Social Worker – Residential Family Assessment Centre
- Salary: £46,620 – £49,865 per year + daily on-call enhancements
- Hours: 37 hours per week (Flexible working options; occasional weekend cover when on-call)
- On-Call: 1 week in 3 (providing out-of-hours advice, guidance, and staff support £30 per day allowance)
- Location: Low Martinfield
- Contract: Permanent | Full-Time
Empower Families. Rebuild Networks. Create Lasting Change.Are you an experienced, compassionate Social Worker who wants the time, reflective environment, and culture to deliver truly transformative, child-centered practice?At Low Martinfield, our underpinning ethos is a child-centred approach where the safety, needs, and experience of the child are first and foremost in every aspect of our work. Following an internal promotion, we are looking for a dedicated Social Worker to join our established, supportive team in an Ofsted-graded ‘Good’ setting (unannounced inspection, January 2026).Our Practice Ethos & PhilosophyWe recognise that each parent and child are individuals with unique experiences, preferences, hopes, fears, and expectations. By tailoring our care, we ensure every family member receives bespoke support as they navigate the issues identified by themselves and the placing authority.
- Holistic & Empowering Environment: We acknowledge that the assessment process can be challenging. We nurture a culture grounded in empowerment, acceptance, and learning to help families feel included, build confidence, and achieve sustainable, positive outcomes for their children.
- Evidence-Based & Fair Assessments: The primary purpose of our centre is to provide a safe, supportive environment for robust, evidence-based assessments of parenting capacity. Our work aligns directly with the Department of Health Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, always balancing rigorous evaluation with deep sensitivity to the family’s views, opinions, and wishes.
- Effective Planning: We work collaboratively to ensure proposed placement plans are efficient, effective, and meet the goals and objectives of everyone involved.
- Reflective & Supportive Staff Culture: As an organisation, we actively strive for a healthy working culture that prioritises staff wellbeing. We constantly challenge ourselves and our methods using reflective practice, openness, and honesty.
Why Join Low Martinfield?
- Generous Compensation: High-band salary starting at £46,620, plus daily financial enhancements during your on-call week.
- Flexible Working & Wellbeing: Work-life integration backed by a culture that genuinely values staff mental health and peer reflection.
- Proven Excellence: Join a stable, high-performing environment with an Ofsted 'Good' rating and a warm, homely assessment setting.
- Specialist Professional Development: Opportunity to deliver specialist parenting assessments, including fully funded Parentassess training if you are not already accredited.
- Targeted Caseloads: Experience direct, relationship-based work without the unmanageable volume of statutory frontline teams.
The Role & Your ImpactOne of the greatest challenges families face is maintaining progress post-placement. In this vital role, you won't just evaluate—you will help build the real-world scaffolding families need to stay together safely.Key Responsibilities:
- Network Building & Bravery: Rapidly establish trusted, non-judgmental relationships, helping parents find the courage to talk openly about their support networks and the challenges they face.
- Restorative Practice: Utilize restorative techniques to repair and nurture fractured family or community relationships that have broken down.
- Safety & Court Planning: Co-produce robust, trauma-informed safety plans in partnership with parents, preparing high-quality assessment reports for court proceedings when required.
- Tiered Parenting Assessments: Deliver comprehensive assessments across low, medium, and high support needs depending on risk frameworks and family placement plans.
- Out-of-Hours Leadership: Serve on an on-call rota (1 week in 3), offering expert advice, risk management, and direction to residential support workers outside normal working hours.
What We Are Looking For
- Qualified Social Worker: Registered with Social Work England (or equivalent).
- Child-Centred Practitioner: Strong commitment to child protection alongside a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach to working with parents.
- Restorative Skillset: Proficient in using restorative practice to navigate complex family dynamics and rebuild damaged networks.
- Analytical Writer: Ability to write clear, evidence-based reports aligned with the Department of Health assessment framework and legal standards.
- Parentassess Trained: Preferred, but training will be fully funded for the right candidate.
