Children's Social Worker

At Staffordshire County Council we are committed to delivering high quality permanency support assessments and interventions for adopted children and their families across the county.

The team is also responsible for responding to requests for information from adopted adults (Birth Records Counselling/Access to Adoption Records) and independent birth parent support.

This is an exciting opportunity for a child focused and experienced social worker to join the Staffordshire Permanency Support Locality Team, part of the Together4Children Permanency Partnership on a permanent basis. You would be joining an experienced, stable staff team which values teamwork and positive communication skills.

Whilst there is the opportunity for some home-based working, the Permanency Support Team provides a county wide service, and you will be required to travel to various locations across the Together4Children Permanency Partnership Region. There is a requirement to work flexibly, including occasional evenings and weekends on a planned basis

You will:

• complete timely, evidence based, adoption support assessments, providing quality therapeutic support, liaise with other professionals, signpost, and refer adopted children and their parents where necessary to targeted/other services.
• be involved in the preparation and delivery of training to adopters and colleagues in a range of areas related to adoption and permanence.
• be required to be child focused,
• have the ability to work in partnership with other agencies across the country.

You'll:

• a Qualified Social Worker and registered with Social Work England
• be a qualified social worker with experience of safeguarding, child protection and working with children who can no longer live with their birth parent/family.
• thorough understanding of attachment, separation, and trauma and child development
• have an ability to demonstrate an understanding of the range of needs of adoptive children and their families
• have experience of supporting adopted adults accessing their social care records.
• have experience of supporting birth parents/relatives.
• have an understanding of relevant legislation and policy in respect of adoption, adoption support, Birth Records Counselling and Access to Adoption Records.
• have skills in therapeutic direct work with children and adults.
• have a thorough understanding of attachment, separation, trauma, and child development.
• have he ability to work in partnership with other agencies across the country.

Ideally you would also have:

• a qualification or experience in delivering therapeutic intervention but not essential

With a strong desire to expand your learning, this position offers a fantastic opportunity to learn, develop and progress.
Interviews will be held on the 14th July 2026

For more information about the role of Permanency Support Social Worker please contact: Lisa Burke, Team Manager in the Permanency Support Team on email lisa.burke@staffordshire.gov.uk

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes, detailed below.

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.