Social Worker/Senior Practitioner

Job Title: Social Worker / Senior Practitioner 

Contract: Fixed Term – Maternity cover 

About Coram

Coram is committed to improving the lives of the UK’s most vulnerable children and young people.

We support children and young people from birth to independence, creating a change that lasts a lifetime.

Coram is the UK’s oldest children’s charity founded by Thomas Coram in London helping vulnerable children and young people since 1739. Today, the Coram group helps more than one million children, young people, families and professionals every year by providing access to the skills and opportunities they need to thrive.

About Coram Adoption

Coram Adoption, a member of the Coram Group of charities, has over 40 years’ experience in finding permanent loving families for children needing adoption. As a voluntary adoption agency, we work mostly in London and Home Counties and in partnership with ten local authorities to deliver the Coram Ambitious for Adoption regional adoption agency.

We are committed to making adoption happen for children where this is the plan and are very proud to be working with our adoptive families and our adopted young people in shaping the future of the service. We maintain the very best of local authority adoption practice and continue to be rated an outstanding Adoption Agency by Ofsted. Coram Adoption is a member of CVAA, the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies.

Main duties & Responsibilities
• To participate in the recruitment, preparation and training of adopters and Early
Permanence carers as required, including facilitating Recruitment and Information events
and delivering preparation training.
• To work alongside adopters in family finding, linking and matching.
• To participate in planning introductions and transitions with the child’s local authority and
support adoptive families through this process.
• To support adoptive families after the child has been placed until the Adoption order is
granted, including attending statutory Looked After Children’s Reviews.
• To endeavour to achieve agreed placement and assessment targets.
• To promote the participation of children and young people, listening and learning from their
experience of the service and making changes to future practice.
• To develop an area of specialist expertise, e.g. group preparation and training of adopters,
or children’s specialist need areas expediting the child’s journey to adoption.
• To attend panel as required and to represent Coram as appropriate with other statutory and
voluntary agencies, including Court proceedings.
• To maintain and continually update professional skills and knowledge to ensure best
practice, integrating learning into your own practice and sharing with others.
• To keep abreast of and adhere to relevant statutory legislation and guidance.
• To maintain case records and produce written reports, including Prospective Adopters
Reports, Court reports and other specialist reports as required, to a high standard.
• To adhere to Agency policies and procedures including those on confidentiality, record
keeping and safeguarding.
• To verbally present information, as required, to the Fostering and Adoption panel, the court
or other agencies.
• To participate in supervision, team meetings and consultation with adoption agency
advisers.
• To engage with the research and service developments being undertaken within the team
and the wider organisation.
• To promote equal opportunities and to strive to achieve anti-discriminatory, child-centred
practice in all aspects of the work undertaken.
• To carry out duties consistent with the role and outcomes for children as required
• To uphold the Social Work England proficiency standards as a registered social worker.
• To recognise and challenge all forms of discrimination and prejudice in the workplace.

Coram is an equal opportunities employer and we believe a diverse workforce enables us to improve the services to the children and families we help. We are genuinely committed to encouraging candidates from all sections of the community we seek to support. This includes those from, Asian, African, Caribbean and other minority ethnic backgrounds, those that identify as LGBQT+, those with disabilities, those with lived experience of care, those with neuro-diversity, and those from other groups who are underrepresented at Coram.

If applicants feel comfortable, we would encourage them to draw on lived experience as well as professional experience in their personal statement as part of their application.

We are committed to the safeguarding of children and where appropriate will require the successful applicant to undertake a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Registered Charity No. 312278.