Permanence Social Worker
| Posting date: | 12 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 14 March 2026 |
| Location: | Leicester, LE3 8RA |
| Company: | Leicestershire County Council |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 7061 |
Summary
Organisation: Leicestershire County Council
Work Location: County Hall Glenfield LE3 8RA
Salary: £35,353 - £45,982 (inclusive of market premium £3,283) per annum
Working Hours: 37 Hours per week
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 23rd February 2026
Interview Date(s): 5th March 2026
About the Role
“The work of the team is to provide permanence through identifying and matching children and adopters together. This requires taking the lead in securing early permanence by taking responsibility for a child’s journey to an adoptive placement from the point that adoption is considered to be a potential outcome. The team are looking for experienced and passionate social workers to work within our stable and developing team alongside supportive and approachable managers.
The Permanence Social Worker will work alongside the fieldwork teams when care plans are being twin tracked with a plan of adoption. The Permanence Social Worker will complete Child Permanence Reports and Sibling Assessments during court proceedings and will take the lead for ensuring that the child is fully prepared and that adopters are well supported by providing all relevant paperwork that gives detailed and robust analysis of the child’s current and predicted needs based on their past experiences. This will inform matching, introduction and placement support.
The Permanence Social Worker takes on the role of allocated social worker from point of Placement Order and therefore supports children through the process of being matched, introduced and settled in their adoptive families up to the granting of an Adoption Order.
An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.
For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.
About You
To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria:
- Have a Social Work degree or equivalent, e.g. CQSW, DipSW (with specialism in children’s services) and be registered with Social Work England.
- Preferably you will have a number of years post qualifying experience in Child Care social work including experience of adoption i.e. family finding and matching through to Adoption Order.
- Be able to complete reports such as Child Permanence Reports, Adoption Support plans and Annex A’s to a high standard and work within tight deadlines where needed.
- Be able to evidence your skills and knowledge of creative, innovative, and relationship-based social work, working in collaboration with families and professionals. Ideally you will already be confident in the application of the Signs of Safety methodology.
- Demonstrate enthusiasm and passion for practice and be committed to helping us build a real culture of reflection and learning.
- Commitment to Trauma Informed practice.
- Have a full valid driving licence and access to a vehicle.”
In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.
Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.
Interested in Flexible Working?
We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.
For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:
Emma E Johnson - Permanence Team Manager
Telephone: 01163052345
To contact me by email, please click here
How to Apply
At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.
If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support.
By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme