Family Connector

About the role

About the role
:
All families have strengths and Family Connectors play an important role in finding positive supporters for children so we are looking for someone who shares our passion for ensuring that children and their families are always involved in planning for care and protection where it is safe to do so.

Family Connectors have the responsibility of searching for family members, fictive kin or natural support for children and young people referred by social care practitioners. It is a neutral role and the Family Connector will use a range of tools and techniques to locate and engage relatives of children and young people to the greatest possible extent. This could include indirect methods such as deep file searches, using social media and genealogy tools to complete a family tree through to direct methods such as DNA testing, mobility mapping and interviewing family in order to ensure that no stone is left unturned.

The information found will be collated and shared with the referring practitioner so that they can, where appropriate, involve them in future planning and decision making.

The goals are to:

• Promote safe, stable and healing connections for children and young people, preventing unnecessary family separation.
• Support children and young people in developing a healthy sense of identity and provide family members with the opportunity to meet the needs within a family system
• Promote a timely and permanent exit from formal care systems for children who have to live away from family
• Enhance family led decision making such as family meetings, Family Group Conferences and Lifelong Links

We have been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted, following a 2023 inspection. This is a fantastic achievement for Birmingham Children's Trust, with many positive highlights focusing on areas including the quality of staff leadership, partnership working, safeguarding and corporate parenting.

This is a hybrid role based in Birmingham so you must reside within a suitable commutable distance around Birmingham and have the correct right-to-work documents to work in the UK. Sadly, we do not support those who require sponsorship.

About you:

If you have always fancied yourself as a budding detective and feel you’ve got the skills that it takes to track people down then this will be an exciting opportunity for you. You will need:

• Experience of working directly with kindness, sensitivity and empathy with families in crisis. A level 3 qualification in Family Support or similar, along with proven experience of working in the community and family homes is required
• Excellent research and investigative skills and an ability to work efficiently and accurately with a range of tools such as family history data bases, social media and other data sources including online and paper based records.
• Keen interest in the field of genealogy and experience of completing genograms and ecomaps
• Ability to work collaboratively within a team with strong communication skills
• Ability to use your initiative in order to organise work and manage deadlines effectively

In addition, the successful candidate will:

• Have a working knowledge of child protection practice and child care legislation and understanding of the role of other agencies / professionals who work with children and families.
• Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing with a good level of computer literacy.
• Willingness to work flexible hours including some evenings and weekends and to be able to travel across a wide geographical area in a timely and flexible manner at various times of the day.
• Demonstrate a willingness to attend relevant training courses to improve job skills and to meet business objectives. Continuing professional development and participate in on the job training as required.
• An Enhanced DBS will be required for the role

Help us to change children and young people’s lives!

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of over 10,000 children and young people in our city every day. Our mission is to support the most disadvantaged children and young people in Birmingham, ensuring they are safe,…