Member Job Opportunity: Action for Children - Referral Officer

Circa: £19,000
Location: Kent, Greater London
Department/Division: England North
Contract Type: Permanent Full Time
Hours: 35, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm
Closing Date: 10 February 2021

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Giving children and young people the foundations they need to thrive.

The role
Action for Children Fostering South East is one service, based on two sites. Our London office is in Camberwell. We also have a Kent service based in Ramsgate.  We have foster carers in various and widespread areas of London and Kent.

We are not a large service  but we are long established, and have committed, skilled and experienced foster carers who are able to provide stable, nurturing family homes for children and young people who for various reasons aren't able to be cared for in their birth families.

Our children, young people and carers are supported and by a very experienced and skilled staff team. One of the strengths that our foster carers often comment on is that our service has a ‘family' feel to it.

We are looking for a Referrals Officer, based in our Kent service, who will build strong relationships with Local Authority Commissioners and social work teams by being dependable, responsive and supportive. You will work in partnership to advocate for best practice when making placements and represent Action for Children's values in your delivery. You will support our social workers and carers by providing clear and concise information and support the delivery of safe processes to ensure placements are made in line with contractual specifications.

You will make a difference by:

• Placing the child at the centre of placement decisions.
• Promoting clear processes and information sharing in a timely manner.
• Building strong relationships with commissioners and placement team who want to use the service, our carers and social workers.
• Being a strong advocate for Action for Children.

You will need:

• Business Administration S/NVQ Level 2 or equivalent qualification or work experience (desirable but not essential as training will be provided).
•  Great organisational skills.
• A capacity to work quickly and accurately in a fast-moving environment.
• Knowledge of child-centred processes, child development and needs-lead analysis.
• An ability to build reliable relationships with a range of people.
• Understanding and practicing confidentiality within your workload and the wider team

The way we work
We work to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team. Have a look at our behaviours and values to understand more about the way we work here.

Rewards
We want our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, a comprehensive employer-matched pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts on our dedicated benefits portal. Find out more about our exclusive Action for Children benefits here.

For safe and happy childhoods

At Action for Children, we protect and support children and young people, providing practical and emotional care and support, ensuring their voices are heard, and campaigning to bring lasting improvements to their lives. Last year, we helped more than 387,000 children and families across the UK.

For more information, please contact Lynsey Munro on [email protected] 

Interview dates are scheduled for 26th February 2021. 

We are committed to safer recruitment practices to protect our service users; therefore, all applicants are expected to have an understanding of and commitment to safeguarding best-practice.

Action for Children is passionate about promoting equality, valuing diversity and working inclusively. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons particularly people with Disabilities and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic applicants, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

Full details and application documents here