Family Support Practitioner - Family Support Team

At Bath & North East Somerset Council we have one overriding purpose – to improve people’s lives. If your passion is around collaborative work with families, centred on building relationships in order to help families develop resilience and make changes for their children, then we are the Local Authority for you. Working with families to keep children at home wherever possible, our dynamic teams work with families from point of contact through to long term support and intervention. Our practice model is underpinned by relationship‑based, systemic approaches to facilitate change, alongside trauma informed practice. Bath and North East Somerset Children’s Social Care are an innovative small Local Authority focused on therapeutic assessment and support. Rated Good by OFSTED, with continued vision and drive to improve further.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Family Support Practitioner to join one of our Family Support Teams, within the Safeguarding Outcomes Service. We are committed to being a dynamic and creative Local Authority, working hard to think differently about how we approach our work with families. We are deeply committed to providing tailored high‑quality services and well thought out interventions to families to keep children safe. Our practice is values‑driven with a strong ethos of child‑focused interventions. As a Local Authority we work hard to support children and families at an early stage; we are committed to providing the best outcomes for our children and young people.

About the role: You will work in partnership with an enthusiastic hub overseen by a Team Manager and Deputy Team Manager, and alongside Senior Practitioners, qualified professional Social Workers, Family Support Practitioners and Administrative staff. This rewarding role will see you responding to, co‑ordinating and delivering a range of social care services to children, young people and families in the Bath and North East Somerset area for children subject to Child in Need Plans, Child Protection Plans and legal proceedings. We work closely with our colleagues across the service and have established partnerships with agencies across health, education, support services and adult services to ensure we can respond as effectively as possible to the needs of children, young people, and their families.

About you: We are seeking applications from workers who have relevant experience and a specific interest in this area of work and are looking to enhance and further develop their skills and contribute to service development for vulnerable children.

You can expect:

• A comprehensive induction
• Managed caseload, with a variety of support and interventions for children in need, child protection and children protected through legal proceedings
• Regular supervision – at a minimum of monthly one to one
• Weekly group supervision to promote thoughtful and creative practice, supported by your peers and managers
• Monthly Peer Circles to ensure strong relationships and support between Family Support Practitioners across the teams, and to share good practice
• Excellent administrative support
• Ongoing training, which may include Video Interactive Guidance, Theraplay, Domestic Violence interventions, and other relevant interventions to best support the families you are working with
• And other future opportunities for career development, including the Social Work Apprenticeship degree

*Please note, BANES Council operates a policy of prior consideration for roles for any individual on the Council’s at‑risk register (redeployee). This means should a redeployee express an interest in this role, providing they meet the essential criteria for the role they will be considered ahead of external applicants. Please note that this role is subject to an Enhanced DBS Check.

Safeguarding Statement: The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable groups and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of this commitment anyone working in a post with children or vulnerable groups will be expected to undertake an Enhanced DBS check with/without barred list checks.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join us. We are a Disability Confident Employer. Applications for job‑share, part‑time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.