Social Work Assistant (Family Placement Team)

Job Advert

We have a workforce with values that promote human rights, social justice and professional integrity. We recognise the importance of diversity within our organisation that reflects the communities we serve.

We are responsible for recruiting, assessing and supporting foster carers to care for children and young people on a full time and short break basis.

You will support the Family Placement Team in its delivery of the Promise and Closer to Home Strategy. The successful candidate will take a lead role in foster carer recruitment across Falkirk. You will be required to respond to fostering enquiries, share information about the role of a foster carer, and undertake home visits to assess the suitability of interested parties in line with service need. You will also co-deliver preparatory training for fostering applicants, and contribute to the early stages of assessment. Excellent communication and organisational skills will be essential.

You will take a lead role in the implementation of the Council’s foster carer recruitment campaign. They will be required to liaise with local services, existing foster carers and colleagues across the Council, including the Communications and Marketing Team, to develop advertising materials in line with the Council’s values. Experience in social media use is desirable to support these tasks.

We are ambitious in our vision to increase local foster carer availability to meet a wide range of needs. You will be required to use a flexible and strength-based approach to maximise recruitment opportunities. In this post, a good understanding of the experiences of looked after children and their families is essential. Therefore, we would encourage applications from care experienced individuals, experienced foster carers or residential workers.

Supervision and support with be provided on a regular basis from a manager within the Family Placement Team. The successful candidate will be required to maintain PVG scheme membership. You should be mobile across the council area and show commitment to your continuous development.

We have a dynamic and forward-thinking workforce, who are committed to make a positive difference for people accessing services and living in our communities. Trauma informed, relationships and strengths based social work sits at the heart of our practice.

We promote a culture where all our people feel valued, included and able to be their best at work. This supports our mission to be recognised as a learning organisation promoting openness, creativity, and experimentation across the workforce.

We work hard to develop our staff and expose them to a wide range of opportunities. We encourage our workforce to acquire and share knowledge, information, and resources. We nurture innovation, including service co-design that’s shaped by lived experiences and we provide freedom to try new things, to risk failure and to learn from both mistakes, and promising and good practice.

We are proud to offer:

• Supportive team structure
• Time for reflective supervision
• A culture where your voice matters and opportunities are available to shape how we work together as a team, service and across the Council and partnerships.
• Bespoke training and a range of career development opportunities
• Generous annual leave and mobile /flexible working supporting work life balance.
• Competitive salaries
• Local Government pension scheme and employee benefits and rewards scheme

This post is temporary until September 2025 due to service requirement.

For an informal discussion please contact Alma Cope alma.cope@falkirk.gov.uk or Laura Lowrie laura.lowrie@falkirk.gov.uk

You will be required to gain/maintain PVG scheme membership.