Special Guardianship Community Support and Outreach Worker - Portsmouth

We are looking for a Special Guardianship Community Support and Outreach Worker to join our Connected Persons Assessment and Support Team within the Fostering Service. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a growing service that supports Special Guardianship arrangements across the city. Our Fostering Service provides children with safe and stable care when they are unable to live with their parents. We are committed to high standards, restorative practice, and delivering meaningful support to families. Portsmouth has been rated Good by Ofsted, reflecting the high-quality work delivered for children and families.

The Role

As a Special Guardianship Community Support and Outreach Worker, you will provide advice, guidance, and support to Special Guardians both locally and beyond. Manage a caseload, deliver training, and facilitate support groups. Work directly with children, carers, and families to assess needs and improve outcomes.

You will deliver targeted interventions covering areas such as:

• Emotional wellbeing
• Behavioural challenges
• Family relationships
• Substance misuse
• Housing and financial support

You will empower families using a restorative, strengths-based approach. Act as a lead professional, coordinating multi-agency support. Represent the service at meetings, educational settings, and community events. Contribute to the development and delivery of training and support programmes for Special Guardians. You will also play a key role in reducing demand on statutory services by helping families build sustainable, long-term solutions.

The ideal candidate

You will have:

• A relevant qualification (e.g. NVQ Level 4 or equivalent experience)
• Strong knowledge of safeguarding, fostering, and children's legislation
• Understanding of therapeutic parenting approaches
• Insight into child development and trauma-informed practice
• Experience of working with families and delivering support interventions
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills
• Ability to manage changing priorities and meet deadlines
• A collaborative, multi-agency working approach
• Strong assessment, recording, and report-writing skills
• A flexible and positive attitude focused on achieving the best outcomes
• A driving licence and access to transport (or ability to travel across Portsmouth) is essential

Occasional evening and out-of-hours work will be required.

Please ensure that you read the full job profile attached for the details and expectations of this role, paying particular attention to the section 'Who is the person' as you will need to refer to this when completing your Personal statement.

Working Arrangements

- minimum of two days per week in the office as per Hybrid Working Policy

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

If you have any questions, or would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact: Annita Andreou.

About Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act. We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals.

Application process

We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. As part of your application, we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work/personal experience. We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal. We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under our corporate commitments and meet the minimum criteria; however, for roles that receive a large number of applications, we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it. Please note: We are not able to offer sponsorship for this position.

Safeguarding

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) at Standard/Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Please read the relevant DBS privacy notice before submitting any information. You will need to explain any gaps in your career history within the last 5 years - this is essential for all safeguarding roles.