Higher Family Support Worker - Children in Care

Birmingham Children’s Trust Limited; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Social Work England registration fee

DBS application fee covered

30 days annual leave (33/35 days with/

Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme

Free on-site parking

Job summary

Birmingham Children’s Trust is hiring a Higher Family Support Worker for its Children in Care Team in Birmingham. The role focuses on engaging families to improve relationships, support reunification, and deliver evidence‑based interventions that safeguard children.

You will work alongside social workers, write reports, and monitor progress with supervision and city‑wide family support across the Birmingham area.

Qualifications

• Hold an NVQ Level 4 (or equivalent) qualification in a related area of practice.
• Have a full driving license with access to your own car and business insurance
• Have proven experience of working in early help, prevention, or statutory services with children and families.
• Be confident working under pressure, managing competing demands, and meeting deadlines.
• Demonstrate excellent communication, report writing, assessment and record‑keeping skills.
• Bring experience of multi‑agency working, ensuring families receive joined‑up and effective support.
• Be a strong team player who shares knowledge and supports colleagues to deliver the best possible outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Deliver evidence‑based interventions to achieve good parenting outcomes that safeguard and promote welfare of children and young people.
• Undertake the required training to support you in your role, specifically assessment training.
• Complete assessments for children and their families to aid care planning including discharges of care orders and reunification with parents.
• Work collaboratively with families, social care colleagues, and partner agencies to provide timely, targeted support aiming to reunite care arrangements.
• Champion a specialist practice area (e.g. domestic abuse, parental conflict, mental health, Trauma, or substance misuse) and deliver workshops.
• Maintain high standards of record keeping and produce clear, accountable reports to evidence impact.
• Support social work teams by implementing targeted interventions and ensuring practice is evidenced on children’s records.
• Promote Birmingham Children’s Trust’s relationship‑based, strengths‑focused, family‑led practice model.

Skills

Full driving licence

Excellent communication

Report writing

Assessment and records

Multi-agency working

Education

NVQ Level 4

Job description

About The Role

Higher Family Support Worker - Children in Care.

Help us change children and young people’s lives!

We are committed to making a positive difference in the lives of over 10,000 children and young people every single day. Our mission is simple but powerful: to ensure that the most disadvantaged children and young people in our city are safe, happy, and healthy.

We are now seeking a passionate and motivated Higher Family Support Worker to join our Children in Care Team; guiding reunification for families where children are currently looked after by the Trust. This is a fantastic opportunity to play a central role in delivering evidence-based interventions that directly improve the lives of children, young people, and their families.

About the Role:

The role of Higher Family Support Worker is to engage family members proactively to help develop the family level relationship context and to enhance capacity for family to begin work so they can contemplate improvements towards directly caring and meeting identified needs.

Within the role there will be a requirement to attend training and to build a holistic overview of family work practices that motivate positive change and sustainable outcomes for children and young people.

The role is case holding and as key worker you will partner with the social work service and other professional to develop the objectives jointly agreed on with family. In this partnership you will be required to write reports and offer summary updates measuring progress as well as challenges to be addressed.

You will join our Families Together Team that operates within the child in care service for BCT and will have good support and supervision from experienced managers to help you feel safe and secure in your daily practices across the city.

The role requires occupants to have good accessibility to families across the city and so access to a car is a requirement. This is a full‑time role, working through Monday to Friday cores hours on a flexible basis.

As a Family Support Worker, you will:

• Deliver evidence‑based interventions to achieve good parenting outcomes that also safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people.
• Undertake the required training to support you in your role‑specifically assessment training .
• Complete assessments for children and their families , as and when required, to aid care planning including discharges of care orders, placement with parents and reunification individually or through coworking with other professionals
• Work collaboratively with families, social care colleagues, and partner agencies to provide timely, targeted support – aiming to reunite care arrangements for children and young people within heir families.
• Champion a specialist practice area (e.g. domestic abuse, parental conflict, mental health, Trauma, or substance misuse), delivering workshops and providing advice to colleagues.
• Maintain high standards of record keeping and produce clear, accountable reports to evidence impact.
• Support social work teams by implementing targetted interventions and ensuring practice is clearly evidenced on children’s records.
• Promote Birmingham Children’s Trust’s relationship‑based, strengths‑focused, family‑led practice model in all aspects of your work.

