Family Support Practitioner

Suffolk County Council; Lowestoft; On-site; GBP 28,000; Full time

Job summary

Join Suffolk County Council as a Family Support Practitioner, where you'll make a significant impact on young people and families. Engage in tailored support, maintain a caseload, and utilize evidence-based interventions while enjoying flexible working options and a supportive team environment.

Benefits

29 days annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays

Local Government Pension Scheme

Health and wellbeing benefits

Annual pay progression and cost-of-living increase

Training and development opportunities

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• Suitable practitioner-level qualification at Level 3 or equivalent experience.
• Strong understanding of safeguarding practices.
• Ability to communicate effectively with various stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Support and communicate with young people and families to facilitate positive change.
• Maintain a caseload using the Signs of Safety framework.
• Collaborate with key professionals for family reviews.

Skills

Communication

Flexibility

Commitment to safeguarding

Networking

Education

Practitioner-level qualification at Level 3 or equivalent experience

Job description

• Suffolk County Council - Riverside Campus, Lowestoft, NR3 0EQ - Community based
• £27,711 per annum (pro rata for part time)
• 2 x 37 hours per week - Flexible working options available

Posts available

• 1 x Permanent
• 1 x Fixed term - 12 months

When you join the Waveney Family Support Team as a Family Support Practitioner, we'll support your development from the start. We'll help you to play to your strengths, diversify your skills and build an influential and impactful career. With a variety of career paths and learning opportunities to explore, if you're motivated and passionate there's no limit to how far your ambition could take you.

Reimagine the possibilities.

You will

• support and communicate with young people and with their families to facilitate and create positive change.
• hold your own caseload where you will be using the Suffolk's Signs of Safety framework to assess, plan, and review support regularly.
• be able to able confidently challenge concerns and connect families with support that exists around them to help strengthen their situation.
• respond to the needs of the family by identifying and delivering evidence-based interventions both on a one-to-one basis, as part of family work and in the facilitation of group work.
• collaboratively work as part of the wider support being offered; you will lead on regular family review meetings with other key professionals.
• be part of exploring wider networks and encouraging family support.
• be part of identifying risk and safeguarding concerns which will be accurately recorded and escalated accordingly in a timely response. When statutory intervention is required, you will work with the guidance of social care, social workers, and health to support families in a unified response.
• build networks and maintain positive relationships as an integral part of the role. You will work in collaboration with others, actively building relationships and networks with other professionals, services, and the community.
• play a vital role in facilitating Family Time; supporting children to maintain safe links and connections with significant adults in their life through supervision.
• have opportunities to learn and develop within your role with regular training opportunities which you will be encouraged to pursue.

If you have a drive and passion to support positive change for young people and their families, we would like to hear from you.

You will need

• a suitable practitioner-level qualification at Level 3 or equivalent experience in a relevant area of work.
• to be confident in communicating with a range of people with the ability to convey ideas and key messages. You will be able to adapt your communication approach dependant on the audience and their individual needs.
• to be flexible in your approach and balance the variety in the role as a Family Support Practitioner.
• to have a strong understanding of the written word and be confident with IT, skills which are necessary to keep accurate and timely records.
• a commitment to safeguarding and promoting the positive welfare of children, young people, and their families.
• a passion to make changes and to advocate for children and their families.
• to bring a willingness to learn new skills and to share existing knowledge and experience with the team.

You can view a full list of requirements in the Job and Person Profile (docx). If you believe you can succeed in this role, apply. Even if you don't meet all requirements, still apply. We would appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

The team

We are a friendly, diverse, and supportive team all sharing the same passion to work together to make meaningful differences within our communities. Whilst being committed to our work and the support we offer families we ensure we find time to support each other and learn together.

All new starters will have a buddy and a full induction into the role, alongside shadowing opportunities.

Shaping Careers and Learning

We want to champion talent and seek to continuously develop everyone's professional knowledge, potential and job satisfaction. Through accessible learning opportunities and clear career pathways we aim to identify individual strengths, diversify skill sets and enable people, from all walks of life, to build influential and impactful careers.

Empowering Everyone
We're big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We're always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We aim to include all communities we serve in our representation. To achieve this, we encourage applications from everyone.

For more information

Please contact Rachel Murray (she/her) for a casual conversation. You can reach them by calling 01502 674948 or emailing [e-mail].

How to apply

Step 1 - Read the Job and Person Profile (docx)

Step 2 - Click Apply Now' to start your online application.

Step 3 - Upload a supporting statement answering the following questions below (no more than 400 words per question). You should use the Supporting Statement template .

1. Tell us about a time when you had to build rapport and trust with a challenging family. How did you approach this, and what was the outcome?

2. Tell us about a time when you collaborated with multiple agencies to support a family. How did you ensure effective communication and coordination?

3. Give an example of when you've had to adapt your communication style to meet the needs of a child or family member. What approach did you take

4. Describe a time when you had to manage a demanding caseload whilst meeting all deadlines. How did you prioritise and organise your work?

5. Give an example of when you've had to use evidence-based interventions to address a family's needs. How did you select and implement the intervention?

Please specify on your supporting statement which post/s you are applying for. See top of advert for posts available.

We value authentic applications that showcase your genuine skills and experiences. Applications suspected of being generated by AI may be rejected. We ask you to present your own work and ideas throughout the application process.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to the application process before the next selection stage, please contact our Recruitment Team by emailing [e-mail] or calling 03456 014412. If you are invited to the next stage of selection, you will have another opportunity to request adjustments for the next stages of the process.

Closing date: 11.30pm, 20 July 2025

Interview date: 28 and 29 July 2025

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts.

As a modern and effective council, we offer a wide variety of careers to suit people with a range of skills, abilities and ambitions. We offer working options that flex to reflect the way people work today and take the time to understand and support your individual needs. We're driven to make a positive difference to the world around us and encourage everyone with drive and focus to join us and build an influential and impactful career. Reimagine the possibilities.

In return, you'll enjoy:

• up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
• membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
• performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase
• training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
• a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
• diverse and active staff networks
• flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day

Plus lots more!

If you want to know more about our benefits, values and equality commitments please visit our Suffolk County Council careers website (careers.Suffolk.gov.uk) .