Team: Adoption Support
Job Family: Supporting - CBG10
Salary: £38,476 - £40,069 per annum pro rata plus MRS £5,150 per annum pro rata
Hours: 37 hours per week
Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC/MKCC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than once per month.
Contract Type: Hybrid - Permanent
Closing Date: 10th August 2026
Interview Date: 12th and 13th August2026
About the role:
We have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and creative Social Worker to join the Adoption Support Team.
Adoption Connects is the Regional Adoption Agency for Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes City Councils, bringing together shared values, practice and specialist knowledge and experience to meet the needs of children and families.
The Adoption Support service provides specialist services to support adopted children and families, adopted adults, birth relatives, and others affected by adoption. The primary aim is to promote stable, positive outcomes and help individuals address the emotional, behavioural, developmental and relationship issues that can arise before, during, and after adoption.
Key functions of the Adoption Support service include:
- Assessment of adoption support needs for adopted children and their families.
- A range of support for children and parents, including advice and advocacy, training, peer support groups and accessing the Adoption Support and Special Guardian Fund (where applicable).
- Therapeutic services, such as counselling, psychotherapy, family therapy and life-story work.
- Services for adopted adults, helping them understand their adoption history, identity and life experiences.
- Support for birth families and relatives, including counselling and assistance with ongoing contact arrangements.
- Facilitation of contact between adopted children and birth relatives.
- Provision of specialist interventions for children who have experienced trauma, neglect, loss, attachment difficulties or other adverse childhood experiences.
We are looking for a confident and dynamic social worker with experience and knowledge of relevant legislation and practice, relationship-based practice and the ability to work on their own initiative and in a team.
You must:
- Have a recognised Social Work Qualification.
- Have a registration with Social Work England (SWE).
- Have an Enhanced DBS clearance and compliance.
- Have a minimum of 3 years adoption related experience.
- Possess knowledge of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and related legislation.
- Be child centred and Trauma informed.
- Have excellent communication and relationship building skills.
- Have excellent assessment skills, professional judgement and produce high quality reports.
- Be able to demonstrate multi agency working and safeguarding practice.
- Be able to work from a variety of locations and travel within the region and out of county independently.
We welcome applications from a diverse range of workers who are willing to work flexibly to enhance our existing workforce.
Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer. We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.
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You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack.
For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Nickie Phillips a Nickie.phillips@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 4517
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Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.
To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.
Our National Careers Service team offer a free monthly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours.Please book your place here.
Your application to us is a reflection of who you are professionally and should give us an accurate and authentic picture of your skills, experiences and if applicable qualifications. Before you submit your application, we will ask you to confirm if you have used AI.
All new starters will join us on a four‑month probationary period. During this time, if you are offered a Hybrid role you will be required to attend a Central Bedfordshire Council office location more frequently to support thorough and well‑supported onboarding into your role. Please keep this in mind if you anticipate extensive travel to Central Bedfordshire.
Please note we are unable to offer sponsorship for our roles. Successful applicants that may require a visa will need to consider the options for obtaining and/or maintaining the legal right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the contract offered.
