Job Introduction
The Service
The children's Adoption Team is part of the Children We Care For Service and supports children and their families when adoption is considered as a permanent option for the child.
Portsmouth Adoption Agency works in partnership with the Regional Adoption Agency Adopt South which recruits and assesses prospective adoptive families.
The Adoption Team collaborates with Adopt South to identify the best match for a child waiting for an adoptive family.
What is the role?
You will be:
Parallel Planning where the Local Authority is considering adoption as one of the permanence options for a child.
Working alongside Adopt South Family Finding Team to identify prospective adopters for children subject to Placement Orders and for those children who need to move to Fostering For Adoption/Early Permanence families.
Progressing the linking process through information sharing and presentation to adoption panel. Preparing adoption placement reports and adoption support plans to enable the panel and subsequently the Agency Decision Maker to consider the proposed link.
Preparing Annex A reports, court statements and attend court in response to applications challenging the adoption process as well as for the adoption order hearing.
Supporting birth family members as they say goodbye to their children moving to adoption but also set up considered and appropriate Keeping In Touch arrangements so that these relationships can be maintained.
The ideal candidate
You will need to have/be
- A diploma in social work or equivalent, be registered with Social Work England and have a good amount of experience in children's social work.
- A sound understanding of the needs of Looked After Children and permanence. Including the legislation around children and safeguarding.
- A good understanding of the effects of early life experiences on a child’s attachment, emotional and physical development
- Strong communication skills to enable you to communicate with children, families and other agencies.
- Excellent assessment skills to enable you to identify suitable adopters to make recommendations regarding matches with children. Highly competent in producing clear, evidence based analytical assessment reports for families, adoption panels and courts within government and departmental timescales.
- Flexible, to accommodate the needs of the service and adoption community in offering visits at evenings and weekends and willing to travel some distances using most efficient means- this can often include using a hire car, so a driving licence would be desirable.
We offer hybrid working with the expectation to attend the office a minimum of 2 days a week
Please see the Job profile for the full details of this role
If you would like to discuss this role in more detail with the hiring manager, please contact dave.crewe@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or 023 92 688 371.
Application process
We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.
As part of your application we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience.
We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal
We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.
About Portsmouth City Council
What we can offer you:
Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.
Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our careers portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council
Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures.
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk. or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616800
