Lifelong Links Coordinator

Job title: Lifelong Links Coordinator
Salary: £39,481 progressing to £43,149 per annum
Location: Hertfordshire
Hours: 37
Contract: Secondment or Fixed Term to 31st March 2028
Directorate: Childrens Services

About the team

Lifelong Links has been described as a mix of the television programmes “Who do you think you are?” and “Long Lost Families”. Hertfordshire’s Lifelong Links service has been supporting our Looked After children and young people to reconnect with important people since 2017. This could be family and people they already know, those they haven't seen for a while, or relatives they've never met. It could also be a teacher, football coach or former foster carers. Lifelong Links can help a child to develop supportive, stable relationships during and after their time in care providing them with stability, security and a sense of belonging.

Lifelong Links is an evidenced based programme, developed by the Family Rights Group. Independent evaluations of the Lifelong Links approach have found positive outcomes for children and young who have participated in Lifelong Links such as improved mental health and wellbeing, improved sense of identity, improved stability in their foster or residential home and a reduced risk of homelessness when they leave care.

Hertfordshire’s Lifelong Links Service sits within the Family Group Conferencing Service.

About the role

Lifelong Links Coordinators will work with Looked After children and young people who have been referred to the Lifelong Links service by the Children Looked After, 0-25 and Separated Migrant Children’s Teams.

Lifelong Links is child led. The role involves working directly with children and young people using tools such as mobility mapping, genograms and timelines to help them identify people who are important to them. The Lifelong Links Coordinator will have searched for these people with the aim of bringing them together with the child or young person at a Celebration Event to make a Lifelong Links Family Plan aimed at supporting the child or young person’s ongoing relationships with these important people.

About you

Essential:

• Knowledge of child protection/safeguarding procedures.
• A commitment to anti-discriminatory practices in employment and service provision.
• Experience of undertaking direct work with children and young people.
• High level of computer literacy.
• Commitment to embedding innovative ways of working.
• Excellent communication, listening, liaison and negotiation skills.
• Ability to work flexible hours in line with the needs of the children and young people and their networks. This will include some evenings and some weekends.
• Driving licence and access to a car for work purposed. This is an essential car user post and you must be insured for business use.
• Willingness to travel outside of Hertfordshire; children and young people may live in foster and residential homes out of county. Family members and others may live outside of Hertfordshire.

Desirable:

• To have delivered the Lifelong Links process as part of the wider delivery of Children and Young People's Services.
• To have worked independently and within agreed time constraints.
• Experience of working with a child-led approach.
• Experience of working in a trauma-informed way.
• Experience and knowledge of working with cared for children and young people living in foster and residential homes.
• Using initiative and a proactive approach to progress and achieve a child or young person’s stated aims.
• To have had experience in working in a partnership with other professionals.

We are looking for passionate and committed individuals to join our dedicated Lifelong Links team and help make a lasting difference to the lives of children and young people in care. If you do not already hold a Lifelong Links qualification, we'll support your development through relevant training and learning opportunities.

As a Lifelong Links Coordinator, you'll build trusted relationships with children, young people, families and wider support networks to help create lifelong connections that promote stability, identity and belonging. We're seeking organised, resilient and motivated individuals who share our belief that every child should have positive, lasting relationships they can depend on throughout their lives.

For an informal conversation please contact, Hayley.Brockwitz@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Interview date: 4th and 5th November (in person)

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is Level 10. Please locate the job profile here:

Job profiles - Health and social care

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Secondment
This role is open to secondments for eligible employees who work for HCC. If you wish to apply on a secondment basis, you must have your line manager’s approval before submitting your application. You will be asked to confirm this within your application form. If you are not eligible for a secondment (e.g., you are currently on a fixed‑term contract that would end before this positions ends) or you indicate that your manager cannot support a secondment, your application will be considered on a fixed‑term contract basis instead.

Additional information

We are changing
Hertfordshire County Councilis undergoing Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). If you are employed by Hertfordshire County on 1 April 2028, it is expected that most roles will transfer to the newly-created unitary councils on existing terms and conditions under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings – Protection of Employment) principles.

LGR is one of the biggest changes we will face in a generation. It will reshape how we work and how services are organised and gives us a real opportunity to build something better. To find out more, visit https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.