Family Finding Officer

Dorset Council UK; Dorchester; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in Dorchester seeks a dedicated Family Worker to provide support to children and young people in care. This role involves relationship-based work and family finding, aiming to ensure positive outcomes. The position offers additional training in therapeutic approaches and requires excellent organizational and communication skills. Collaboration within a multi-professional team is essential as you promote safe and nurturing environments for vulnerable children. Hybrid working is supported, ensuring flexibility while maintaining teamwork.

Benefits

Dynamic training opportunities

Monthly reflective supervision

Access to wellbeing services

Career progression support

Qualifications

• Experience working with children and young people, with a focus on behavior issues and family dynamics.
• Ability to produce detailed written reports and analyze situations effectively.

Responsibilities

• Support foster carers and children in care across Dorset.
• Develop meaningful relationships with children and young people.
• Ensure safeguarding concerns are escalated appropriately.

Skills

Excellent organisational skills

Strong analytical skills

Excellent communication skills

Passion for children and young people

Job description

As a Family Worker within the Fostering Service you will provide a range of support to children and young people in care. You will support children and young people to remain in their foster families as much as possible through a range of creative interventions. You will undertake 1:1 and relationship based work with children and young people.

Within this role, you will support Children and Young People either in care, or leaving care.

This is an exciting role, with additional training provided including Life Story Work, therapeutic parenting and trauma informed support for children and young people.

This role will also include focusing on family finding and thoughtful matching for Children who are moving homes.

The post will be flexible and reflect a consistent approach to working with families across Children’s Services. For this reason the list of job duties and responsibilities described below will depend upon which context the service area is responsible for and should be read as such.

What You Can Expect To Be Doing

• We are looking for a dedicated and dependable Family Worker & Family Finder with a history of working with children and young people
• The successful applicant will be supporting Foster Carers, Children in Care and Care Leavers across Dorset, including outside of the County
• You will have a caseload of young people allocated to you, who you will be required to support, as well as a focus on family finding
• You will be liaising closely with the team around the children and young people to create the most appropriate pathway, stepping stone to independence for young people, whilst making sure that 'positive endings' and their move on is young person focused
• You will be preventing immediate home endings for children in care and care leavers within their homes, and supporting Foster Carers
• You will provide reliable support to foster carers and children, this includes Children in Care, and occasionally birth children of foster carers
• It is important that you have a passion for children and young people, excellent organisational skills, be able to meet deadlines, have excellent communication skills and the ability to analyse situations accurately and produce detailed written reports
• This role will include safeguarding our children and young people
• You will promote the need to keep all children and young people, regardless of their ability, physical and or emotional/ mental health needs safe from harm
• You will ensure that all safeguarding concerns are escalated appropriately through the relevant designated manager
• You will positively contribute to and deliver within a multi professional team setting in supporting and enabling children to thrive within their kinship, or mainstream, families
• You will develop meaningful relationships and work with children and young people, parents/carers and a range of professional to meet the overall outcomes for children, young people and their families
• You will undertake direct work with young people and their carers to address a range of issues such as family conflict, family breakdown and behaviour issues in their home
• You will support children and young people in a strength based approach with a therapeutic and trauma informed lens
• You may be required to escort, supervise or transport children when required as part of planned support
• You may be required to support with duty matters
• You will discuss any proposals for expenditure in order to seek agreement by the budget holder

What’s In It For You

As a Family Worker you will be able to support Dorset's Foster Carers and help them achieve great outcomes for the children and young people they care for. Within this role, you will make a difference to Care Leavers and Children in Care, by enabling them to be the best possible version of themselves into adulthood and beyond.

• You will be well supported by the Fostering Team and feel a strong team ethos of partnership working, passion and creativity
• You will have the opportunity to support the Team Manager in shaping the service to promote positive outcomes for children in care
• You will receive monthly, reflective supervision to develop your skills to be able to support our hosts to have a therapeutic approach to the young people that they are caring for
• You will have access to full and dynamic training opportunities, and an induction programme
• You will have access to 1:1 support from advanced practitioners in the team
• You will have access to Dorset's staff wellbeing service
• You will be supported with your career progression in Dorset Council

Context Of Work

• To keep children and young people at the heart of our support
• To work as part of a team to provide a range of high-quality loving homes for children in care
• To support carers to be resilient, developing a supportive network within the fostering community
• To provide carers with an appropriate balance of support and challenge and reflection
• To be creative in ensuring that children and young people can remain placed within their communities and support networks where possible.

Hybrid working is appropriate but office presence is required at least once per week to enhance collaborative working and colleague partnership.