Family Worker - CSST

Social network you want to login/join with:

Our Family Safeguarding Teams exemplify how Children’s Safeguarding work can support families and secure the best outcomes for children and young people.

We have an exciting opportunity to join our disability team. The team works with children and young people up to the age of 18 with a range of disabilities and complex needs – we help children with disabilities and their families to live safer, happier lives.

If you are looking for a team that is inclusive, ambitious, and always learning, we’d welcome your application to join us.

Bracknell Forest Council Children’s Social Care were graded as Outstanding by Ofsted (ILACS Inspection) in June 2022:

“Leaders lead by example and are available to all staff when needed for case exploration and discussion”.

“Children with disabilities and their families are provided with highly effective tailored support which improves their experiences”.

We are a small and friendly local authority. The leaders and managers know that it is essential for social care workers to have a secure physical and psychological base from which to be the best workers they can be. Working collaboratively with families to keep them together, where it is safe to do so, is at the heart of our embedded Family Safeguarding Model and our approach is underpinned by Motivational Interviewing (MI) across all of our social care teams.

What it’s like working in our team…

The Children’s Specialist Support Team (CSST) is a highly skilled team working with children who have disabilities and/or complex health needs. We are an experienced, friendly and supportive team who focus on ensuring that children are at the centre of all we do. We provide a range of services for children with additional needs and those who are assessed to have additional vulnerability. This includes the Council’s statutory responsibilities for disabled Children in Need in the community (including care packages and short breaks).

The team is an eclectic mix of different service areas covering a wide breadth of work with children with disabilities, Occupational Therapy, Short Breaks (including Larchwood, our short break respite unit), Access to Records and Missing Children and Child Exploitation. Taking a child first and social model approach – partnership and collaborative working is the key to our success.

The team is well integrated with local partners and co-located with and joint work with specialist workers in domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse, meaning no lengthy waits for much needed services for our families and interventions that help build resilience and mitigate risks. We receive positive feedback from children and their families.

Everyone comes together once a month for group supervision and we have dedicated admin support.

Our workforce tells us:

• There is a supportive and approachable leadership and management team
• All teams offer each other good peer support; there is a strong focus on shared problem solving
• They feel appreciated and their development is prioritised
• Supervision is of high quality, reflective and routinely provided

You will be supported to carry out the following duties, responsibilities and training…

• To work as part of a team providing a holistic service for children with disabilities and their families.
• To support children and their families by working directly with them and also by co-ordinating the work of other professionals/services to offer support and opportunities.
• The Family Worker role is varied and supports all the functions of the Children’s Specialist Support Team, including behaviour support and the Short Breaks Service (which are co-located), with a key purpose of ensuring we deliver the right help at the right time to ensure children, young people and families have the best possible outcomes in life.

The benefits you will experience are…

• Flexible working opportunities including working remotely for part of the week
• A comprehensive induction and excellent ongoing training programme
• Generous holiday allowance with the option to buy, sell and bank annual leave
• An interest free loan for a rail season ticket
• Access to Cycle to Work Scheme
• Internal sports and social club opportunities with discounted leisure centre and gym membership
• A great office location next to travel links and the regenerated town centre (Lexicon)

What we’re looking for…

We are looking for a Family Worker who is enthusiastic, self-motivated, and passionate about improving outcomes for children with disabilities. The ideal candidate will be committed to the principles of participatory practice, an effective communicator who can engage with families in assessment and planning, and work in partnership with others.

Interview date

The interviews will be held on the 7th June 2024.