Family Support Worker

We are seeking to recruit a Family Support Worker to join our award-winning Specialist Support Service

The successful applicant will deliver high quality family support interventions with Children and Families who are currently open to statutory Social Care Teams.

The successful applicant must demonstrate experience of working with vulnerable and complex children and families and working in partnership with a wide range of professionals. A significant part of this role is to develop strong relationships with families in order to provide support in relation to health, wellbeing and social development to assist them in meeting the needs of their children. You will be providing interventions and support in line with the children's social work plan. You must have good communication skills, both verbal and written, and be able to make detailed recordings, work well with children, families and other agencies while being accountable for the work you do.

You must have knowledge of child development and the Children's Act in addition to child protection policies and procedures.

The role will include providing transportation and supervision to ensure children benefit from safe, quality family time with family members at times when they must live apart therefore you must hold a current driving licence and access to a car or means to mobility support.

The successful applicant will hold a relevant qualification at NVQ level 3 or above, demonstrate an understanding of child safeguarding and be able to identify and manage risk.

It is essential that the postholder demonstrates good written and verbal communication skills and be able to write reports which provide analytical interpretation of observations and interventions undertaken to contribute to achieving the best outcomes for the child and family. This is a busy team within Children's Social Care, you will need to be flexible and adaptable to meet the demands of the service.

At Gateshead our vision is that all children and families, regardless of their background, are at the heart of everything we do - ensuring all children can thrive and meet their full potential.

Our plans for 2024 reflect this vision and ambition! We will have an even greater focus on embedding trauma informed approaches, and inclusive practice, across all of our services as we believe that this delivers the best outcomes for children and young people. We are committed to continuing to develop services which are integrated and joined up through our family hubs and that we maintain our focus on supporting the most vulnerable children on the edge of care to support them to remain safely living within their family networks.

In 2023 we were recognised nationally for the great work we are doing. Our Kinship team won the CYPS award for the team making the biggest impact, our Social Work Academy received a commendation and came second in the CYPS biggest impact award, and one of our NQSW was shortlisted in the best newcomer award.

We also won the Gold award for 'Digital Transformation in Social Work Award' based on the Digital Me films that were made by young people in both the Domestic abuse and Youth justice services. These really are excellent and are a testament to our young people and the teams who work with them and support them.

Plus, two of our foster carers won the CYPS foster carer award supported by their Fostering Social Work Practitioner.

During 2023 we were also successful in bidding for and achieving a number of grants to develop new services for children and young people which includes piloting the new national DFE Family Network pilot; Turnaround funding to support young people at risk of entering the criminal justice system; and the Family Links programme for children in care.

Do you want to come and be part of our award winning, ambitious and innovative teams ?

A stable senior leadership team that listens and cares about you and your work
A culture which takes pride in and actively celebrates social work.
Excellent opportunities for career progression, whether you are a newly qualified social worker completing your assessment and supported year in employment with the support of our Social Work Academy, or a more experienced social worker looking to broaden your experience in order to step into management with the support of our Management and Leadership Programme
Your base in the same building as all social work teams, allowing support not just from your allocated team but all services.
Hybrid working - both working from the office base and home working
A protected time employee induction scheme.

Also as an employee of Gateshead Council you will benefit from:

A generous annual leave package of 28 days (2 of which are fixed), increasing to 30 days (plus 2 fixed) following 5 years' service. You will also have the opportunity to purchase up to 10 days extra leave via our Annual Leave Salary Sacrifice Scheme.
Access to the flexi scheme which allows for working a 9 days over 10
Excellent training and development opportunities
Great transport links with the use of reliable and frequent public transport and have access to a discounted Annual Pass. You will also have use of Co-wheel pool cars and access to the Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme
Being a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
Eligibility to access a range of other staff offers and discounts via our employee discount portal.

During the selection process candidates will be assessed against the essential criteria as set out in the job profile.

For further information regarding what Gateshead can offer you please log onto Careers in children's social work - Gateshead Council