Join Our Vibrant Team as a Fostering Support Worker!

Are you ready to embark on a journey where your compassion and skills can truly change lives? The Fostering Service in Salford is looking for a dedicated a full time Fostering Support Worker to join our dynamic team and provide exceptional support to our foster carers and children.

Why You'll Love This Role

Our Fostering Service employs a trauma-informed approach, utilising therapeutic parenting models to ensure children receive the personalised support they need to thrive. You'll be part of a forward-thinking team making a real impact.

You'll receive excellent training in Therapeutic Care Giving, the Family Partnership Model, and Mockingbird, equipping you with the tools to provide outstanding care and support. whilst promoting and supporting permanency for children.

Our mission is to create stable, loving homes for children who have faced significant adversity. By supporting foster carers and families, you'll help provide a sense of permanence and security for these children.

Our foster carers offer more than just a homethey promotes psychological, emotional, and social growth. We also focus on nurturing healthy relationships with birth families through planned family time, in consultation with social workers.

What You'll Do

As a Fostering Support Worker, you will:

  • Offering a listening ear and personalised practical support.
  • Helping carers, delivering training, services, and development opportunities.
  • Supporting planning for children in line with placement and care plans.
  • Working closely with social workers, therapeutic services, and community partners.
  • Conducting annual reviews, and permanency planning and support.


Key Responsibilities

  • Recruitment and retention assisting with recruiting new foster carers and promoting engagement events.
  • Training, Development and support for foster carers, and families with online learning, finance portals, and ongoing development.
  • Therapeutic Support helping deliver and support therapeutic models and consultations.
  • Practical and emotional help, provide hands-on support with daily routines, appointments, and unforeseen challenges.
  • Record Keeping, keeping accurate case notes and contribute to planning and review meetings. Supporting statutory duties.

    If you have a background in child care, be this formal or informal education or experience supporting young people, and you’re passionate about making a lasting impact, we want to hear from you! For more information, contact Camilla.Norman@salford.gov.uk.


    If you know somebody else who may fit this role, feel free to share. This post is being advertised internally and externally.


    Up to 34 days holiday a year (plus bank holidays).

    Competitive salary following pay and grading review in 2023.

    Free parking and casual car user allowance and access to co-wheels car scheme

    Rich in resources to help you with any child or family you work with.

    A comprehensive Wellbeing Offer

    Regular, quality, reflective supervision from a consistent management and leadership team.


    Want to know more about Salford?

    As an authority we are dedicated to improving the lives of our residents, and as an employer we are passionate about helping individuals to thrive in their work. We are committed to developing a diverse and inclusive culture and are proud of our professional accreditations which champion this.

    Find out about our city as a place to live, work & grow, and learn more about the amazing work we are doing. You’ll also find out about the wealth of benefits we have to offer you here!


    Continuous Service commitment

    New employees can keep their service related benefits when moving between a whole host of public sector organisations within Greater Manchester, which include: Councils, NHS, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, Transport for Greater Manchester, as well as many others under this scheme. Find out if this applies to you here.


    Guaranteed Assessment Schemes

    We have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers, carers, and ex-military personnel by way of a Guaranteed Assessment Scheme. Our application forms ask you to indicate if you meet any of the criteria within this scheme, and so to find out more and if you qualify please click here.


    Privacy Statement and Data Protection

    Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the council’s primary Recruitment and Employment Privacy Notice which can be found at https://www.salford.gov.uk/gdpr .


    If you have lived or worked abroad for 3 months or more in the last 5 years or 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years whilst aged 18 or over, please refer to the link below for details for how to obtain your Certificates of Good Character.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

    Supporting Documents

    ↗ Fostering Family Support Worker

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    Location

    Chorley Road, Salford Civic Centre, Salford, M275AW, United Kingdom

    Job ID

    2618

    Supporting You Through Every Step of Your Journey

    We want every candidate to feel welcomed, informed and confident when applying for a role with us.

    This section brings together everything you need to succeed - from guidance on writing an authentic application to and understanding how to use AI responsibly.

    You’ll also find information about our Greater Manchester commitments, including our inclusive employment schemes and standards, as well as tools to help you explore your potential pay, benefits and entitlements. We’re here to ensure you have the support you need at every stage.

