At West Sussex County Council Children’s Services we are committed to making real changes to the way we work to continue on our journey from Adequate to Good and beyond. We see our staff as our greatest asset. On-going investment in staff training and development including the implementation of a Signs of Safety approach across our services is a priority. Our aim is to go on improving responsiveness to children and families, maintaining manageable caseloads, and ensuring strong leadership, support and enhanced supervision. It’s good news for children and their families and good news for you.

We have opportunities in the following teams:

Intensive Family Support in Horsham/Worthing/Bognor - 3 vacancies
IFS: you will have a varied case load of CIN, Child Protection and Court work. Working with children, young people and their families you will be supported to implement a Signs of Safety approach to your case work to help families undertake change and improve the outcomes of children. We work closely with colleagues from preventative services, LAC teams and the wider professional network.

Referral and Assessment in Worthing - 1 vacancy
R&A in Worthing has 4 teams and covers the whole of the South area of the County. We have just moved over to a Single Child and Family Assessment with a Signs of Safety approach embedded in it. It is a busy and lively service, strong on management and supervision, always focused on the experience of the child, determined to work in partnership with parents, carers and our Partner agencies with an ethos of learning and developing together.

Children Looked After (Younger) in Horsham - 1 vacancy
You will join our Younger Looked After children’s Team, who are committed to delivering a high quality service to the looked after children of West Sussex achieving consistently good performance in permanency and care planning. Our work is focused on the journey of our children being positive, ensuring we have heard the voice of the child in securing them in adoptive or alternative permanent family placements.

You will ideally have some experience of working with looked after children, experience of court work and planning for adoption or alternative permanent options. You will have knowledge of relevant legislation and statutory requirements.

You will be creative, flexible, have excellent communication skills, and enjoy working at a fast pace. You will be able to use IT, and will be organised and able to manage your workload and competing demands. With a child centred focus you will be competent in maintaining accurate records of all work undertaken, taking part in professional meetings and able to produce well evidenced, outcome focused assessments, plans and reports.