Families Forward - Family Practitioner

Families Forward - Family Practitioner RBKC618955

Job Summary:

Salary range: £37,575 - £41,286 per annum

Work location: London

Hours per week: 36

Contract type: Permanent

Vetting requirements: Enhanced DBS check

Closing date: 27th October 2024.

Interview date: 13th, 14th and 15th November 2024.

About Us:

Reducing risk factors and improving family relationships for children and families facing complex needs and/or family breakdown. Preventing children and young people entering the care system.

In Kensington and Chelsea, we put local people at the heart of decision-making, working in partnership with them to provide quality services that are responsive, effective and efficient. We are committed to ensuring the most vulnerable families can access the support they need, when they need it - and work hard to intervene before children need to enter care.

Families Forward is Kensington and Chelsea's edge-of-care and complex needs service. Our multi-disciplinary team works with families with complex, chronic needs, with a focus on children and young people aged 5 to 18 years. Using a whole-family approach, we support and repair family relationships, improve outcomes, reduce risk factors and to help prevent family breakdown.

The Role:

Working creatively and collaboratively with social work locality teams as well as a range of other professionals, you'll provide a highly flexible and responsive service to families with complex needs/at risk of family breakdown. At times you will be the lead professional/case holder. Your focus will be to build relationships with the families over time; you'll take an empathetic, practical, creative and proactive approach to providing support. Our primary focus is on improving family relationships and reducing risks; ultimately preventing children entering care. There is emphasis on parenting and improving family relationships, as well as one-to-one work with children and young people and family work. This role also includes being part of the therapeutic Family Activity programme, facilitating intervention through activities such as climbing, canoeing, art workshops or camping and residential, also requiring commitment to some evening and weekend work. You will also respond to complex and urgent situations as they arise.

As a local authority we are reviewing and developing our offer to adolescents. The Families Forward team is integral to this work and this role will be part of that offer.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

This role demands a pro-active, persevering, non-shaming and collaborative approaching to working with children, young people and their families. You are likely to have a background and relevant qualification in social work, family therapy, substance use, mental health, counselling or systemic practice and significant experience of working with people who have been exposed to trauma, abuse, substance misuse or mental health issues. You'll also need some experience of providing support in conjunction with statutory services such as social work, prison, probation, mental health or psychiatric setting. Sound knowledge of children's safeguarding is essential and you must be able to manage and prioritise a complex workload. Empathic and calm with excellent interpersonal and communication skills, you also possess considerable emotional resilience.

In return, you can look forward to a package that includes a competitive salary, a high-quality pension scheme, travel allowance, and generous annual leave plus bank holidays.

Please apply online explaining how you meet the requirements set out in the person specification and job description. We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

Application process

Please do not upload any documents, including CVs/Covering Letters or supporting statements, as these documents will not be reviewed and could result in your application not being shortlisted.

You should describe how you meet the person specification requirements for the position you are applying for in Section G of the application form.

Additional information:

The council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment.

We make sure all our staff are vetted to a high standard by conducting pre-employment checks to assess and assure the trustworthiness, integrity, and ability of prospective employees. This includes validating identity, right to work in the UK, qualifications (where applicable), work history (including the investigation of gaps) and referencing. They may also involve criminal record checks (UK and overseas).

We promote equality, welcome diverse applicants, and ensure inclusivity in our recruitment and selection process.

This post is covered by the Fluency Duty, as outlined in the Code of Practice on the English language requirements for public sector workers.

Information about the safeguarding of children and support for families:

Information about protecting and safeguarding yourself and others from abuse and neglect:

We do not accept speculative CVs.

If you have any queries, please contact: