Social Worker - Disabled Children Referral and Access Team
| Posting date: | 25 November 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £40,735 to £43,516 per year |
| Additional salary information: | Competitive |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 07 December 2025 |
| Location: | Scott House, 5 George Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3AD |
| Company: | Cambridgeshire County Council |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | Ref/1660/7619 |
Summary
Are you a Social Worker ready to join a team where your passion, empathy and commitment truly matter? The Disabled Children Referral and Access Team (DCRAT) is the front door to Cambridgeshire’s support for children and young people with disabilities. As the first point of contact for new referrals, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping brighter futures for children and families across the county.
Why DCRAT?
- Collaborative and Supportive Culture: You’ll be welcomed into a diverse, friendly team where collaboration, compassion and mutual respect are at the heart of everything we do. We celebrate different backgrounds and perspectives, knowing they make us stronger.
- Continuous Learning: Children with disabilities presents complex and varied needs. Here, you’ll have ongoing opportunities to deepen your knowledge, develop specialist expertise, and grow as a practitioner in this rewarding field, no matter your starting point.
- Impactful work: Every day, you’ll help children unlock their potential and support families to build resilience. Your dedication will have a direct and lasting impact, ensuring those who need support receive it, at the right time, and in the right way.
Hear directly from our team:
“I was given opportunities for regular supervisions as well as reflective supervisions from the team manager and the senior practitioner.”
“I joined DCRAT almost five years ago with no front door assessment or disability experience, and received all the support needed to become an effective practitioner.”
Don’t miss out on this chance to make a real difference! For more information about this role please contact Team Manager Joanne Reed on 01480 372455 or at joanne.reed@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Closing date Sunday 7th December. Interviews will be held week commencing 15th December at Scott House, 5 George Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3AD. We know that your time is precious, so we can offer a virtual interview through Microsoft Teams by request.
Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Our benefitsWe value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…
- A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
- 6 days of protected time each year to support in maintaining your Continuous Professional Development
- A relocation package of up to £8,000 (eligibility applies)
- A pay progression scheme to enable you to accelerate through the pay grade as you gain experience and skills
- A Refer a Friend Scheme where if you refer another Social Worker to us who is subsequently employed by us as a result of that introduction, we’ll pay you an introduction fee of £350
- Access to our Cambridgeshire Academy for Reaching Excellence (CARE) who will support your development, enabling you to become the best practitioner you can be
For more information and to see our other benefits, take a look at the benefits brochure attached to this advert.
What will you be doing?Make a Real Difference Every Day!
As a Social Worker in the Disabled Children Referral and Assessment Team, you’ll be responsible for assessing the needs of disabled children and young people, managing risk and identifying the most suitable pathway. That could be access to Short Breaks through our Early Help offer, or transfer to one of our longer-term Disabled Children’s Social Work teams for ongoing Child In Need or safeguarding intervention.
Managing a varied caseload you will strive for positive outcomes for some of Cambridgeshire’s most vulnerable residents. You will be responsible for completing support plans with families, understanding the context of child development, parenting capacity and family and environmental factors to ensure that outcomes identified at assessment are met (within budgetary constraints) through the provision of support.
You will take a professional lead on safeguarding issues where abuse or neglect is suspected; appropriate training will be provided for these situations.
As part of our team you will benefit from dedicated monthly case management supervisions and separate personal supervisions, with a strong focus on your professional development and progression. You'll participate in regular team meetings, wellbeing sessions and development sessions to share learning and experiences.
About youNo prior experience in disability social work is required. We value transferable skills and provide a tailored induction, so whether you’re new to the field or bring experience from another area, you’ll be fully supported to success. If you’re enthusiastic, organised and motivated to make a difference, we want to hear from you.
You’ll join a team that empowers you to make important decisions and find creative solutions to complex situations. Your dedication, compassion and commitment to learning will be celebrated and nurtured.
You must:
- Be a qualified Social Worker with a Social Work England registration
- Have the ability to work from a variety of locations and travel countywide independently
Ready to take the next step? We can’t wait to welcome you to our team!
For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.
Please note we cannot accept applications from Newly Qualified Social Workers looking to complete their ASYE for this role
About usCambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.
Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.
We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.
Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme