Job Details

You will be working closely with the Service Manager, Coordinator and Medway Children’s Services to provide a safe, happy and positive experience for families, children and young people who have been referred to the service. You will provide Supervised Family Time for those referred to the service by their Social Workers and will provide a safe and welcoming environment where families are able to build trusting relationships and where appropriate receive support, advice and guidance.

Main Responsibilities:

• To support the delivery of safe and effective supervised Family Time sessions.

• To promote and maintain Family Time arrangements that are agreed between all parties, including respecting the wishes of children and young people.

• To ensure you have an understanding of, and comply with, Family Action’s procedures for promoting and safeguarding the welfare and safety of children and vulnerable adults, undertaking risk assessments before each session ensuring that the risks identified by Social Workers are mitigated.

• To ensure that all supervised Family Time sessions are managed to ensure as positive experience for the children and young people as possible.

• To recognise any risks of harm and intervene appropriately to de-escalate the risks or bring in additional support as required to safeguard the children.

• To keep records of your work using Family Action systems, adhere to confidentiality, information sharing protocols and risk assessment processes.

We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in all that we do and welcome applications from all sections of the community. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQIA+ candidates and candidates with disabilities because we are committed to increasing the representation of these groups at Family Action. 

We know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for families and children and strive for our workforce to be truly representative of the diverse communities we support. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants and will reimburse your travel cost if you attend an interview.

Main Requirements (for details check the job description and person specification):

• Educated to level two or above (or working towards) with experience of or a recognised professional qualification in social work, health, education, early years, youth work or equivalent, and evidence of a commitment to continuing learning and professional development.

• The ability to work with families in conflict and the importance of remaining impartial, objective and focused on the needs of the child or children at all times.

• Understanding of child development, attachment and appropriate parenting approaches.

• The ability to demonstrate an understanding of safe working practices, risk assessment and risk management.

• Excellent verbal, listening and written skills, including basic IT skills.

• Good planning and excellent report writing and record keeping skills. Experience of and ability to use MS Office applications and electronic recording systems.

• The ability to priorities and organise workload effectively including the timely completion and submission of case records and reports.

• Understanding of the needs of families and individuals, and of the impact of disadvantage and social exclusion and a commitment to and willingness to promote inclusion and equality of opportunity for all.

• Ability to align with and support Family Action’s mission and values.

• Appointments are subject to Family Action receiving a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service – Enhanced with Children’s Barred List DBS Check.