Staying Close Intensive Key Worker

The Children's Society; Chelmsford; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

36 days leave including holidays

8% pension match

Free counselling service

Volunteering time (2 days/year)

Professional development opportunities

Travel across county

Job summary

The Children's Society is seeking an experienced Staying Close Intensive Key Worker in Essex. The role supports identified high-risk care leavers aged 16-25 and their families, providing intensive interventions and helping reunify where possible. You’ll work from our Chelmsford office and remotely, with travel across the county for a small caseload.

You will build relationships, develop emotional resilience, and coordinate with social care teams to secure stable placements and positive outcomes.

Qualifications

• Diploma/degree in social work or related qualification.
• Counselling qualification or youth work background is desirable.
• Experience with vulnerable young people and families.

Responsibilities

• Provide intensive interventions with 16-25 year olds, one-to-one and in groups.
• Co-produce care and safety plans with young people.
• Collaborate with families, placement providers and social care teams.
• Travel across the county and work from Chelmsford office and home.

Skills

Driving license

IT case management

Multi-agency partnership

Group work

One-to-one interventions

Education

Diploma/degree in social work

Counselling qualification

Youth worker qualification or NVQ/degree

Job description

Staying Close Intensive Key Worker (6239)

29,855

Location:

Essex - The Children's Society East of England, United Kingdom

Permanent with funding until 30th June 2027

35 hours

£29,855 per annum

Benefits include but not limited to:

• 36 days’ annual leave, inclusive of flexible bank holidays, increasing with length of service
• Enhanced maternity/paternity leave
• We match up to 8% pension
• Free counselling service
• Opportunities to develop and widen your skills
• 2 days of paid volunteering time per annum to support another part of the organisation

About us:
The Children's Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 140 years. We deliver essential local services that provide safe, trusted support to children and young people during times of significant need.

Our Youth Impact domain creates impact for children and young people. With highly skilled and experienced staff working across England and Wales, we provide direct support to children, young people, parents and carers, as well as conduct research and influence Government to make changes. We also provide training for professionals. Our value driven team change the lives of children in this country for the better - and with your help and expertise, tomorrow we can support even more.

About the role:

We are looking for an experienced young people's practitioner to join our dynamic, ambitious team, who have been shortlisted thrice as CYP Now finalists!

Staying Close provides intensive support services to identified, high risk care leavers from 16 - 25; and their carers/family. We work to build emotional resilience and support young people to achieve stable placements, reduce their risk of harm and achieve positive outcomes and where possible reunification with their families liaising with our own family worker. You will work in an agile way, being based in our central Chelmsford office as well as being able to work from home, alongside frequent and extensive travel across the county working with a small caseload of around 6- 8 young people. You will provide intensive interventions, working closely with each young person as well as liaising with their family, their placement provider, and social care team. You will build positive relationships with young people, supporting them to be part of their care plan and working to reunify families where appropriate and for young people to achieve placement stability.

To be successful with this role, you will need to be able to demonstrate that you have extensive experience of: -

Delivering direct interventions with vulnerable young people on both a one to one and group work capacity. Working closely alongside young people to identify what their needs are and using the Worth-it model, how to achieve them.

Co-producing care and safety plans with young people that are young people led, focusing on both a relational & strength-based approach.

Extensive partnership working in a multi-agency environment, drawing on the Ambit approach to build relationships to ensure that the needs and wishes of the young person are heard and acted upon.

You will work as part of a team and be part of providing flexible support for young people to ensure young people remain safe and receive support through both online, face to face and other mediums.

You will need to demonstrate that you have:

• A relevant professional qualification working with vulnerable children and families is desired e.g., Diploma/degree in social work, counselling qualification, professional youth worker or related NVQ or degree. Or Substantial relevant experience of working with vulnerable young people facing significant challenges within this sector.
• Substantial experience of working with vulnerable young people and families that are hard to reach and from diverse backgrounds on both a one-to-one basis and through group work interventions; interventions will be mostly be face to face and can be supplemented with alternative mediums.
• Experience of supporting adolescents who are dealing with complex and sensitive issues through offering current relevant advice and advocacy.
• Experience of working autonomously and being an integral part of a team.
• Experience of using IT based case management systems.
• A full driving license and access to a car – essential as this role requires a substantial amount of travel.

Closing date: Midnight on Friday 23rd October 2026
Interviews: Tuesday 3rd November 2026

The Children's Society is committed to safeguarding and protection of the children and young people we work with. As such, our safer recruitment process includes a Basic or Enhanced DBS check, 5 years of references, and additional vetting checks relevant to the role. We have a comprehensive range of policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices across all areas of our organisation.

In support of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, shortlisting is carried out on an anonymised basis. Personal details are hidden from the shortlisting panel, and candidates are referenced by a candidate number only. As part of this process, we ask that your CV is anonymised before submission - this means removing personal information such as your name, contact details, age, and any other identifying details.

AI tools can support your application but only when used appropriately. You're welcome to use them to improve clarity, structure, and research. However, overuse or misuse (e.g. inventing experience or using AI during assessments) may lead to rejection at any stage. We want to hear the real you - authenticity matters.