11 October 2017
A month-long campaign to recruit experienced specialist staff from the UK to work in the Children’s Service in Jersey has been launched this week.
The Children’s Service is redesigning its services following the recommendations of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, and is currently seeking 18 more social workers, two senior practitioners and a team manager.
A previous recruitment drive, which started inDecember 2016, successfully attracted a number of workers from the UK to the Island.
The posts will be advertised in The Guardian, in specialist social care publications Community Care and Children and Young People Now, in the Jersey Evening Post, and on the States of Jersey's social media channels. The total spend on advertising will be £16,275.
The Director for Children’s Social Work, Julie Gibney, said “We are encouraged by the recruitment we’ve recently undertaken, and each drive has brought new applicants and workers to the Island to work in this essential service. But recruitment across Children’s Services, both in the UK and locally, is a challenge, and we hope that UK-based social workers will want to know more, and come and help us develop the essential work we must deliver to keep Jersey’s vulnerable children safe.”
Recruitment will focus on four key areas in the Children’s Service
- children in need
- the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
- complex needs
- fostering and adoption
Minister for Health and Social Services, Senator Andrew Green said “My Department is fully committed to not only taking on the recommendations of the IJCI, but ensuring that Jersey’s children receive appropriate help and support throughout their lives, and that when help’s required, they can get it from a team who can act swiftly, always working with the best interests of the child at heart. I am constantly impressed by the work they do, and I know that further recruitment will help strengthen this team, whose work is crucial as we seek to protect the welfare of our most vulnerable children in Jersey.
“Much of the work done by the Children’s Service is unseen and confidential. The staff who offer care and support in this way are enormously important, and I thank everyone who works so hard, every day, to make this happen.”
gov.je