Family Support Practitioner (HAF-005622)

Family Support exists to support local families to give their children the best start in life. Family Support is a collaborative and community-focused service providing proactive, integrated and innovative preventative support to families most in need. The Family Support Service aims to have a positive long-term impact on families’ futures, reducing demand for statutory care services, and operating as a financially sustainable organisation.

Part of Children’s Services, Family Support (Early Help) supports children, young people and families in Hammersmith and Fulham by providing a range of targeted services and family support work to help them overcome difficulties, so they are able to thrive, live and engage happily in their communities. We are looking for an experienced Family Support Practitioner with extensive early help experience who understands the challenges that impact children and their families.

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Completing assessments and direct work.
• Leading the team around the family meetings.
• Understanding the complexities of mental health, drug and alcohol use, domestic abuse, extra familial harm and harmful practices that impact our children and families.

The successful candidate will also have access to training throughout as part of their personal development, and shadowing opportunities during the induction period.

Role Duties

• Leadership within the team: The post holder will be expected to model the values, behaviours, and practices of the organisation and act as an example to colleagues.
• Contribution to practice: They will be expected to share their knowledge and experience with all colleagues across the organisation, as part of their day-to-day work.
• Front-line service delivery: Supporting families allocated to themselves by applying knowledge and skills in a wide variety of circumstances, acting as the first point of contact on behalf of Family Support.

Support can take place in the family home, in children’s centres and in the local community, and at any time during the week, according to the needs of the family. The support can include, but is not restricted to, families who:

• Have no family network or have newly moved into the area, including families who have no recourse to public funds.
• Find themselves in unexpected circumstances such as bereavement, family illness or family separation.
• Face family crises, such as food poverty, financial or housing problems.
• Are dealing with mental health as a contributing factor to the challenges they are experiencing.
• Have a child or parent with a disability or special educational need.
• Have a domestic violence, drug or alcohol abuse issue and/or other significant or serious issues affecting children’s lives.
• Need support or guidance in parenting, dealing with children’s challenging behaviour or coping with family life.
• Have a need to be supported around young carers – including completing young carers assessments.
• Are experiencing difficulties with education, which may include school attendance, risk of exclusion or communication difficulties.

Work with practitioners from other agencies (such as CAMHS, school nursing teams, health, police and schools) and voluntary groups to provide integrated preventative health and social care services with other organisations so that vulnerable families receive consistent, coordinated support that is centred around their needs.

Complete 1:1 support plans (and/or other agreed outcomes) to establish a baseline, agree outcomes with the family, and review and track progress against agreed outcomes regularly. Ensure that the voices of children, young people and parents/guardians are sought, heard and represented appropriately. Log any child or parental feedback, track families to ensure outcomes are sustained, and provide relevant evidence of impact to line managers. Complete case notes and service plans for each family in a timely manner on the appropriate system in line with the Local Authority’s policies and procedures around information management.

Work to the highest possible quality standards of service at all times in accordance with Local Authority policies and procedures. This includes, but is not restricted to:

• Following good practice guidelines for working with vulnerable children and families in a safe and professional manner.
• Ensuring that all support given to the mother, father or carer keeps the needs of the child/children at the centre of the support at all times.
• Working in genuine partnership with families to empower them to make positive changes and develop strategies for improving their current situation and tackling difficulties appropriately in the future.

Contribute to the wider leadership of the organisation

Family Support aims to empower its staff to be creative in finding the right support for families and children. The post holder is expected to act with a high degree of autonomy and foster a culture that promotes this amongst the wider workforce. The above is not exhaustive, and the Family Support Worker will be expected to work flexibly to meet all additional activities commensurate with the role.

Knowledge & Skills

• Must have experience in a relevant area such as Health, Children’s social care and Education.
• Will have a personal approach and values that are conducive to working with vulnerable families.
• Ambitious for themselves and the organisation.
• Innovative in delivery.

Qualifications

• Relevant professional qualification – Desirable.
• Substantial previous experience in a similar role – Essential.
• Must have experience as an Early Help/Family support worker holding and working through a caseload.
• Must have experience completing Team around the family meetings and Early Help Assessments.
• Experience of building relationships with a variety of people at all levels and creating networking opportunities – Essential.
• Experience of writing and producing reports – Essential.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and interpersonal – Essential.
• The candidate must have the ability to remain calm under pressure, work without supervision to tight deadlines and prioritise workloads to meet conflicting deadlines – Essential.
• Excellent time management and organisational skills – Essential.
• Excellent computing skills, including full MS Office package (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) – Essential.

All listed items above represent the essential and desirable criteria for the role.