Residential Child Care Practitioner - Full Time in Aberdare

Hours: 37 hours per week

Salary: GR7, £31,022 per annum

Trauma‑Informed, Relationship‑Based Care for Two Children

Do you have the passion and resilience to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and young people? Are you someone who can build trusting relationships and offer emotional support to children who have experienced adversity?

A rewarding opportunity has arisen to join our long‑term home in Aberdare, providing care and support for two children. As a Residential Child Care Practitioner (RCCP), you will be part of a skilled, nurturing team led by an experienced Registered Manager and supported by senior staff. In this small, stable home, you will play a vital role in offering consistent, relationship‑focused care.

Successful applicants will be committed to understanding the impact of childhood trauma and supporting children with complex needs in a way that promotes healing, emotional safety, and long‑term resilience. You will work creatively and compassionately to help each child progress at their own pace, using a trauma‑informed approach grounded in the Trauma Recovery Model. This includes offering patient, reliable, and attuned care—sometimes in challenging situations—while working collaboratively with families and professionals to ensure each child’s care is personalised and centred around their voice and needs.

To succeed in the role, you must be passionate, patient, and committed both to the children you care for and to maintaining professional standards.

What We’re Looking For

• Excellent communication skills
• Positivity and resilience, with the ability to stay calm and reflective during difficult moments
• A commitment to providing safe, caring environments where children can learn, grow, and feel heard
• Compassion, empathy, and a belief in supporting individual choice and autonomy
• The ability to invest in building trusting, reparative relationships over time
• A commitment to ongoing learning and development, including trauma‑informed practice
• Flexibility to work a range of shifts, including days, afternoons, occasional nights, weekends, bank holidays, and sleep‑ins

You will either hold, or must be willing to work towards, the QCF Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Children and Young People) or an equivalent qualification. Registration with Social Care Wales is required either on appointment or after completing the Induction Framework.

Our Offer to You

We recognise that working in Social Care is both professionally and personally demanding and requires skill, commitment, and emotional resilience. We offer:

• A dedicated in‑house Learning and Development Centre providing robust training and CPD opportunities
• Full funding for all training required to fulfil the role
• Support to achieve the QCF Level 3 Diploma (if not already held), within two years of appointment

RCT Council Staff Benefits include:

• 26 days annual leave, rising to 31 after 5 years’ service
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Discounted LeisureForLife Membership
• Vivup (staff discounts)
• Access to Occupational Health

Protecting children and vulnerable adults is a core responsibility of all staff appointed to the Council. In addition to this safeguarding responsibility, the successful applicant for this role will also be subject to an enhanced disclosure and barring service check.

The Council values diversity in its workforce. We are committed to ensuring that no unlawful discrimination occurs in the recruitment and selection process on the grounds of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, transgender, including those with non‑binary identities, religion or belief or pregnancy and maternity.

An application submitted for this post in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application made in English.

In view of the large number of Application Forms which are currently being submitted individual applications are not acknowledged. Consequently if you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please assume that your application is unsuccessful on this occasion. In which case you are thanked for the interest you have shown in applying for a position within the Council.

In support of the Council’s voluntary pledge to support the Armed Forces, the recruiter must always be prepared to ensure that applicants who have identified themselves as members of the Armed Forces including Service Leavers, Veterans or Reservists and who meet the essential criteria of the person specification, are offered an interview.