Senior Therapeutic Social Worker – Fostering (Social Work Qualified)

About Us

Foster Care Associates (FCA), part of the Polaris Community, is a leading independent fostering agency committed to making a positive and lasting difference for children, young people, and families.

Our service is underpinned by a strong therapeutic ethos, ensuring children in foster care receive trauma-informed, nurturing, and consistent care.

Benefits

Company Car or £, Car Allowance, days’ annual leave (rising to days after length of service) + bank holidays, Company Pension Scheme, Free on-site Parking, Life Assurance, Employee Discount Scheme & Medical Cash Plan

Additional Benefits

• Refer a friend scheme with a monetary incentive
• Opportunity to complete Form Fs for an additional payment
• An exceptional platform available for online and face-to-face training opportunities
• Opportunity to complete Practice Assessor Award
• OOH service (additional payment to social workers for undertaking evening and weekend OOH duty service)

The Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and passionate Therapeutic Social Worker to join our North Wales team. This is an amazing opportunity to join our inspirational and friendly team. Our office is based in Abergele and we support the hybrid model of working with lots of flexibility to work from home.

This is a specialist role, designed to strengthen and embed therapeutic practice across the service. You will provide guidance, consultation, and support to foster parents and colleagues, helping to ensure that all care provided is trauma-informed and relationship-based.

While the primary focus of the role is therapeutic, responsibilities may include holding a caseload of foster families in the role of Supervising Social Worker (SSW), supporting continuity of care and practice integration.

Benefits of Joining Our Team

We are committed to the wellbeing of our staff. The aim of our Staff Wellbeing Strategy is to increase all our employees’ wellbeing, self-esteem, and sense of belonging to a team and create new environments for them to spend productive time together. This includes walk and talks at the beach or in parks, wellbeing hour, park runs, mindfulness sessions, sea dipping, yoga sessions, raft racing and charity events to name a few. Our office environment is friendly and inviting with tea, coffee, breakfast and lunch items always available for our staff to contribute towards their wellbeing. Robust induction, supportive management team, monthly reflective supervision with line manager and regular learning and reflective opportunities with the Social Work team.

Core Purpose

• To lead and promote therapeutic and trauma-informed practice across the fostering service
• To support foster parents and staff to understand and respond to complex behaviours and developmental needs
• To provide specialist therapeutic consultation, training, and reflective support
• To improve fostering home stability and outcomes for children and young people

Key Responsibilities

• Provide therapeutic consultation and reflective spaces for foster parents and staff
• Deliver : sessions and structured support to foster parents
• Facilitate/support therapeutic parenting training, workshops, and group sessions
• Offer joint sessions with foster families and young people, where appropriate
• Support understanding and application of: Trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) Attachment theory and developmental trauma Emotional regulation and relational approaches Therapeutic parenting models
• Contribute to formulation, planning, and review of therapeutic care
• Champion a consistent therapeutic model across the service

Practice Leadership

• Act as a therapeutic lead within the team
• Support colleagues to embed trauma-informed and relationship-based approaches in their practice
• Provide guidance, coaching, and consultation to social work staff
• Contribute to the development of therapeutic services, models, and interventions

Social Work Responsibilities (Where Required)

• Undertake a caseload of foster parents in a Supervising Social Worker capacity
• Provide supervision and ensure foster parents meet required standards
• Complete necessary safeguarding, statutory, and regulatory responsibilities
• Produce high-quality reports, recordings, and documentation
• Work collaboratively with local authorities and professional networks
• Participate in duty systems and out-of-hours support where required

About You

We are looking for a practitioner who brings strong therapeutic knowledge alongside social work expertise.

You will:

• Be a qualified Social Worker
• Be registered with Social Care Wales (or eligible to register)
• Have in-depth knowledge of: Trauma-informed practice Attachment theory Therapeutic and psychologically informed approaches
• Have experience working with foster parents, children, or families with complex needs
• Be confident delivering: Training and group work Consultation and reflective practice
• Be able to apply therapeutic thinking within a social care context

Essential Requirements

• Social Work qualification
• Registration with Social Care Wales
• Strong safeguarding knowledge and report writing skills
• Full UK driving licence and willingness to travel

Why Join Us?

• A unique opportunity to work in a dedicated therapeutic practitioner role within fostering
• Influence and shape practice across the service
• Be part of a supportive, reflective, and values-driven team
• Access excellent training and professional development opportunities

Interested?

We would love to hear from you. Apply now or contact us for an informal discussion.

Contact
Anna Pearson, Fostering Service Manager

Tweet (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = (s)[]; if ((id)) return; js = (s); ; "//#xfbml=&status=&appId="; (js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Share Apply now