Job Title: Family Support Worker ECHO
Hours: 37
Salary: HC7 £29,777 - £33,945 per annum
Contract: Permanent
Closing date: 26/05/2024
The Role
An exciting opportunity has arisen for Family Group Conference Coordinators within Herefordshire Children’s services. You will be working within the ECHO team, who are an established and friendly multi-disciplinary team, including already established family group conference coordinators.
You will have experience of working with children and families and will be used to working in partnership with other agencies and are confident in facilitating family led meetings both virtually and in person.
You will liaise with social workers, families, and other professionals to arrange and facilitate Family Group Conferences (FGC). FGCs are part of a carefully managed process that leads to the vulnerable person’s extended family and friends network coming together and creating its own plan to look after them and ensure their safety.
You will have excellent communication skills to motivate and encourage vulnerable children and families who are experiencing multiple difficulties ensuring that they are inclusive partners in the decision-making process impacting on their lives now and in the future. You will empower them to find their own safe sustainable solutions and help identify extra support and resources to bring about sustainable change.
As a children’s service you will be child focussed and develop imaginative and creative ways to support children and young people to participate in their conference ensuring that their wishes and feelings are listened to and acted upon. You will need to be organised, adaptable and flexible to meet the needs of families and the service, and able to prioritise your workload.
Herefordshire is on a journey and we would like you to be part of our next chapter. This is an exciting opportunity to have a genuine impact on the local authority and help improve and protect the children and young people within it.
What you'll need:
- Evidence of Family Group Conference training or willingness to participate in training.
- Level 4 caring for children and young people, or equivalent qualification.
- Direct experience of working with vulnerable, complex, and hard to reach children/young people and their families.
- Experience of multi-agency working.
- Excellent organisational skills.
- Knowledge and experience of implementing evidence based models of practice to identify concerns, aimed at supporting and maintaining family functioning and stability.
- Sound knowledge and experience recognising signs and symptoms of child protection/ safeguarding matters in accordance with policy, procedure, and good practice guidelines.
- Ability to work as part of a team.
- Competent IT computer and keyboard skills.
- Ability to use good verbal, written and listening skills.
Benefits of working for Herefordshire Council:
A competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme, which includes:
- Pension Scheme Enrolment in the Local Government (LGPS)
- Generous Annual Leave: 31 days (pro rata) plus bank holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per annum
- Flexible working: flexi-time, job-share, part-time hours and, in some instances, home working
- Employee Assistance Programme: 24/7 access to support and counselling
- Payment of professional membership fees
- Pick your perks – our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday and health benefits. This includes savings, cash back and discounts.
For further information or an informal discussion please contact Katleen Vanderstraete, ECHO Team Manager Tel. 01432 383219 or kvanderstraete@herefordshire.gov.uk
“For more information about working with us, our vision for Children & Young People, employee benefits and career pathways, please visit: www.spiritofherefordshire.com.”
About Us
Herefordshire is a beautiful, historic county located in the heart of the Marches on the border with Wales. We are one of the most rural and sparsely populated counties in England with a wealth of unspoilt countryside, distinctive heritage, and lively and attractive market towns.
Our priority in Herefordshire is to keep children safe and give them a great start in life. It’s the priority for the council, our partners and for all of us who work with Children & Young People.
How do we do this? By having dynamic, dedicated, passionate and professional staff who work in a culture that focuses on what we can achieve with children, what they can achieve themselves, and the relationship we build with families and partners to enable this. We have invested heavily in training and developing staff in our relational practice approach with our improvement partner Leeds City Council, so it's an exciting time to join Herefordshire – we believe in investing in you so you can be the best you can be!
Herefordshire has a really strong team ethos. Our teams are passionate about the work they do and the positive difference they and the teams they are in make to people’s lives. This is all underpinned by the focus and support from their managers and the council as a whole.
We will deliver better support to our most vulnerable children and their families, develop stronger relationships with partners across the region, and beyond.
Therefore, we take our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults seriously and expect all of our staff, visitors and volunteers to share in this commitment.
Come to Herefordshire and join the journey.
Herefordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children & young people and vulnerable adults. If you are offered this position, it will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced check and further pre-employment checks.
We welcome applicants whatever their personal characteristics or social identity. All requests for flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments will be considered.
The following candidates will be interviewed if they meet the essential criteria for the post they are applying for:
- Those who indicate that they have a disability. This is part of our commitment to the “Disability Confident” scheme;
- Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they are an Armed Forces Veteran or Reservist. This is part of our pledge to support the Armed Forces Covenant; and
- Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they are a Herefordshire care leaver. This is part of our commitment to supporting young people leaving our care.
Please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification for more details of this role.
To apply, please submit your CV and complete the supporting statement within the application form, referring to the job description & person specification, detailing how you meet the specific requirements of the role.