Child and Family Support Worker in King's Lynn

Hours: Part Time (up to 22.5 hours per week)

Would you like to make a positive difference, supporting children and young people in West Norfolk as they experience loss, grief and bereavement? Working in collaboration with, and through funding by, The National Lottery Community Fund, we are developing a dedicated service to support children and young people when someone they love is living with serious illness or has died. This service will also provide guidance and support to the adults who care for them.

Working in our Emotional, Social and Pastoral Support Services and closely with our Compassionate Communities team, we are looking for someone who is passionate about making a real difference, ensuring every child and young person connected to Tapping House feels understood, sensitively supported, and never alone in their experience of illness, loss, and grief.

Main duties of the job:

• Reporting to the Care Support Lead, we have an exciting opportunity for a Child & Family Support Worker (CFSW) to join our team providing emotional support for children, young people and their families who are affected by life-limiting illness and into bereavement.
• The post holder will directly influence patient care by providing a support service to children and young people (CYP), and their families, to promote positive mental health and outcomes.
• They will also assist with the implementation of the Tapping House Compassionate Communities CYP Strategy, led by the Community Development Worker - Children & Young People (CDW-CYP).

About us:

In addition to the competitive salary we offer the following:

• Annual Leave 25 days (increasing to 27 after 5 years and 31 after 9 years FTE) + public holidays
• Free parking
• Onsite cafe

We have an amazing multi-disciplinary team who all work together ensuring that the patient is central to everything we do.

Job responsibilities:

• To deliver support, information and guidance to families and professionals, as the key supporting adults around a child, enabling them to provide appropriate support to children and young people.
• To identify and maintain suitable CYP related information, resources and services and offer guidance and support to Tapping House colleagues to ensure they are equipped to appropriately support, signpost or refer families.
• To work collaboratively with hospice colleagues to identify children and families in need of support, ensuring appropriate referrals are received, managed effectively, and that thorough assessments of each child’s needs are carried out.
• To hold a caseload, coordinating ongoing care where needed, and appropriately communicating via the Multi Disciplinary Team.
• To establish goals with individual children and young people and directly provide, or oversee, high quality interventions to CYP who are affected by a patient’s life-limiting illness and subsequent death into bereavement, either face to face or online, via 1 to 1 sessions or on a group work basis, as appropriate.
• To complete and maintain up to date, comprehensive patient records.
• To collect data, monitor and evaluate interventions and provide timely and effective reports on outcome measures.
• To advocate for the needs and rights of children and young people, ensuring their voice is heard and valued.
• To sit as part of the Hospice Safeguarding Team, supporting CYP and their families, alongside staff to ensure children's needs are advocated for.
• To support referrals to other services where families require additional or specialist support.
• To assist in the continuing development of services for CYP, either individually or in groups, to safely and creatively explore their emotions regarding life-limiting illness, loss and bereavement, as part of the wider Compassionate Communities CYP Strategy.
• To promote and raise awareness of the hospice and Tapping Houses offer to children and young people, their families and wider communities.
• Be responsible for ensuring own supervision, continuing professional development and mandatory training.

Person Specification:

Experience:

• Experience of supporting children and adults through loss and bereavement;
• Experience of attachment theory and developmental responses to grief;
• Working with children and families around emotional and developmental needs;
• An ability to communicate openly and sensitively;
• Highly developed interpersonal and written empathy and advocacy and ability to work with issues of loss and grief;
• Good team working skills and commitment within a multi-disciplinary team;
• Good planning and organisational skills;
• Confidence and ability to use initiative and creative problem solving;
• Microsoft Office applications;
• Sound knowledge of hospice, health or social care; wider knowledge of palliative/end of life care;
• Experience of using SystmOne or alternative systems;
• Experience of leading/facilitating support groups for families;
• Experience of advocating for children and young people.

Qualifications:

• A recognised professional qualification at Diploma or higher in social care, counselling, youth and community work or related discipline;
• Experience in child mental health.

Personal Attributes:

• High level of self‑awareness and commitment to both personal and professional development;
• A compassionate and flexible approach to tasks undertaken whilst ensuring compliance with the organisation’s standards;
• Team player;
• Be confident, driven and demonstrate a mature and calm approach;
• Motivation;
• Full driving licence and access to a vehicle;
• Willingness to work flexible hours including occasional evening and weekend work.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£30,000 - £32,500 (FTE) depending on experience.