Family Support Worker - Family Help West

About the job

Salary: £33,143 – £36,363 a year
Hours per week: 37
Contract type: Permanent

As a Family Support Worker within the Family Help West team, you will work directly with children, young people and their families to complete assessments and develop outcome-focused Family Support Plans. You will undertake regular direct work with families in the community and in service users’ homes, managing risk appropriately and responding flexibly to changing needs.

You will co-produce and co-deliver support alongside families and partner agencies through a multi-agency approach, working within agreed frameworks and plans. The role involves designing and delivering targeted interventions to support families with a range of needs, including parenting skills, self-confidence, managing challenging behaviour, parental mental health and child development. You will also develop expertise in an agreed specialist area of family support.

A key responsibility will be to ensure that the voice of the child is heard, valued and reflected in all assessments, plans and interventions. You will organise, chair and contribute to meetings, acting as Lead Professional where appropriate to coordinate and deliver effective support for adults and children who require skilled intervention to prevent escalation or deterioration in their personal or social wellbeing.

You will support the delivery of targeted individual and group programmes, such as Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities and evidence-based parenting programmes. You will work closely with statutory and voluntary sector partners across both adult and children’s services, meeting regularly to monitor progress and review outcomes for families.

You will monitor and evaluate the impact of interventions, assessing how family resilience is developing and how parental capacity to provide safe, consistent and effective care is being strengthened. You will ensure the health, safety and safeguarding of children, young people and staff at all times, in line with the Council’s Safeguarding Policy.

In addition, you will support managers within the Family Wellbeing Service in the delivery of operational objectives, service plans and performance targets, contributing to continuous improvement and positive outcomes for families across Luton.

Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.

About you

You will have demonstrable experience of working with children, young people and families within a social care, education or health setting. You will be able to work effectively in partnership with professionals from your own and other agencies, and engage positively with mothers, fathers, carers, children and young people to agree, plan and carry out purposeful interventions.

You will be skilled in analysing and assessing needs in collaboration with families and in producing clear, concise and accurate plans, targets and reports that focus on the wellbeing and protection of children. You will be able to organise your workload effectively, manage competing priorities and work on your own initiative while maintaining appropriate oversight and accountability.

With guidance, you will be able to participate in decision-making where child protection and family support considerations are paramount. You will demonstrate a sound understanding of the impact of discrimination on individuals and service delivery, alongside a clear awareness of how deprivation, abuse and adverse experiences can affect children’s development and wellbeing. You will also have demonstrable knowledge of child and human development.

You will have undertaken relevant training related to working with children and families and hold an NVQ Level 3 in Child Care or an equivalent qualification. You will be flexible and adaptable, with the ability to work evenings and weekends when required, and travel effectively within the borough and to other locations on a daily basis.

You will be able to communicate confidently and sensitively with members of the public, providing effective support, guidance and advice in clear, accurate and fluent spoken English.

About us

Our ambitiousLuton 2040 Vision– that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty – is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council – and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?

We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough

Application Process

Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person’s criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.

On occasions, we may close a vacancy early due to a very high number of applications being received.

Benefits

We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

- From 25 to 32 days’ annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
- Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
- Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
- Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant
- Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
- Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
- Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
- Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
- Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
- Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel

How to apply

We understand that job applications take time and effort, but a high-quality application shows that you are professional with a good attention to detail. The recruiting manager may receive a number of applications for each job advertised so you want yours to stand out!

Our ‘How to apply' page has more tips to help with your application: How to apply

Available documents

Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.

• download: PREF104651 202508 L6 Family Support Worker Family Help.docx
• download: Luton_Values_Flyer.pdf