Social Worker, Fostering, Recruitment and Assessment

Social Worker (Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team)

PO2-PO3: £43,542 per annum incl. LW rising in annual increments to £49,638 pa

Hybrid Working / Permanent

In Lambeth, we value and invest in our Social Workers. Recognising staff are our greatest asset we are looking for reflective, talented Social Workers to assist in giving the best possible, most helpful support to our most vulnerable children, families and Carers.

Lambeth has a variety of offerings from our rich learning and development programme and competitive salaries to our exceptional career progression pathways and manageable caseloads. Manage your work-life balance through our flexible working opportunities, and work in the heart of Brixton, one of London's most vibrant cultural centres.

Most importantly, we are looking for reflective, dedicated social workers who want to focus on great practice that makes real and positive difference for children and young people we support.

Lambeth promotes Systemic approaches to working with families and communities. Through our innovative "Children at the Heart of Practice" framework, we are inspiring, resourcing and enabling social workers to undertake great relationship-based social work practice.

About the Role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a full time qualified social worker in the Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team.

The Recruitment and Assessment Team is a busy, vibrant team of experienced social workers with a clear focus on increasing the number of mainstream foster carers within the service to support and provide high quality care for our children looked after. We have an ambitious target to recruit 75 new fostering households over the next three years. There are also plans to develop a supported lodgings scheme.

About You

The successful candidate will have extensive experience of carrying out Form F Assessments for prospective mainstream, emergency fostering and supported lodgings applicants as and when required. You will also support with carrying out initial home visits to fostering applicants (when the duty social worker is unavailable to do so),

The successful candidates will report to the Team Manager of the relevant team and be part of a creative fostering and permanence service that works with the theories of trauma, attachment and loss, social pedagogy and restorative practice to ensure the best outcomes for our children.

Self-motivated and accustomed to working to deadlines, you will have good IT and communication skills, with experience of promoting and embedding good practice in relation to fostering recruitment, quality assurance, establishing and nurturing multi-agency relationships and providing training and support to colleagues.

You will have a good understanding of the Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations, Adoption and Children Act 2002, the Fostering Services Regulations 2011 and Special Guardianship Regulations 2005 (as amended by the Special Guardianship (Amendment) Regulations 2016).

Why Lambeth:-

• Fantastic, modern working environment in the award-winning Lambeth Town Hall and Civic Centre buildings
• Competitive Salaries
• Up to 35 days annual leave, dependent upon continuous service
• 5 Minutes from London Underground and excellent transport links into the centre of London
• Hybrid/Flexible working
• Cycle to Work Scheme (including City Bike Hire scheme)
• Attractive Local Government Pension Scheme
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits package

Find out more about why Lambeth is a great place to take the next step in your social work career, please visit our website:

We are a Stonewall diversity champion; a Living Wage Employer and we guarantee to interview all disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria of the role. Please click here for a full list of our accreditations.

If you have any queries in relation to this job vacancy, please contact Olaitan (Ola) Aregbesola on

Successful candidates will be asked to apply for an Enhanced Certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Further information about the DBS can be found at

Interested?

Please note we operate an anonymised application process, therefore, when uploading your personal statement, use the 'cover letter' link and remove any personal details. Please also upload a copy of your current CV.

Click the 'Apply' button and complete an online application form, explicitly evidencing in your Supporting Statement how you meet the criteria marked with an 'A' at shortlist stage, along with uploading your CV.

You must upload a Supporting Statement and CV for your application to be considered.

Job Description and Specification

Closing Date: Sunday 12th January 2025 at midnight

Lambeth aims for quality services and equal opportunities for all and is committed to safer recruitment.