Careers in adult social care

There is a huge range of careers available in the social care sector across Kent.

More information about the types of jobs available in the social care sector is provided below.

We also provide further information in our social care recruitment pack (PDF, 1.24mb) which you can request by emailing socialcarejobs@kent.gov.uk.

• Domiciliary Care Services
  Domiciliary Care is provided to adults in their own homes. This includes adults with physical, mental and learning disabilities.
  
  The Community Care Worker will provide services such as personal and domestic care, food preparation, shopping, and rehabilitation services focusing on client choice, independence, dignity and the right to remain in their own home as long as possible.
  

• Residential Care Services
  Residential care services are provided for people who are not able to live in their own home even with support. This could be for a variety of reasons including old age, physical disability, learning disability or a mental health need.
  
  A residential care service would normally provide accommodation, meals and personal care including help with things like getting up or going to bed, washing, dressing and using the toilet.
  

• Mental Health Services
  Primary Care Trusts/NHS Trusts usually commission services for those with mental ill-health through their Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT) which now include Social Workers and Care Managers from local authority Social Service Departments.
  
  They access a range of statutory services from specialists such as Occupational Therapists, Clinical Psychologists and Psychiatrists.
  

• Community Support Services
  

  Community Support is a very person centred provision. It entails enabling, promoting and motivating, with the aim of achieving greater independence or maintaining sufficient independence.
  
  The service provides skilled guidance and support to help the individual to lead an active and stimulating life. This fully encompasses the principles of normalisation by O’Brien i.e. Community Presence, Choice and Competence, Participation and importantly, Respect and Belonging.
  

• Adult Placement Scheme
  Kent Adult Placement Scheme offers vulnerable adults the opportunity to live with families or individuals in the local community.
  
  Each placement offers a highly flexible form of accommodation and support, enabling the vulnerable adult to share the life and activities of the Adult Placement Carer. An Adult Placement Scheme is similar to fostering schemes but is for adults rather than children.
  
  The role of the Adult Placement Scheme is to support and enable Adult Placement Carers to provide high quality care and support in a homely setting to the individual placed with them through a rigorous matching process.
  
  The Adult Placement Scheme will continue to support the carer throughout the placement and will ensure that they provide the level of care and support that has been agreed.
  

• Learning disability services in Kent
  Working with people who have a learning disability is stimulating, rewarding and good fun.
  
  Promoting independence to ensure that people are able to access all parts of the community and community life, working with adults with learning disabilities will provide opportunities for you to use your skills and talents for the benefit of others.
  
  Working with people with learning disabilities can include people with autism, those with complex needs who have physical or medical needs as well as learning disabilities and some who can present difficult and challenging behaviours.
  
  Opportunities exist in all aspects of the service including residential care, domiciliary care,community support, activity-based day services and one to one work.
  

• Personal Assistant
  Personal Assistants (PAs) are directly employed by disabled people, their family or trustees to enable them to live independently in their own home. The disabled person has a choice of who they employ and decides how, when and at what time assistance is provided. A Personal Assistant will assist with many aspects of a person’s life including work, leisure,education and daily living activities in the home.