Leaving Care Worker (Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children’s Team)

Salary details: £ - £

Derbyshire Leaving Care Service are looking for a Leaving Care Worker to join our very passionate, inclusive and dynamic Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children’s team (UASC). This role will be based in Chesterfield at our young person’s hub.

You will be committed to corporate parenting, relationships-based practice as the driver of positive outcomes and transitions for our unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people.

Social Pedagogy and trauma informed approaches will be at the heart of your practice and with the ability to challenge and aspire colleagues and partners to ensure a genuine parenting approach and good accommodation options as they become care experienced.

You will be joining an established, high performing service, offering excellent Education, Employment and Training opportunities, discounted water bills for our care experienced young people and council tax reductions. We are a passionate and skilled workforce which is enabling our care experienced young people to progress and benefit from positive experiences.  We effectively supporting young people 16 – 25 to facilitate positive transitions into adulthood and provide guidance and information in a wide range of areas including health, disability, education, training, careers, employment, accommodation, managing finance, etc, ensuring key statutory outcomes are achieved.

• The aspirations, wishes and concerns for young people leaving the council’s care are apparent and plans are ‘ambitious’ reflecting a ‘determination for care leavers to succeed in what they want to do.’
• A focus on effective transition for young people between the ages of 16 and 18 with support to develop confidence and life skills to negotiate the opportunities and challenges of adulthood.
• Young people leaving the council’s care value the service and said workers are caring and supportive and they felt they could contact their worker when necessary
• Accommodation needs are carefully considered so that young people feel secure and their wishes around location are respected so they can maintain relationships with people who are important to them
• There is a clear focus on education, employment and training designed to help young people of all abilities choose the appropriate route to make the most of their opportunities when they leave care
• The council’s culture is ‘not giving up on a young person’ and this is embedded across the service 

What will I be doing:

• Maintain our corporate responsibility, our positive outcomes and our culture of never giving up on our care experienced young people.
• Work with a Social Pedagogy, Systemic and trauma informed approach; supporting our young people holistically alongside our partners and locality social work teams with an aspirational approach for young people’s futures.
• Maintain a child centred approach while promoting care experienced young people’s transitions into interdependence.
• Represent the service and our care experienced young people locally, regionally and nationally.
• You will be working within the statutory guidelines and expectations for care experienced young people and children in care.
• Effectively support a number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children in care and care experienced young people to achieve the best outcomes for them.
• Evidencing a determined commitment to corporate parenting.
• Working in partnership with colleagues, locality social workers, housing and adult social care teams.
• You will have a focus on education, employment and training designed to help our unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in care and care experienced young people of all abilities to choose the appropriate route to make the most of their opportunities when they leave care.

What skills and experience do you need to have:

• Experience of working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in care and care experienced young people.
• A real passion and commitment to do more and better for our young people whilst guiding them to achieve interdependence.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills with the ability to successfully interact with young people, workers, management and partners.
• A strong advocate for asylum seeking care experienced young people and children in care.
• Ability to reflect on own practice and development enabling flexible and thoughtful practice and positive change.

What we offer you: 

• Manageable case loads
• Two thriving office and young person hubs
• Visible, supportive and determined manager’s
• Diverse range of cases providing an exciting, challenging and rewarding career
• Excellent supervision and a supportive peer network
• Access to an excellent range of training and development opportunities,
• Fantastic opportunities to undertake further formal qualifications and career progression through our career pathways
• Annual leave and sick pay
• Generous local government pension scheme
• Guaranteed incremental annual pay increases
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts at selected county leisure centres
• A vibrant service culture with an existing strong, skilled and passionate workforce

If you would like to talk to someone informally about this post, please contact natalie.sempers@derbyshire.gov.uk

Provisional Interview Date: 26 August 2025

Due to this post having access to children and/or vulnerable adults, the successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided. Click here to see our policy on criminal background checks.

The job may require unsocial hours working including weekends and Bank Holidays. Payment arrangements will be detailed in any contract offer made.

Apply now and take the first step towards a fulfilling career with us! By joining Derbyshire County Council you will have access to a range of amazing rewards and employee benefits, including our generous annual leave scheme, excellent local government pension and fantastic employee discounts. To discover more detail about the rewards and benefits available to you, click here

CS1

We welcome applications from individuals who share our values — being Collaborative, Innovative, Empowered and Accountable. These values describe who we are and what we stand for as a council. They help shape our culture, encourage consistent behaviour and guide how we work together to make a positive difference for both our employees and the residents we serve.