Location: Middlesbrough
Pay Rate: £31.74 per hour (Umbrella)
Contract Type: Full-time (37 hours per week), Ongoing locum assignment
Working Model: Hybrid (Office-based in Middlesbrough with flexible working and home visits)
Job Purpose
Middlesbrough Children's Services is seeking an experienced, resilient, and analytical Qualified Social Worker to join a fast-paced statutory Assessment Team.
Working at the front door of children's social care, you will be responsible for undertaking short-term, high-quality statutory assessments for children and families where concerns have been raised. In this dynamic role, you will assess initial risks, determine immediate safety needs, and coordinate swift multi-agency interventions or step-down plans to ensure children and young people receive the right support at the right time.
Key Responsibilities & Main Duties
- Front-Door Assessments: Complete robust, analytical Child and Family Assessments within statutory timescales (45 days), evaluating risks and family strengths from the point of referral.
- Safeguarding Enquiries: Undertake Section 47 child protection enquiries and acute risk evaluations where immediate safeguarding concerns arise, holding urgent strategy discussions with multi-agency partners.
- Crisis Intervention & Short-Term Planning: Establish initial Child in Need (CIN) or Child Protection (CP) plans, chairing initial core group meetings and multidisciplinary network discussions before transferring longer-term cases to core safeguarding teams.
- Multi-Agency Working: Collaborate closely with the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), police, health professionals, schools, and early help services to ensure seamless referral and assessment pathways.
- Child-Centered Practice: Engage directly with children and young people using trauma-informed and strengths-based methods to capture the voice of the child and embed their views into all assessment outcomes.
- Compliance & Case Transfer: Maintain precise, timely, and compliant records on local authority case management systems, ensuring seamless case handovers and statutory quality standards.
Person Specification & Requirements
- Professional Qualification: Degree in Social Work (BA, BSc, MA, DipSW, or CQSW).
- Professional Registration: Active registration with Social Work England (SWE).
- Post-Qualifying Experience: Minimum 2 years post-qualifying experience in a statutory Children & Families, Assessment, or Intake/MASH team.
- Knowledge & Expertise:
- Deep operational understanding of the Children Act 1989/2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children, and front-door statutory thresholds.
- Proven ability to conduct high-quality, evidence-based risk assessments under tight statutory deadlines.
- Strong crisis management, analytical writing, and decision-making skills.
- Essential Extras: Full UK Driving License with daily access to a reliable vehicle for community visits. Enhanced DBS check (on the update service).
What Is Offered
- Competitive pay rate of £31.74 per hour (Umbrella).
- Hybrid working arrangements providing a balance between office presence, home working, and community visits.
Randstad Care acts as an employment business when supplying temporary staff and as an employment agency when introducing candidates for permanent employment with a client. Randstad Care is an equal opportunities employer and decisions are made on merits alone.
Did you know that Randstad Care have been awarded a place on the National Clinical Staffing Framework for the NHS? This means we will be able to bring you more opportunities within nursing & midwifery and clinical staffing.
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