Fostering Assessment Social Worker

Job Description

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO1-PO4 £42,492 - £53,919 (pro rata for part-time)

Salary will be determined in accordance with the pay policy and relevant experience; candidates with significant post-qualifying and fostering assessment experience may be considered for appointment at the upper end of the grade range.

Retention Bonus: £2,000 per annum (subject to eligibility requirements)

Contract Type: Full-time/ Part-time/ Fixed Term Contract (05/04/2027) with potential to extend

Working hours per week: 36 (part time arrangements are available)

Application Deadline: 08/11/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): W/C 16/11/2026

Reference:  2214

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

About the role:

This is an exciting opportunity to join the regional recruitment and assessment team, working across Havering, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest to recruit, assess and support prospective foster carers. The successful candidates will play a key role in delivering high-quality fostering assessments, supporting applicants through the assessment process, contributing to foster carer preparation and training, and helping to ensure more children across northeast London have access to safe, stable and nurturing foster homes.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

• Undertake comprehensive, evidence-based fostering assessments from allocation through to panel and recommendation.
• Plan and manage all stages of the assessment process, including visits, interviews, checks, references and evidence gathering within agreed timescales.
• Assess applicants, household members, significant adults and support networks to evaluate suitability to foster.
• Analyse parenting capacity, safeguarding awareness, protective care, family relationships, diversity, identity, birth family contact and ability to meet children's needs.
• Apply professional curiosity and sound judgement to explore discrepancies, test evidence, assess risk and identify safeguarding concerns.
• Evaluate references, statutory checks and agency information, triangulating evidence to inform balanced recommendations.
• Provide guidance and support to applicants throughout the process, including preparation for panel and understanding outcomes and next steps.
• Work collaboratively with agencies, partners and stakeholders to gather information, promote high standards and improve outcomes for children with care experience.
• Support the preparation and delivery of foster carer training, including identifying development needs and contributing to training materials and learning activities.

Qualifications and Requirements:

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:

• Relevant professional social work qualification and current Social Work England registration.
• Knowledge of child development, attachment, developmental trauma, adverse childhood experiences and the capacity to assess applicants' ability to provide therapeutic, nurturing and reparative care to children with complex needs.
• Knowledge of fostering legislation, National Minimum Standards, Fostering Services Regulations and statutory guidance relating to the recruitment, assessment and approval of foster carers.
• Commitment to continuous professional development, reflective practice and professional supervision, maintaining up-to-date knowledge of legislation, research, policy and evidence-informed practice.
• Ability to undertake strengths-based, anti-discriminatory and culturally competent assessments, recognising and challenging personal bias, discrimination and inequality.
• Experience of undertaking comprehensive fostering assessments, including completing high-quality Form F assessments, analysing complex life experiences and family dynamics, and presenting balanced, evidence-based recommendations to Fostering Panel.
• Ability to use professional curiosity, supervision, consultation and reflective practice to test evidence, challenge assumptions, explore complex family dynamics and strengthen professional judgement.
• Ability to gather, analyse and synthesise information from interviews, observations, statutory checks, references and professional reports to form sound professional judgements regarding suitability to foster.
• Ability to build purposeful and effective relationships with prospective foster carers while maintaining professional boundaries, using empathy, professional curiosity and respectful challenge to explore sensitive and complex issues.

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory declaration of interest;
• This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;
• Satisfactory DBS check;
• Continued professional body registration.
• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We are a Home Office–licensed sponsor; however, for this specific role we are not able to provide Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. To be considered, you must already hold a form of UK work authorisation that does not require sponsorship.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Janice Horslen, Head of Regional Fostering Recruitment at janice.horslen@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Fraud Awareness Notice:

The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic).

We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.

If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information.

If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to:
fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.