are many, but she’s most proud of the fact that these days Westminster doesn’t ‘do things for families’ but ‘does things with families’. And she believes this huge but subtle difference to the way we work has allowed thousands of children in Westminster to fulfil their potential and live their dreams.

The Role:

As a Social Worker with our Youth Justice Service you can make your own powerful contribution to Westminster’s success. Our goal is to improve life for the most vulnerable children in our communities by helping them build their prosocial skills while supporting their families and carers. We also aim to reduce the number of children referred to the youth justice system and social care services, encourage school attendance, and make a positive contribution to the public health priorities of every child we work with.

You’ll have a wide and varied caseload, holding responsibility for a number of children aged 10-17, including some on statutory Court Orders and Out of Court disposals.

 Always ready to identify and assess levels of risk and need, and deliver dedicated protective or supportive services, you’ll assess each individual child’s offending and personal circumstances with a view to identifying the most appropriate response, one which minimises the risk of re-offending and promotes building a positive identity for the child. This will involve the writing of reports, reporting any safeguarding, risk or protection concerns, and keeping accurate records of your work.

You’ll have a range of additional tasks – these include joining the Court duty rota, providing cover in Youth, Magistrate and Crown Courts, and supporting the rehabilitation of children returning to the community from custody. We’ll also expect you to help with the development of the service by coming up with creative new ideas and contributing to improvements, participate in staff meetings, practice workshops and training courses, and work with our partners and other agencies to ensure we provide interventions of the highest quality.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

To be a success in this important role you should have well developed experience of the Youth Justice Service client group, the interrelated issues which impact children and young people, and good knowledge of the factors affecting disproportionality in the system. With this in mind you should have worked with children who are on the periphery of or already involved in offending, and have a profound understanding of the diverse range of cultural issues that may impact on children and their families.

You’ll have worked directly with children, young people and families who find it difficult to engage with services, and be capable of undertaking appropriate assessments and completing plans with children. Collaborative, empathetic and diplomatic, there’ll be times when you face challenging situations, so you’ll also possess superb engagement, negotiation and influencing skills, and a well grounded understanding of both ‘strengths based’ and ‘outcomes focused’ work.

It goes without saying that you’ll hold a Social Work qualification or relevant professional qualification within Youth Justice, and in addition to an enhanced DBS check and good IT database skills, you should be passionate about your own continuing professional development. We’ll also look for up-to-date knowledge of the local public health priorities for children, an understanding of the research base around desistance factors, the ability to apply research to practice, and a willingness to share your specialist expertise with colleagues.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. 

Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit  https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application , we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.