Family Support Worker (Family Time and Support Service-West)

Essex County Council; Harlow; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

Essex County Council in Harlow is recruiting a Family Support Worker to supervise and facilitate Family Time between looked-after children and their birth families. The role may include targeted intervention and frontline support for social work teams.

You will work across services to build trusted relationships, safeguard children, and contribute to assessment and planning. Driving is required to support mobility around the county.

Qualifications

• Educated to RQF Level 3 (A Level/NVQ/BTEC) or equivalent experience.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills essential.
• Good IT skills and ability to write a formal report.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to adapt to a changing schedule and respond to short notice.

Responsibilities

• Supervise, support and facilitate Family Time sessions in line with the plan for the child and family.
• Build strong relationships with the child, young person and family to support strengths-based practice.
• Maintain high standards of professionalism and safeguarding.
• Highlight issues and contribute to safeguarding plans for the child.
• Collaborate with internal and external professional partners to inform assessments and decisions.
• Provide information and advice on accessing third-party services when needed.
• Contribute to meetings, case conferences and court hearings as appropriate.
• Record work in line with policies and use case management systems.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

IT skills

Report writing

Teamwork

Driving licence

Motivation for children and families

Education

RQF Level 3 or equivalent

Job description

Family Support Worker (Family Time and Support Service-West)

Permanent, Full Time

£26,284 to £33,256 per annum

Location:

Harlow

Working Style:

Community-based worker

Please note interviews will be held in person on the 1st & 2nd December 2026.

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It's an exciting time to join us having received our 3rd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row.

Please take a look at our 'No Magic' Children & Families video

here

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. We require support workers to work within our Family Time Team.

The role:

The primary role for a child and family support worker based within the Family time Team is to supervise, support and facilitate Family Time between children who are looked after by the local authority and their birth families. This may incorporate aspects of targeted intervention work which supports the overall assessment and case planning for the family. On occasions the post holder's role may also include work within frontline teams to support the delivery of effective children's Social Work.

Accountabilities:

• Responsible for supervising, supporting and facilitating Family Time sessions which support the plan for the child, young person and family, and may include targeted intervention or support work as agreed by the case holding Team.
• Build strong, effective relationships with the child, young person and family which support relationship and strengths based social work practice.
• Maintain high standards of professionalism which contribute to the level of confidence in Children's Social Care.
• Responsible for highlighting issues and implementing plans to safeguard a child.
• Liaise and work collaboratively with internal and external professional partner agencies as relevant to the case (eg. Occupational Therapy, Schools, Health, Mental Health), to gather accurate information that informs assessment and decisions about the plan for the child.
• Provide information and advice in relation to involvement/accessing of third party agencies relevant to the needs of the child, young person and family (e.g. benefits agencies, immigration, housing), where necessary acting as an advocate.
• Contributes to meetings, reviews, (case conferences and court hearings as appropriate to the service) to provide information which builds understanding of the child's needs.
• Record work and activity in accordance with Children & Families policies and procedures, including case records on Mosaic.
• Work collaboratively across the service, with internal and external professional partner agencies to contribute to the overall work and success of the team and ensure improved outcomes for children and families.
• Deliver support in accordance with the plan, as agreed by the case holding Social Worker where appropriate, this will normally be time limited, with measurable impact.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

Skills, Knowledge, and Experience:

• Educated to RQF Level 3 (A Level/NVQ/BTEC) or equivalent experience.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills essential.
• Good IT skills and ability to write a formal report.
• Must be able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Must be accountable for own work and able to plan admin work around scheduled appointments.
• Ability to adapt to a changing schedule or work and to respond to requests at short notice essential.
• Must be motivated, committed and passionate about working with children and families.
• Social Care experience an advantage.
• Experience of working in partnership with other professionals, carers and key agencies an advantage.
• Must have full driving licence and use of an appropriate insured vehicle for transporting of children.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

To read more about us please visit:

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we're committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we are dedicated to making a positive difference for residents, communities and businesses across the county. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, Greater Essex was accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our

careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We're committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We're also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you've secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the

Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to

https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.