Residential Childcare Worker

About Us

Blue Cove (3-bed) and Green Waves (1-2 bed) are short‑term emergency assessment homes supporting young people aged 12-18 through periods of crisis or significant change, with placements lasting from a few days to several months.

We support young people with social, emotional, and behavioural needs often linked to early trauma and family breakdown, prioritising their safety, stability, and wellbeing while working closely with partner agencies to plan next steps. Both homes provide a nurturing, structured environment where young people can build confidence, resilience, and positive relationships.

Our Residential Childcare Worker at Blue Cove says "It has its challenges, but it's got to be the most rewarding job that I have ever done. I work with a great team, and you need a great team to support our fantastic children. They genuinely do make us laugh every day and that in itself makes it all worthwhile…Whilst it's not always immediately visible, the care and support you provide can have a profound and lasting impact on their [children's] lives."

About the Role

Salary: £28,598 - £30,023 per annum (includes weekend working allowance) plus excellent pension, annual leave and additional benefits.
Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Location: Worthing
Shifts and Rotas: For day work, you will be required to work on a shift rota between 07:00 - 22:00, including every other weekend and currently approximately one sleep-in duty per week with enhanced pay. This can be discussed with candidates in more detail at interview.

As a Residential Childcare Worker, you will play a vital role in creating a safe, supportive home where young people feel valued, listened to, and respected. You'll build trusting relationships, act as a positive, resilient role model, and help young people navigate challenging emotions and behaviours.

No two days are the same! Your work may include supporting daily routines, de-escalating conflict, encouraging tailored activities, supporting learning, facilitating family contact, recording progress, and celebrating achievements. You will need to be intuitive, resilient, creative, and able to adapt to the needs of each young person while following their individual care plans.

You will work closely with a fantastic team and supportive colleagues to provide consistent care, maintain accurate records, and liaise with families, social workers, and other professionals to ensure the best possible outcomes for each child.

Apply today to join Blue Cove or Green Waves and take the next step in a rewarding career with outstanding development opportunities and great additional benefits!

Experience and Skills

Some of the key skills and experience required for the role are:

• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare or equivalent. If you do not have this, the service will support you to complete this qualification; you must achieve this within two years of appointment as it is a statutory requirement of this post.
• Sound communication and interpersonal skills to a range of children and families.
• Ability to promote and encourage a multi-agency approach to support the child.
• Ability to use initiative to resolve problems within given parameters.
• Ability to work under pressure and prioritise work.
• Ability to work as part of a team around a child.
• Good standard of literacy e.g. ability to write reports around individuals and significant incidents.
• Knowledge of how to support children who have experienced trauma, harm or abuse - Desirable

For a full list of key skills, experience and qualification requirements please refer to the job description attached below and reference these in your application form.

Rewards and Benefits

"You get loads of training; both in-house and externally and I've found that I have been supported well to fit this around the daily tasks…Outside of this, the Team really do seem to care about your wellbeing, and I've surprised myself with how this has impacted my levels of resilience." Current Residential Childcare Worker at Blue Cove

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where you can achieve your full potential and are rewarded for the work you do.

In addition to working within a great team and a brilliant opportunity you will receive:

• an excellent local government pension scheme
• generous holiday entitlement
• access to a wide selection of retail discounts and savings such as groceries, shopping, travel and more through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.
• a range of commuting and business travel discount and initiatives
• ability to apply for a Blue Light Card
• maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme
• financial wellbeing support including access to educational tools and webinars, loans or debt consolidation options and savings scheme
• training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05449 .

For an informal conversation or further information regarding the role, please contact one of the following people;

Kerry Sawyer (Blue Cove Registered Manager)

Zoe Willis (Green Waves Registered Manager)

To apply, upload your CV and complete our short application form, explaining the key skills and experience you can bring to the role in relation to the job description, ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. If you have any queries on your application please contact Charlotte Blandford (Resourcing Specialist) on

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and an occupational health check. A fully employment history will be requested and covered for this role.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.

Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!