Family Support Worker

Durham County Council; North East; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

Durham County Council seeks a Support Worker for their Families First service in North East England. This full-time role involves working with children and families, implementing interventions to drive positive change. Applicants should have relevant experience and a Level 3 qualification in a related Children's Services field, demonstrating evidence-based practices for family support.

Benefits

Competitive salaries

Generous leave entitlement of up to 32 days

Government pension scheme

Robust induction programme

Ongoing training and development

Access to Employee Assistance Programme

Discounts including gym membership

Qualifications

• Experience in delivering planned interventions.
• Passion for supporting families.
• Willingness to work towards Level 3 qualification.

Responsibilities

• Deliver practical interventions to families.
• Develop effective working relationships with parents.
• Contribute to whole family assessments.

Skills

Experience with vulnerable children

Group facilitation

Safeguarding knowledge

Evidence-based practice

Education

Level 3 qualification in Children's Services

Job description

View more categories View less categories Sector Health and Social Care ,Social Care Job role Support Worker Contract Type Full time

Do you want to work in an ambitious Local Authority with strong leadership and partnership commitment to Children’s Services?

Durham County Council are on a continuous improvement journey in relation to its Families First service. This role will be in a busy Families First locality setting working alongside social workers and multi-agency professionals.

Recent Ofsted Inspection highlighted “Social workers told inspectors that Durham is a great place to work. Their words and actions convey a sense of belonging, and they view Durham as their employer of choice” Ofsted report (March 2025)

This is a full time role with flexible working benefits available.

WHAT IS INVOLVED?

You will work alongside a Key Worker to deliver practical interventions at the earliest opportunity to enable families to make significant and sustained changes that will impact positively upon themselves and their children.

The successful candidate is required to develop and use a range of approaches to engage and build an effective working relationship with parents and families, to enable positive change to take place for themselves and their children; to work with parents to empower them to enable them to identify, acknowledge and meet their own and their children’s needs, develop life skills, make and sustain effective change and reduce vulnerability.

You will also use a Signs of Safety approach and ‘Team around the Family’ processes to contribute to whole family assessments and family plans and liaise with other relevant partners as appropriate.

WHAT WILL I NEED?

The successful candidate will require relevant experience and a passion to work with and support vulnerable children and families in the home and community settings; evidence of delivering planned interventions using evidence-based practice leading to improved outcomes; experience of group facilitation and responding effectively to safeguarding issues and concerns.

You will also require a Level 3 qualification in a relevant Children's Services field, or a willingness to work towards this, and evidence of continuous professional development.

The successful applicant for this post will be required to apply for a Disclosure & Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure.

Please use the ‘Person Specification’ section of your application form to demonstrate that you have the essential and where possible, desirable experience, skills, and knowledge. Candidates who do not evidence that they meet the essential qualifications and experience listed on the person specification will not be short-listed.

IS THIS ROLE FOR YOU?

If you would like to know more about the posts, please contact Emma Deighan, Social Work Consultant on 03000262771 or [e-mail]

BENEFITS AND REWARDS

We can offer you a range of employee benefits including competitive salaries, a generous leave entitlement of up to 32 days (from 1st April 2023, dependent on local government service), and a government pension scheme (benefits are subject to individual Terms and Conditions).

We also offer:

• Robust induction programme
• Extensive range of ongoing training and development.
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 26 days excluding banks holidays,
• Career average pension scheme
• Comprehensive rewards and benefits package
• Additional benefits including access to a free and confidential Employee Assistance Programme and a range of discounts including gym membership.

Do you want to work in an ambitious Local Authority with strong leadership and partnership commitment to Children’s Services?

Durham County Council are on a continuous improvement journey in relation to its Families First service. This role will be in a busy Families First locality setting working alongside social workers and multi-agency professionals.

Recent Ofsted Inspection highlighted “Social workers told inspectors that Durham is a great place to work. Their words and actions convey a sense of belonging, and they view Durham as their employer of choice” Ofsted report (March 2025)

This is a full time role with flexible working benefits available.

WHAT IS INVOLVED?

You will work alongside a Key Worker to deliver practical interventions at the earliest opportunity to enable families to make significant and sustained changes that will impact positively upon themselves and their children.

The successful candidate is required to develop and use a range of approaches to engage and build an effective working relationship with parents and families, to enable positive change to take place for themselves and their children; to work with parents to empower them to enable them to identify, acknowledge and meet their own and their children’s needs, develop life skills, make and sustain effective change and reduce vulnerability.

You will also use a Signs of Safety approach and ‘Team around the Family’ processes to contribute to whole family assessments and family plans and liaise with other relevant partners as appropriate.

WHAT WILL I NEED?

The successful candidate will require relevant experience and a passion to work with and support vulnerable children and families in the home and community settings; evidence of delivering planned interventions using evidence-based practice leading to improved outcomes; experience of group facilitation and responding effectively to safeguarding issues and concerns.

You will also require a Level 3 qualification in a relevant Children's Services field, or a willingness to work towards this, and evidence of continuous professional development.

The successful applicant for this post will be required to apply for a Disclosure & Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure.

Please use the ‘Person Specification’ section of your application form to demonstrate that you have the essential and where possible, desirable experience, skills, and knowledge. Candidates who do not evidence that they meet the essential qualifications and experience listed on the person specification will not be short-listed.

IS THIS ROLE FOR YOU?

If you would like to know more about the posts, please contact Emma Deighan, Social Work Consultant on 03000262771 or [e-mail]

BENEFITS AND REWARDS

We can offer you a range of employee benefits including competitive salaries, a generous leave entitlement of up to 32 days (from 1st April 2023, dependent on local government service), and a government pension scheme (benefits are subject to individual Terms and Conditions).

We also offer:

• Robust induction programme
• Extensive range of ongoing training and development.
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 26 days excluding banks holidays,
• Career average pension scheme
• Mileage scheme
• Flexible working
• Comprehensive rewards and benefits package
• Additional benefits including access to a free and confidential Employee Assistance Programme and a range of discounts including gym membership.

If you would like to know more, please follow the link https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26895/Rewards-and-benefits

HOW TO APPLY

Apply on-line via the North East Jobs portal or for further assistance contact the Payroll and Employee Services Team [e-mail]

In line with the County Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy, please note that we are unable to accept CVs. Any information provided on CVs will not be considered for short-listing purposes.

Please use the ‘Person Specification’ section of your application form to demonstrate that you have the essential and where possible, desirable experience, skills, and knowledge. Candidates who do not evidence that they meet the essential qualifications and experience listed on the person specification will not be short-listed.

Interviews are scheduled to be week commencing 23rd June 2025.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

We are a proud equal opportunities employer and recognise the value of difference, having a diverse talented workforce brings new ideas and new perspectives, which will facilitate growth and improvements to services.

We collect personal information from you when you register with North East Jobs and make an application. Details on how we process your personal data is available in our Privacy Notice. https://www.durham.gov.uk/media/24645/Privacy-notice-human-resources/pdf/PrivacyNotice-HR.pdf

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION REGARDING YOUR APPLICATION FOR THIS POST WILL BE SENT TO THE EMAIL ADDRESS THAT YOU HAVE REGISTERED WITH NORTH EAST JOBS, INCLUDING YOUR INVITE TO INTERVIEW IF YOU ARE SHORTLISTED. PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL AFTER THE CLOSING DATE FOR NOTIFICATION FROM [e-mail] AS YOU WILL NOT BE NOTIFIED BY ANY OTHER MEANS. PLEASE ENSURE YOU CHECK YOUR JUNK MAIL.

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