Participation Officer (Children & Families - Fostering)

ACS; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 16,000 - 23,000; Part time

Job summary

A high-quality fostering organization in Greater London is seeking a Participation Officer for a part-time role focused on supporting children and young people. Key responsibilities include promoting life skill opportunities, providing one-on-one support, and maintaining productive relationships with stakeholders. Ideal candidates will have a passion for childcare, relevant qualifications, and the ability to travel across regions. This position offers competitive benefits and is an opportunity to make a significant impact in the lives of young people.

Benefits

30 days' Annual Leave

Bank Holidays

Life Assurance

Employee Discount Scheme

Medical Cash Plan

Qualifications

• Experience supporting children and young people to reach their full potential.
• Ability to travel across regions for work.
• A calm demeanor under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Promote life skill opportunities for young people.
• Provide direct 1-1 support for children.
• Attend meetings to support care plans.

Skills

Passion for supporting children and young people

Understanding of challenges faced by children

Professional childcare experience

Strong communication skills

Intermediate IT skills

Education

Relevant qualification in childcare or social work

Evidence of formal training in childhood studies

Job description

Participation Officer - Part Time - 25 Hours Per Week

Salary: £16,164.32 per Annum (with the full time equivalent being £22,630.06 per annum)

Benefits

30 days' Annual Leave, rising to 35 days with length of service, + Bank Holidays, Life Assurance, Employee Discount Scheme & Medical Cash Plan

Location

Office Based (to be based at either Blackburn or Oldbury office) with flexibility to work from home - Covering the West Midlands and the North West Region. (There may be the occasional need to assist our Foster Parents in Yorkshire)

About Us

We're a high-quality fostering organisation, recognised as 'Outstanding' by OFSTED, and one of the UK's only independent fostering agencies specialising in cultural and faith-based fostering placements.

That's what we set out to do in 2012, and we're still doing it today. Our focus is on helping children and young people with specific religious or cultural needs find foster parents who share their values and identity and can provide a safe and loving home. As such we provide a specialist service and in our most recent inspection in 2024, OFSTED rated us as 'Outstanding' in every area of our work.

Our head office is in the West Midlands, but as our reputation and services have grown, so has our presence across the UK. We now have an office in Blackburn and also cover the East Midlands and Yorkshire. We are fortunate to have Kulvinder Kaur Sahota as our manager in process of registration and are a close, supportive staff team.

Role responsibilities

• Promote initiatives and engage our young people in year 10 and above to undertake the many life skill opportunities on offer to them
• Provide Direct 1-1 support for children and young people: arranging activities, days out and workshops for our children and birth children
• Forge close and productive working relationships with colleagues, Foster Parents, external professionals and multi-agency networks
• Attendance at meetings with professionals from Education, Health and Social Services sectors to support our Children and Young People's care plans
• Maintain clear records; be aware of and take responsibility for staying up to date with professional practice standards, legislation and company policy including confidentiality, GDPR, safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion
• Support ACS staff with placements / education inputting key data information.

About You

• A passion for and experience of supporting children and young people to reach their full potential
• An understanding of the challenges faced by the children and young people in our care
• Ability to work and travel across the West Midlands and other regions
• Desire to implement and drive new ideas and initiatives that will support and complement the services that we offer
• Have professional childcare experience, preferably with Fostering or Fostering sector experience or the ability to demonstrate Fostering knowledge and interest
• Ideally possess a relevant qualification or evidence of formal training in childcare, childhood studies, education, social work, youth work, community work and/or psychology
• Can demonstrate previous experience of building strong rapports with adults and children with an array of different needs and expectations
• Able to remain calm when under pressure and when dealing with difficult or confrontational behaviour
• Intermediate IT skills to include Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint) and databases
• Have a full driving licence

For more information about this post please contact Kulvinder Kaur Sahota, Manager in Process of Registration on 07970 081 374

No agencies please.

Active Care Solutions is an equal opportunities employer and has been awarded the disability confident employer by the jobcentre plus. The successful applicant will be subject to a DBS check at enhanced level if successful for the position.