Senior/Supervising Social Worker

About Us

Set up by a former foster parent and former social worker in , Foster Care Associates (FCA) is an established fostering agency which forms part of the Polaris Community - one of the UK’s largest communities of children’s services providers.

The business was born out of an enthusiasm for delivering fostering services to make a positive difference to the lives of looked-after children. Our first office was in the Worcestershire countryside, and that is still where our Head Office is today.

We have come a long way since those early days. Over the years, FCA has built a strong reputation for excellence, and now offers a wide range of services to children and families. But our purpose remains the same; ‘to make a positive and lasting difference for children, families and communities’, and it is underpinned by a series of values designed to help us assist children and young people to reach their full potential.

Today, we are one of the country’s largest and most experienced independent fostering agencies. Just because we are large, does not mean we are impersonal. At FCA we are one big family, and we are committed to supporting every single child and foster parent, every single minute of the day.

Duties Will Include:

• Support foster parents and their families to achieve outstanding outcomes for all children and young people in foster care
• Support and monitor the continued suitability and competence of foster parents, ensuring they provide a safe, healthy, nurturing and learning environment for children and young people
• Ensure that foster parents fully understand the fostering task, competencies to be achieved and the standards expected, including complaints and representation procedures as detailed in the FCA policies and procedures
• Provide and record regular supervision to allocated foster parents in line with FCA’s Operational Standards
• Work in partnership in a team parenting approach to help identify any needs within the foster family , activities, therapy, holidays, with all members of the child’s network, including contributing to all relevant meetings and any other tasks defined
• Ensure each child and foster parent are fully compliant in respect of all key documentation
• Attend meetings and/or provide reports for Commissioning Teams to address individual packages of care
• Promote participation of children and young people in the development of the agency and in accessing resources and opportunities in their local community
• Participate in an Out of Hours support service on a rota basis
• Participate in the daytime duty system on a rota basis, supporting the Referrals Team
• Undertake occasional initial home visits and Form F assessments

You Must Have:

• A Social Work qualification
• Professional registration with Social Care Wales or equivalent
• Proven ability to produce a high standard of report writing
• A comprehensive working knowledge of relevant legislation and child safeguarding procedures
• The willingness and ability to travel extensively, including occasional nights away
• Confidence with transporting children and young people in sometimes challenging situations
• Full UK driving licence