Working in children's social care
We’re aspirational for our children, families and communities; relentless in our determination that all children and young people in York get ‘a better start in life’.
We need social workers who are passionate, skilled, innovative and people-centred. People who want and are driven to make the difference to families, to our team, and for themselves.
We know that when you make a difference in one child’s life, you make a difference for generations to come. That’s why what we do every day really matters.
We're a relatively small but dynamic authority, and we support our social workers to have close and friendly relationships within the council.
We fully appreciate that support from your colleagues, line manager and senior management team is imperative. That's why supporting social workers within their practice is a priority for us.
Apply to work in children's social care
Search for all current children's social care opportunities and apply online:
Search for jobs in Children's Social Care
From our jobs site, you can search for current vacancies by using appropriate keywords such as “children's social care”, or searching by job category or type, such as “social work”.
We offer:
- a commitment to ongoing development
- high levels of support with a strong focus on supervision
- well managed case loads
- membership of our Social Work Academy programme
- mentoring to all our Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs)
- ongoing support to more experienced colleagues through training, supervision, forums and workshops
We're passionate about offering opportunities to continue to learn and develop. Our extensive training programme is developed in partnership with our social workers, and responds to current issues within social work and the needs of families.
We strive and excel in delivering high quality training in systemic practice and strength-based training, as well as supporting social workers to work towards NAAS accreditation, Best Interests Assessor and Practice Educator qualifications.
We strive to uphold the following principles in our work:
- to work in a way which acknowledges and supports the values of Systemic Practice, including a focus on the importance of relationships - not just with the children and families we work with but also in relation to each other
- our interactions with one another, and the children and families we work with will be consistent, and include partner agencies
- we consider wider systems and context and the importance of social graces; we'll practice in a way which values and recognises the importance of these with a focus on the importance of networks and connection
- we'll challenge ourselves to work in a way which promotes curiosity and reflection in our practice with all partners and stakeholders to improve outcomes for children
- we'll be brave in our practice and, whilst working in uncertainty at times, enable families to make changes and find their own solutions wherever possible
A career in children's social care
We offer a range of services, and you'll be able to find a team which gives you the best opportunity to share your skills and to develop your career.
See further information about your career in children's social care, including guidance on the types of roles which are available if you're looking to apply to work in children's social care.
Find out more about the work of some of our teams:
- The Safeguarding Team
- Children in Our Care Team
- Fostering Service
- Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub
- Assessment Service, Early Help and Targeted Intervention Service
- Disabled Children and Young People's Team
The Safeguarding Team
The Safeguarding Team is responsible for supporting children who have been identified as needing statutory social work intervention. We primarily work alongside children and families, subject to Child In Need or Child Protection Plans and, when it is required, we safeguard them through the required proceedings.
Alongside Child in Need and Child Protection intervention, we also support children and families within private law proceedings; completing S7 and S37 reports, and work with families’ subject to Supervision and Family Assistance Orders on request of the court.
The Safeguarding Group comprises 4 small supportive teams of social workers, NQSWs and and Family Help Support practitioners, each led by a knowledgeable and available service Manager and supported by a Practice Supervisor. Our caseloads are manageable and there is a real focus on timely reflective supervision, both individually and as a team.
Each team has regular team meetings and staff can access development sessions runs across the service. Our Practice Supervisors offers dedicated support to NQSWs and additional practice sessions to support learning and development across the group, regardless of length of service or experience.
The Safeguarding Team are focused on working together, sharing our skills and supporting each other to work systemically to improve outcomes for our children. We value the relationships we build not only with the families we work with, but with each other as a workforce.
Our smaller team structure enables a more personal and supportive team environment to nurture and support one another in order to offer the best service that we can to those in need.
A career in children's social care
Children in Our Care Team
The Children in Our Care Team works with looked after children, implementing their care plans to support them through to adulthood or to return to their families when positive change has been achieved.
We seek to support our children and young people to achieve their potential through having high aspirations for them.
You will have a manageable caseload which will allow you to form strong relationships with children, young people and the team around them.
We're keen to make a difference through being creative and placing the child at the centre of our work. You will have good resolution skills, an ability to problem solve, and to prioritise and evidence your work.
A career in children's social care
Fostering Service
The Assessing Permanent Carers Team is responsible for the recruitment and then assessment of Mainstream foster carers. We will be further strengthening our recruitment of new foster carers as we need to ensure children remain in their local area with carers that can meet their needs.
We also assess Friends and Family Carers and Special Guardians with a view to them meeting the needs of York’s most vulnerable children. We have a strong focus on achieving permanency for children so that they have long term stability for the duration of their childhood. It’s an exciting time for the service, as in recent months we have further developed our offer for Special Guardian’s so that carers are able to provide support tailored to the individual needs of the child or young person.
The Fostering Team offer long term support to the Mainstream and Short Break foster carers, and Friends and Family foster carers. The Supervising Social Workers build excellent working relationships with their foster carers and support them to meet the needs of children through regular training and supervision.
A career in children's social care
Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub
Our Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) includes partner agencies such as:
- the police
- health workers
- the Youth Justice Service
- CAMHS
- Early Help practitioners
- our own social workers
MASH social workers work closely with these agencies to ensure that families receive the right level of service at the right time.
A career in children's social care
Assessment Service, Early Help and Targeted Intervention Service
MASH will decide the most appropriate response and either signpost the family, refer them to our Early Help service for parenting advice and support, or when a need is identified the child will progress to the Assessment Service within 24 hours. As an assessment social worker, you will be responsible for the timely completion of assessments to determine thresholds of intervention with children and their families.
Our 3 assessment teams are each led by a team manager, with 5 qualified social workers. These teams work closely with services including our own Targeted Intervention Service, which includes Family Group Conference and Family Support, as an immediate response and to provide support to children and their families’ right at the beginning of our involvement.
The Specialised Child Exploitation and Missing Team provides support to children who are at risk of exploitation and to provide a trauma-informed intensive and contextual safeguarding response.
Our Building Brighter Futures practice model promotes strengths-based working with our children and families, and other partner agencies, to bring about meaningful change.
All social workers have monthly reflective supervision, peer supervision and we have a strong focus on individual development.
If you are a motivated social worker, committed to working in partnership with families and you are looking to develop your career in a fast-paced and supportive team where every day brings new challenges, we would love to hear from you.
A career in children's social care
Disabled Children and Young People’s Team
The Disabled Children and Young People’s team consists of social workers and Family Help Practitioners who support children and families with the most complex needs.
Our remit is very broad and our work with families may include:
- undertaking assessment of need
- co-ordinating short breaks packages to support children to access social opportunities
- providing social work support to families
- supporting children in residential placements
- managing risk
A big part of our work is supporting parents to understand and meet their child’s unique needs and working closely with other agencies in order to do this.
We're a team which is passionate in ensuring every child’s voice is heard, no matter what their disability and we try to ensure we provide holistic packages of support which meet the needs of the whole family.
You'll be working closely with colleagues in health, education, SEND and adult services to ensure children with disabilities in York are supported throughout their childhood and during their transition to adulthood to reach their full potential and remain at home with the right support whenever they are able to.
You'll also work alongside colleagues in The Beehive, a new and ground-breaking flexible and holistic short breaks provision. It aims to lead to better outcomes and to enable children and young people to be cared for in their own homes and communities.
If you're passionate about supporting children with disabilities and their families within a supportive team, which will help develop your skills and experience, we’d love to hear from you.
A career in children's social care
Also see
Recruitment Team
Human Resources (HR) Business Centre