Lewisham
Family Practitioner - Fostering Support, Care Resources
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Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!
We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK’s first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.
Introduction
We are seeking an experienced, motivated, and compassionate Fostering Duty Worker to join our In-House Fostering Service. This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled practitioner with experience in fostering, children's social care, or safeguarding services, who is committed to improving outcomes for children and young people.
You will play a key role in providing a responsive duty service, supporting foster carers, children, families, social workers, and partner agencies. We are looking for someone with strong assessment and decision-making skills, excellent communication, and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
What’s the role?
Reporting to the Team Manager, you will provide high-quality duty and placement coordination support to the fostering service. As the first point of contact for fostering enquiries, you will offer advice, guidance, and practical support to foster carers and professionals, helping to promote placement stability and positive outcomes for children.
Key responsibilities include:
- Coordinating and matching foster placements.
- Managing duty enquiries and responding to urgent placement requests.
- Facilitating emergency placement searches.
- Supporting foster carers with advice and guidance.
- Working collaboratively with social workers and partner agencies.
- Ensuring placement decisions are child-centred, informed by assessment, and compliant with statutory requirements and best practice.
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What’s in it for you?
Excellent training and development opportunities, plus a range of benefits including:
- Generous holiday allowance
- Local Government Pension scheme
- Flexible working and family friendly policies
- Season ticket and bicycle loans
- A range of staff discounts including local subsidised gym memberships
- Supportive staff networks
What we’re looking for
We are looking for a professional who has:
- Experience working within fostering, children's social care, or safeguarding services.
- A strong understanding of fostering regulations, safeguarding, child protection, and looked-after children's legislation.
- Excellent assessment, risk management, and decision-making skills.
- The ability to manage competing priorities in a busy duty environment.
- Strong partnership-working and relationship-building skills.
- A commitment to delivering high-quality, child-centred services.
This is an excellent opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and foster families while working as part of a supportive and dedicated team.
Location
The job is primarily based in Laurence House, Catford, London, SE6 4RU, but we operate a hybrid approach where you will be required to work both in the office and from home on a regular basis.
Special conditions
- Enhanced DBS clearance is required.
- Substantial experience within children's social care, fostering, or looked-after children's services is essential.
- Experience within a fostering duty, placements, or fostering support service is highly desirable.
The recruitment process is anonymous and we don’t accept CVs.
Applicant handbook [https://lewisham.gov.uk/mayorandcouncil/counciljobs/applying/how-to-apply-for-a-job-with-us] - please read the guidance in this handbook when applying. It is essential that you complete the application fully and that your supporting statement covers how you meet each of the person specification criteria listed.
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For an informal discussion about this job, please contact Shahnaz Khan Shahnaz.Khan@lewisham.gov.uk
Please click here [https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/-/media/jobs/FamilyPractitionerJD7926] to view the Job Description and Person Specification
Salary
£41,739 - £43,014 per annum (SO1)
N.B: All appointments will be offered at the minimum spinal column point (SCP) for the grade of the role. The only exception to this will be when matching current salary (up to the maximum of the scale), which is subject to evidential proof.
Diversity
Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at http://www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply
The Council reserves the right to close adverts early if there is a large response.
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