Family Practitioner Family Finding Team/Kinship

Southampton City Council; Southampton; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in Southampton is seeking a Family Practitioner to support families in creating safe plans for caring for their children. This role focuses on building family links, facilitating Family Group Conferences, and providing post-guardianship support. Ideal candidates should have experience in social care and strong communication skills. The position offers a competitive salary and various employee benefits.

Benefits

Generous holiday entitlement

Excellent employee benefits

Flexible working options

Health and wellbeing support

Employee volunteering scheme

Qualifications

• Experience working in or around social care, or a role involving problem-solving in sensitive situations.
• Ability to support children and families with information from agencies.
• Clear child focus and ability to ensure all voices are heard.

Responsibilities

• Support families in making safe plans for protecting their children.
• Facilitate FGCs and provide post-guardianship support.
• Deliver training to kinship carers.

Skills

Experience working in or around social care

Good communication skills

Mediation skills

Openness and honesty

Creative and compassionate approach

Job description

Overview

Consist of Social Workers and Family Practitioners who take on various roles within the Safeguarding Service. Our service links with almost every aspect of Children's Services, including Family Links, extending family involvement to support a young person, Family Group Conferences (FGC), and post Special Guardianship support. We lead responsibilities for Private Fostering and Stepparent Adoption as well as fostering assessments for Kinship carers. We are committed to providing the best service for children and families. In Southampton, we have received a Good outcome from Ofsted, with a grading of Outstanding for leadership and management. We recognise that workers perform best with strong support from leaders in learning opportunities, consistent supervision, and a positive work environment. We promote relational practice and believe that positive and open relationships with each other, with colleague agencies, and with families are essential to creating change and supporting families.

About the role: In Southampton we are committed to supporting families to make realistic, safe plans for protecting their children and enabling them to care for their children within their own family network. Children often lose links with extended family and friends, and part of our role is to establish these links. The FGC model brings family members and friends together to explore how they can collectively provide sustainable solutions for caring for children within the family. Your role as a Family Practitioner involves family links work, possible FGC and post guardianship support, as well as delivering training to kinship carers. The role is varied and dynamic with a clear ethos of keeping children within their family or extended networks.

About you

• Experience working in or around social care, or a role involving problem-solving in sensitive situations or at times of crisis
• Ability to support children and their families, with information from agencies, to enable them to find their own solutions
• Clear child focus and the ability to bring people together and ensure everyone is listened to
• Good communication skills and the ability to engage quickly with clients
• Mediation skills to enable constructive expression of differing opinions
• Openness and honesty
• A creative and compassionate approach to work

What we can offer you

• Salary: The salary band for this role is £37,280 - £40,778. The starting salary is £37,280 with annual progression through the salary bands
• Excellent employee benefits with 16.8% employer contribution
• Death in service benefit of x3 salary
• Optional salary sacrifice shared cost AVC (additional voluntary contribution)
• Generous holiday entitlement (25-31 days, depending on role and service)
• Flexible working options (role-dependent)
• Family-friendly policies including Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared/Unpaid Parental Leave, and Time off for Dependents
• Training and development, including coaching and mentoring
• Health and wellbeing support — Employee Assistance Programme, Menopause Pledge, Mental Health First Aiders, and access to staff networks
• Veteran-friendly employer with the Armed Forces Covenant
• Retail discounts and savings through the Southampton City Council benefits platform
• Discounted memberships at local sports and fitness centres
• Sustainable travel benefits — low emission car scheme, cycle to work, season ticket loans
• Employee volunteering scheme with 2 paid days to volunteer

For further information on our benefits package please visit: Contact details for informal discussion: Paula Weir, Assistant Team Manager, or Gayle Langhorn, Team Manager. Please note: We are not able to offer Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship on this role at this time. Recruitment contact details: Email.