How to Apply & Learn MoreTo read our full Statement of Purpose and learn more about our services, visit lowmartinfield.com/about-us.You can also view our latest unannounced inspection report at Ofsted Report - Low Martinfield.Low Martinfield is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to Safer Recruitment measures, including enhanced DBS checks and employment references.JOB DESCRIPTION
- Complete a range of risk assessments including; impact risk assessments, family risk assessments and family time risk assessments.
- Complete weekly reports to a high standard for each family, these will be shared with the court as part of the court bundle
- Complete mid-way and final reports for each family.
- Maintain regular communication with multi-agency professionals.
- Ensure that regular multi-agency meetings are held (minimum of monthly); attend and contribute to them.
- Ensure that record keeping and report writing is maintained and completed to a high standard. As part of your role you will need to quality assure and approve the case recordings completed by Family Support Workers.
- Ensure that Placement Plans, risk assessments, safety plans etc are regularly reviewed and updated accordingly.
- Provide advice/guidance/support to Care Staff- specifically around case recording and safeguarding issues/concerns.
- Build a rapport with parents and their family members and ensure that parents are receiving necessary support from relevant agencies i.e MH Services, Substance Misuse Services etc.
- Confidently, and respectfully, raise professional challenges if/when needed and escalate accordingly.
- Ensure that parents/families are maintaining relationships and contact with their extended family/support network wherever possible.
- Arrange and facilitate Family Group Conferences and Family Network Meetings.
- Contribute to exit/move-on plans and, when appropriate/needed, provide support/maintain contact with the families after they have moved on.
- Deputise for the Deputy Manager for time-limited periods when they are not in work.
- Support the Registered Manager in supervising Family Support Workers when needed.
PERSON SPECIFICATION:The successful candidate must;
- Be a qualified and registered Social Worker with Social Work England.
- Have a minimum of three years post-qualifying experience in frontline child protection and care planning.
- Have an in-depth knowledge, understanding and experience of the child protection system, care planning, Children in Our Care and Care Proceedings.
- Have significant experience of responding to safeguarding concerns, assessing and managing risk and creating robust safety plans.
- Have strong assessment skills; including risk assessments and parenting assessments.
- Have experience of chairing multi-agency meetings.
- Have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the The Children Act 1989 and Working Together to Safeguard Children (2026) as well as other legislation and safeguarding procedures relevant to the role.
- Have an understanding of the Residential Family Centre Regulations (2002) and the National Minimum Standards for Residential Family Centres.
- Be trauma-informed and have experience of working with and assessing parents who have a range of complex needs.
- Have experience of maintaining effective professional relationships at multiple levels; both within the Local Authority and with multi-agency professionals.
- Be confident in and have experience of raising and responding to professional challenge.
- Have excellent verbal and written communication skills and be able to produce high quality reports and assessments which can be filed to Court as evidence.
- Be flexible and reliable. Working days/pattern are to be negotiated as it will be dependent on stages of assessment and service needs. It will require some early starts, late evenings and weekends but the majority of hours will be during the normal working week. It will not require night shifts.
- Hold a UK driving license, have business insurance and be willing to use their car for work purposes.
It would be desirable (although, not essential) if the successful candidate;
- Holds a Practice Educator qualification (Level 1 or Level 2).
- Is trained in and has experience of using the ParentAssess framework.
- Has experience of mentoring/supervising less experienced staff i.e Family Support Workers.
- Has experience of quality assuring written work.
The successful candidate can expect the following from us as an employer:
- Flexible working arrangements.
- 5.6 weeks annual leave per year.
- Company pension.
- Access to funded training which is relevant to your job role and responsibilities.
- Regular supervision.
- A supportive and reflective working environment.
- Reimbursement of SW England registration fees.
For more information about this role, please contact the Registered Manager; Eleanor Hanna by email; or by telephone; 01388 418361 or 07881202658.
Pay: £46,620.00-£49,865.00 per year
Work Location: In person