About You:

We’re looking for someone with the skills and drive to make a real difference. You will:

• Hold an NVQ Level 4 (or equivalent) qualification in a related area of practice.
• Have a full driving license with access to your own car and business insurance
• Have proven experience of working in early help, prevention, or statutory services with children and families.
• Be confident working under pressure, managing competing demands, and meeting deadlines.
• Demonstrate excellent communication, report writing, assessment and record‑keeping skills.
• Bring experience of multi‑agency working, ensuring families receive joined‑up and effective support.
• Be a strong team player who shares knowledge and supports colleagues to deliver the best possible outcomes.

We have been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted, following a 2023 inspection. This is a fantastic achievement for Birmingham Children’s Trust, with many positive highlights focusing on areas including the quality of staff leadership, partnership working, safeguarding and corporate parenting.

This is a hybrid role based in Birmingham so you must have the correct right‑to‑work documents to work in the UK. Sadly, we do not support those who require sponsorship.

Our Benefits

• We pay your Social Work England registration fee
• We pay your DBS application fee and reimburse your update service fee
• A generous annual leave package of 30 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days after 5 years of service and 35 days after 10 years of service.
• Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme which gives you the chance to drive a brand‑new car for an affordable fixed monthly amount as part of a salary sacrifice initiative. With no deposits or credit checks required a range of all‑inclusive driving packages
• Free on‑site parking at our offices on One Avenue Road (Aston) and Lifford House (Stirchley). We also provide onsite electric car charging ports which are free to use!
  Full access to our amazing internal employee benefits scheme including, Occupational Health services, Rewards Schemes, Benefits discounts (including the Blue Light Card), Health & Fitness and Personal Wellbeing support and much more!
• Flexible and hybrid working policy - we are well adapted to a hybrid model of working which includes a combination of time spent in the office and at home and we offer a variety of working patterns, to support the needs of the Trust and to ensure a positive work/life balance for our employees
• You will receive a generous local government career average pension scheme in line with the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Discounted gym memberships with Pure Gym and Nuffield Health

About Us

Help us to change children and young people’s lives!

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of over 10,000 children and young people in our city every day. Our mission is to support the most disadvantaged children and young people in Birmingham, ensuring they are safe, happy, and healthy.

Why Join Us?

• Impactful Work- be part of a team that makes a real difference in the lives of the city’s most vulnerable children.
• Supportive Environment- enjoy a supportive and collaborative work culture where your contributions are valued.
• Career Development- benefit from tailored development programs, supportive supervision, and a range of learning opportunities to enhance your skills and advance your career.
• Generous Benefits- take advantage of our competitive reward package including generous leave allowance, Local Government pension scheme, and additional benefits.

Our Values

We approach our work with care and compassion, actively listening to the needs of the children and young people we serve. We involve them in the decisions that affect their lives, ensuring their voices are heard and respected.

We are committed to using our resources wisely, ensuring that every penny is spent where it counts the most. We foster collaboration among schools, health professionals, and the police, working together to create a supportive network for our young people.

We believe that when we work as one cohesive team, the children and young people of Birmingham are more likely to thrive. Our unified approach ensures that we provide the best possible support and opportunities for their growth and development.

Join us and together, we can create a brighter future for all.

Safeguarding

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

Depending on the role, you may be asked to undergo the appropriate level of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to assess your suitability for working with children and young people.

The level of check (Standard, Enhanced, or Enhanced with Barred List) is determined based on the specific responsibilities of the role and the level of contact with children and young people.

We are committed to the fair treatment of all applicants, including those with criminal records. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar an individual from working with us. This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances and background of the offence.