Job Vacancy: Referrals & Social Work Administrator (full-time)

Due to the growth of our community, we are looking to recruit an Administrator to join our family-focused specialist service. This role is ideally suited to someone at the start of their career, or looking to gain experience in social care or administration within an organisation dedicated to supporting children with disabilities and complex medical needs.

Don't just take our word for it - one of our foster carers recently said:

"The Fostering Together Family is a wonderful team of like minded people who come together to change children's lives. They genuinely change lives every single day with the direct and indirect work carried out."

We have a new opportunity within our Operations team for a motivated and organised Referrals & Social Work Administrator to join our fostering service.

The successful candidate will be supporting the triaging of a high volume of referrals for children who require foster care from Local Authorities across the UK, identifying children with disabilities whose needs align with our specialist service, and ensuring accurate and timely recording of referral data within our internal case management system, FosterKit, to discuss and share with our fostering community. 

You will be primarily working with colleagues in our Referrals processing activity and will play a key part in ensuring that information is processed accurately, professionally and in a timely way to support good decision-making and high-quality care for children with disabilities.

This role will also be involved in providing general structured social work administration support, including assistance with case recordings, renewal of statutory documentation and coordination of case file audits.

You will be part of an aspirational fostering team where you will uphold the core values and beliefs of the organisation and contribute to the growth and development of the agency. This includes ensuring that children and young people with disabilities are supported to live in safe, nurturing and stable family homes.

The ideal candidate will be confident, highly organised, and comfortable working with sensitive information, external stakeholders and competing priorities in a fast-paced, office-based environment.

This role will suit an administrator at the early stages of their career who is interested in developing experience in administration, data management or social care, and who has a genuine interest in working within a social work and fostering environment.

Key responsibilities: 

• Support the monitoring and processing of a high-volume referrals inbox from Local Authorities.
• Accurately enter and maintain referral and case information on the agency’s case management system (FosterKit). You will condense and organising care history, health & medical requirements into clear, easy-to-digest formats for social worker colleagues and our foster carer community.
• Liaise with colleagues regarding children and young people who may be a suitable match for foster carers, submitting interest in matching on behalf of our fostering community.
• Support social work administration duties, ensuring compliance with fostering regulations, standards, guidance and best practice.
• Assist with safer recruitment and compliance processes, including checks, references and documentation.
• Assist with the ongoing audit, chasing and filing of statutory documentation required for children and foster families.
• Maintain confidentiality and data protection principles.
• Provide cover for colleagues where required to ensure continuity of service.
• Provide general office support, including answering phone calls, greeting visitors, and assisting with day-to-day office maintenance and organisation, to ensure the smooth running of the Operations team.
   

The ideal candidate will have: 

• A good level of ICT skills, including experience of Microsoft Office applications.
• An understanding of various disabilities and health conditions and desire to learn more about various rare conditions.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• A high level of attention to detail and accuracy.
• An understanding of the importance of confidentiality and data protection. 
   

The ideal candidate will also be:

• Organised and able to manage their workload.
• Reliable, conscientious and understanding of confidentiality.
• Flexible and adaptable.
• A positive team worker.
• Able to develop their understanding of children’s disabilities and health needs in the context of their implications for care & placement matching.
   

Essential   

• Skills
  • Strong administrative and organisational skills.
  • High attention to detail and accuracy in data handling.
  • Ability to condense large amounts of information into an easy-to-digest format.

  • Good written and verbal communication skills.
  • Confident ICT skills, including Microsoft Office and online systems.
  • Able to multitask with administration and work at high pace.
  • Professional telephone manner and confidence in chasing information sensitively.
  • Friendly, professional presence when representing Fostering Together at community and family events.
  • Comfortable engaging with children with disabilities in informal and structured settings (e.g. events, activities, groups).
• Knowledge
  • Understanding of confidentiality, GDPR and handling sensitive data.
  • Awareness of safeguarding principles and professional boundaries.
  • Basic understanding of safer recruitment processes in the social care sector.
• Experience 
  • Educated to Level 2 / Level 3 standard (e.g. GCSEs / Functional Skills / A-Levels or equivalent), including English & Maths at Grade 4/C or above.
  • Some experience in an office, administrative, customer service, data entry role or other relevant transferrable experience.
  • Experience using typical IT systems including Microsoft Office, databases or case management / HR systems.

Location, hours and remuneration:

• Office based role - in the outskirts of Ashford, Kent.
• 37.5 hours per week.
• £24,784.50 - £25,784.50* per annum with 25 days of paid holiday plus bank holidays, increasing to 30 days based on length of service.
• Private healthcare following a successful probation period.

*For candidates under 21, starting salary will align with the relevant National Minimum Wage rate.

Safeguarding statement: 

Fostering Together is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young people in our care. Successful candidates will be subject to pre-employment checks including a Disclosure and Barring Service check, references, identity checks and qualification verification.

What is safeguarding? 

Safeguarding means making sure children are safe, healthy and well cared for. It involves: 

• Protecting children from abuse and neglect.
• Making sure their health and development are not harmed. 
• Helping them grow up in safe, stable and caring families.
• Taking action when there are concerns about a child’s welfare 

Under the Children Act 1989, every organisation and professional working with children has a legal duty to put the child’s welfare first and to take reasonable steps to protect them from harm. 

Find out more: 

Please contact us today for more details, including a full job description and link to apply. Please outline your relevant experience and why you might be interested in joining the team!

We reserve the right to interview and appoint prior to the closing date should a suitable candidate be identified. Early applications are therefore encouraged.