    Working for a local authority in Greater Manchester

    Local authorities across Greater Manchester are proud to be part of a shared commitment to widening access to employment and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

    These commitments span a number of long‑standing schemes and initiatives designed to open doors, remove barriers and ensure all applicants feel valued and respected throughout their employment journey.

    Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter

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    Our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme

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    Our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme

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    Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment

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    Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment

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    Greater Manchester People Inclusion Standards

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    Your Pay, Your Benefits, Your Future

    Explore easy‑to‑use tools that help you understand your take‑home pay and how different employment situations may affect the financial support available to you and your household.

    1. Calculate Your Take‑Home Pay

      Use this salary calculator to estimate your net pay after tax, National Insurance, and pension contributions.

      Estimate your Income Tax for the current year (Gov.uk)

    2. Check Your Benefits Entitlement

      See how changes in employment, hours or salary may affect your benefits and household income.

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    Applying Authentically With AI: Our Greater Manchester Approach

    Across Greater Manchester’s local authorities, we want to hear your genuine experiences, skills and motivations, expressed in your own words.

    To keep our recruitment process fair and inclusive, please complete your application personally and follow the instructions carefully. AI can be used to support you - for example, to help structure your answers or as a reasonable adjustment - but your application should still reflect your authentic voice. If you do use AI as a support tool, a brief explanation helps us ensure an equitable selection process.

    Applications that depend too heavily on AI‑generated content may not progress to shortlisting.

    This guidance outlines acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI, along with suggestions for using it in a way that supports you while keeping your application true to you.

    1. What Is AI and How Do We Use It Across Greater Manchester?

      AI refers to technology that can create or refine content, such as text, ideas, summaries, or planning. It can help improve productivity, problem-solving, and creativity.

      We’re open to using innovative digital tools where they can help us work smarter and deliver better services for our residents. However, every use of AI is carefully considered to make sure it is ethical, responsible, and aligned with public-sector values.

      When it comes to recruitment, we take a human-centred approach.

      This means:

      • A trained hiring manager reads every application

      • Shortlisting is based on objective criteria required for the job

      • Interviews are conducted in person or via teams by the hiring manager for the role

      • All hiring decisions are made by hiring managers, not algorithms

      AI does not make decisions in our recruitment process and our managers are being upskilled to spot AI in applications, particularly when this might have been used in a way that doesn’t feel genuine. If something in an application raises a question or concern, we will test this out with assessments or at the interview stage to confirm authenticity.

      Our aim isn’t to catch anyone out but to make sure we’re getting to know the real you, giving every candidate a fair chance and finding the right person for the role.

    2. Using AI in Your Application

      When it comes to job applications, what matters most to us is you. We want to see your personality, your experience, and what excites you about joining our team. 

      We recognise that AI can be a helpful tool to support accessibility during the application process. If you choose to use AI for support, please read the instructions carefully and make sure your application is written in your own words, reflecting your genuine skills, knowledge, experience and enthusiasm.

      We’re looking forward to hearing your story.

    3. How to use AI Effectively and Responsibly

      Your application is your chance to show us:

      • Who you are

      • What you can bring

      • The values you hold

      • Why you want to make a difference

      AI can help you organise your thoughts or improve clarity but it cannot express your unique voice, experiences, or motivations.

      AI is most helpful when used to:

      • Help you structure the information you are providing to evidence the criteria

      • Give examples of how to use STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result)

      • Proof-read to highlight grammar or spelling errors

      • Provide inspiration if you're finding it difficult to find the right words to explain something

      But remember: your honesty, lived experience, and motivations are irreplaceable.

    4. Do’s and Don’ts for Using AI in the Recruitment Process

      Do:

      • Use AI as a supportive tool, not a replacement

      • Ask AI to help tidy up your writing or clarify structure

      • Use it to brainstorm examples, then rewrite them in your own voice

      • Reflect on AI suggestions and adapt them to match your experience

      • Use AI to help with research, but express your understanding yourself

      Don’t:

      • Copy and paste AI-generated content directly into your application

      • Let AI exaggerate or invent experience you do not have

      • Rely on generic statements that don’t reflect the specific role requirements

      • Remove your individuality, we want to hear your voice