Community Social Work Team
The Community Social Work (CSW) Team are qualified social workers whose role is to support practitioners in the community who work directly with children and families.
It is a county-wide team comprising eight social workers, two deputy managers, and a team manager. Social workers within the team are non-case holding and support community practitioners to reflect on worries for children and their families, identify next steps, and follow-up to ensure practitioners are confident in completing agreed actions, providing or signposting to support required.
Community Social Workers also work alongside community practitioners who are part of a 'Team Around the Family' where there are concerns that the risk is increasing, where there are multiple needs which are not being met or there is a particularly complex situation to address.
The Community Social Work Team develop and deliver practitioner training in partnership with the Gloucestershire Children’s Safeguarding Partnership and health professionals.
The team is part of the council's Early Help and Targeted Support service and is integral to the Early Help Advice, Guidance and Support provided to community practitioners and partners.
Where we are based
We are a team of qualified social workers. We are spread out in each locality of Gloucestershire and can work from any of the locality offices or Shire Hall
Who we are
The Community Social Work team is made up of senior social workers, one deputy team manager and one team manager.
Skills you'll need
The Community Social Workers work autonomously so we ask for at least three years as a frontline social worker.
In terms of skills, as we work autonomously and provide support to practitioners in the community, to be a Community Social Worker you need to be confident, adaptable, have good communication skills, good time management and advocacy skills, as we promote and provide guidance to our community partners to manage risks for children.
We practice within the scopes of systemic and relationship-based approaches.
Why you should join us
We are a very supportive team. We meet every week for meetings including an informal lunch, that provides us with the time to offer informal and formal peer support, promoting our team morale and relationships.
We also offer opportunities to undertake continuous professional development (CPD) to progress to Senior Social Worker, complete 'Train the Trainer' to enable team members to develop and deliver training and where available, complete the PEPs training to become a qualified practice supervisor / educator.
The team is viewed positively and highly valued by community practitioners in Gloucestershire.
And that's not all...
We have opportunities to work closely with our community partners, as well as Early Help Co-ordinators. There are also opportunities to work in conjunction with the agile working policy, flexible working policy and the 9-day fortnight.
Get in touch
We'd love to tell you more!
✉ Email: CSWrecruitment@gloucestershire.gov.uk