Family Worker - Family Help

This is a wonderful opportunity to join our North Locality Family Help Team. We are looking for a Grade 8 Family Worker to join the team on a permanent basis. You will be joining an established, cheerful, highly motivated, and skilled team of Family Workers working across the North Dorset area. The team have a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience but are always open to learning from others. We work closely with our social care colleagues, schools, education settings, health, and other agencies to support the families we work alongside. If successful, you will be working with a highly experienced team to support the development of our new Family Help offer.

We need an enthusiastic, energetic individual to join the existing team as a Family Worker. You will be supporting the work of the whole team,  including direct work with children and their families; creating, supporting, and contributing to multi-agency plans and interventions to improve outcomes and life chances for children and young people in Dorset.

What you will be doing
This role will be responsible for the delivery of support to children, young people and families in localities, taking a whole family approach.

At Grade 8 the post holder will:

• undertake 1:1 group and family work
• deliver direct work with children, young people, parents and families in the family home and other community locations
• convene and attend Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings and reviews
• use relevant case management systems, databases and business intelligence tools as directed by the team manager
• provide information, advice and guidance to children, young people and families
• co-work cases with other professionals including social workers. Case hold some Child in Need cases.
• assess parenting skills and help to build physical and emotional caring abilities through a range of practical activities.
• deliver parenting and behaviour management support to children and families
• keep up to date with knowledge of local service provision
• coach, mentor and motivate families to make and sustain change
• support families during crisis situations
• support schools in the local area by being their link worker between early help and schools.

About you

• you will have experience of working with and supporting children and or families
• you will be dedicated to improving outcomes for Dorset's children and young people
• you will be self-motivated, enthusiastic and used to working in a fast paced environment
• you will demonstrated and role model Responsibility, Respect, Recognition and Collaboration, in line with Dorset's behaviours and values
• you will be able to work as part of a team and use your own initiative.

(Blandford/Sturminster Newton or Shaftesbury based and essential to hold a driving licence and have access to a car)

This is a part time at 24 hours per week.

This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.

See our policy on safeguarding children and young people.

See our adult safeguarding policy.

We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
• have ambitious aspirations
• are excited about our future
• care about Dorset and all the people who live here
• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success

You will:

• have access to a range of employee benefits 
• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation.

We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

Find out more about how to apply.