Family Support Worker - Connected Persons Support Team

Kirklees Council; Huddersfield; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job description

Family Support Worker - Connected Persons Support Team

We adopt a ‘name blind’ approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made - please note that this also includes any CV uploaded. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage.

Organisation: Kirklees

Directorate: Children & Families

Service Area: Child Protection & Family Support

Hours: 18.5 (days to be arranged)

Number of Jobs: 1

Location(s): Based at Civic Centre 3, Huddersfield but will be required to work across Kirklees

Position type: Permanent

Grade: 8

Do you enjoy working with and supporting children and their families? Are you creative and adaptable? Do you strive to be part of an outstanding organisation?

This is an exciting opportunity to work restoratively with families in Kirklees, as part of the Connected Person’s Support Team, who sit within our Emotional Wellbeing Service as part of the Family Support and Child Protection Directorate.

The Connected Person’s Support Team works directly to support our kinship carers who are Special Guardians. The support from the team is typically centred around areas such as court ordered family time with birth parents, therapeutic needs of children and young people resulting in applications to the Adoption Support Fund, and supporting kinship Special Guardian carers with parenting children who have had difficult early life experiences.

As a Family Support Worker, you will be expected to support and assess the needs, risks and strengths of children, young people and their families. You will support the delivery of the aims and objectives of the Connected Person’s Support team using a multi-disciplinary agency approach and restorative practice to deliver coordinated support.

The role will involve working professionally and creatively with all family members, engaging effectively with children, young people and their families from a variety of backgrounds. It would be advantageous if applicants were able to speak additional languages. You will work flexibly to meet the needs of the service.

You will need to demonstrate a clear understanding of safeguarding in practice and understanding of safeguarding procedures. A level 4 qualification in working with families or an equivalent would be advantageous, but is not essential. However, you will need substantial experience of working with vulnerable families from diverse backgrounds to deliver improved outcomes.

Travel is an essential part of this job; therefore, it is expected that you will use a car for all or most of the time. It is essential that you hold a full and valid driving licence and it is expected that you will either use a council vehicle or your own car (exceptions may be made for disabled applicants).

For a full list of the role requirements please see the attached Job Focus Sheet.

What can we offer?
• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Friendly and supportive team environment
• Ongoing training and career development
• Excellent pension scheme
• A range of family friendly policies, including flexible working
• Discounts with local and national retailers

What the team say about the role:

“I have worked in the team since it was created 12 years ago. The highlight of the role is seeing children grow and develop in the care of their kinship carers, knowing the support I have given has empowered carers to care and nurture the children during times of challenge.”

“This role provides me satisfaction in supporting children and families. We support children to thrive in kinship care. This job provides variety, keeps you busy, and there’s never a boring day!”

“Every day looks different in this role; you can be out supporting in homes, children’s centres, and schools all over Kirklees. It is nice to be able to support families with guardianship orders in a variety of ways and see the progress that is made.”

“I enjoy the variety. Every day is different, and you get satisfaction from watching the positive changes the families make.”

“This is a varied role and is never boring! You feel like you have made a positive difference to the life of the families at the end of the day.”

What Kinship carers say about the role:

“I just want to say a huge thank you for sending a Family Support Worker to see us and your continued support. It has been a challenging time for our family, and I know we would not have made it through without the support of your team.”

“This support group has helped immensely in that I have gained friends who understand the struggles I face on a daily basis. There have been numerous information sessions that have been extremely useful and informative. The life story work completed was very thorough, but at the same time was done very sensitively. The team is very passionate in supporting us and trying to make sure we are getting help as necessary in order to effectively manage our day-to-day struggles.”

If you would like to have an informal discussion about the role, please contact Debs Goddard (CPST Consultant) at email [e-mail]

Interviews will be held on Tuesday 13th May 2025

Noushin Mostowfi is the manager for this role; please contact them on 01484 221000 for an informal discussion, or if you need any more information.

This job is subject to a DBS check at the appropriate level. A conviction may not exclude candidates from appointment but will be considered as part of the recruitment process.

We know there’s a wealth of talent among people who have a disability and we encourage applications from people with all differing abilities. So, if you need any support completing an application form, or any other format for the application or Job Description please contact the Recruitment Team for help by email: [e-mail] or phone: [phone] and ask for ‘Recruitment’.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults and children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.