Family Support Worker

Portsmouth City Council; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job description

The Service

The Early Help and Prevention Service in Portsmouth is a new way of doing things - providing extra practical help with families early on, to stop problems getting worse. We talk with families about the things that are most important to them, what might help and what we can do differently to help them. This is how we start working together with the whole family to help get things back on track.

We are committed to working with families to repair harm and relationships. We are restorative in all we do, working closely with partnership agencies to provide high challenges and high support, building strong relationships between practitioners and their families. We have been recognised by Ofsted as a "Good" Local Authority, working systemically to provide services improving outcomes for children and their families.

The Role

Reporting to the multi-agency leadership team, you will engage with families and young people to assess need holistically and work with them to develop sustainable solutions that improve their functioning and achieve better outcomes for their children.

You will ensure that help is provided to families and young people in the most effective way to ensure that the improved outcomes are achieved, including reducing demand on statutory child protection services and other specialist services.

Responsibilities include

1. Complete early help assessments with families to understand their needs and work with them to improve outcomes.
2. Provide direct work with individuals, families, and groups on a range of issues such as problematic/challenging behaviour; emotional wellbeing; alcohol and drug misuse; healthy relationships, family relationships; and housing and income.
3. Adopt a style of practice, in line with restorative principles, to work with families, empowering them to find their own solutions to identified problems.
4. Provide quality up-to-date information, advice and support which supports children and young people's emotional health, personal and social development and promotes healthy lifestyles in schools and colleges across Portsmouth City.
5. Promote the involvement of young people in planning, delivery, and evaluation of services.
6. Offer information and advice and support to young people in a variety of settings/environments as required to meet the aims of the service. It is expected that this will be for an agreed period of time and monitored with the family and young person alongside supervision.
7. Represent the service at meetings and at school/college and community events when required.

The ideal candidate

You will need to have/be:

• A nationally recognised qualification such as NVQ level 4 or other higher-level qualification or equivalent experience.
• An up-to-date working knowledge of safeguarding children and young adults.
• Experience of working with young people and their families and have a positive attitude to helping young adults and delivering a safe and effective offer.
• A flexible approach to service delivery and be focused on good outcomes for children and young people, offering individualised support based on identified need.
• Excellent communication skills with children, young people, and parents, with the ability to respond to changing priorities and to meet tight deadlines.
• A restorative approach to practice and the ability to reflect and learn, to drive continuous improvement in service delivery.
• An understanding and commitment to multi-agency working, and confidence to communicate with partner agencies, including facilitating meetings.
• An ability to evidence high-quality assessment and record-keeping skills with a good knowledge of safe record-keeping standards and information governance.
• A car driver with access to transport or able to easily access public transport to move across Portsmouth City.

Please see the Job profile for the full details of this role

Application process

We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.

As part of your application, we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work/personal experience.

Please ensure that you read the job profile for full details on the post. We offer hybrid working with the expectation to attend the office 3 days a week; please ensure you can fulfil this prior to submitting your application.

We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal.

About Portsmouth City Council

What we can offer you:

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. It is also committed to promoting quality childcare across the city that works to improve outcomes for children.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) at Basic level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact [e-mail] or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616800.