Family Support Worker

Early help arrangements are impressive. Support provided by local authority staff is well co‑ordinated, with the services available from a broad range of partner agencies to meet the needs of children through a whole‑family approach. The interface between early help and statutory work is managed well and children and families lives improve tangibly as a result of early help intervention. Most children’s needs are addressed at the earliest stage, helping to ensure that needs and risks do not escape to the point that children require statutory intervention.

Ofsted, July 2024

The Family Help team is a new multi‑disciplinary service which supports children, young people and families whose needs cannot be met by universal services alone. It brings together different types of help into one service, so families don’t have to keep repeating their story to several workers.

Family Help Family Workers work as part of multi‑disciplinary teams where children, young people and their families need coordinated support. Family Help Family Workers work under the direction of a Team Manager and hold case responsibility for undertaking direct work with children and young people aged 0 to 12 years and their parents/carers.

Family workers work closely with partner agencies such as health, education and the Police, as well as specialist services to ensure that children and families can thrive. Work is completed in family homes, Family Hubs, schools and in the community.

Family Help Family Workers are expected to attain and utilise a range of evidence‑based approaches and intervention skills drawn from the core curriculum such as Signs of Safety, Motivational Interviewing, the Family Partnership Model and use a solution‑focused, goal‑oriented approach to their work.

Family Help Family Workers devise Family Help Plans, undertake Section 17 family assessments, undertake direct work with children, may be required to contribute to a range of social work‑led support, and carry out reviews of progress against agreed outcomes using the Family Help Plan.

You will have at least 3 years’ experience of working with children and young people and have a relevant level 6 qualification. You will have an excellent understanding of the needs of children, young people and their families and recognise that parents are the experts in their own children. You will have an excellent track record of improving outcomes for children.

You will be committed to multi‑agency work and take a strengths‑based approach to your work with families to develop resilience and reduce dependency.

You will understand the function of statutory services and relevant agencies. You will recognise the importance of working flexibly to include all members of the family and their support network and understand the dynamics of successful partnerships/relationships to enable change.

This is a public/customer‑facing role, where the statutory English language requirement for public sector workers applies.

This position will be subject to an enhanced criminal record disclosure check.

This is a fixed‑term Full‑Time Post – Monday – Thursday 08:45‑17:15 Friday 08:45‑16:45, until 30th June 2027 to cover 2 periods of maternity leave.

Compressed Hours will be considered after successful completion of probation.

A degree or equivalent in Health & Social Care or education or similar. Experience of working with children and families in a supportive role.

Cornwall Council’s ambition is to be an employer of choice, a high‑performing Council and a learning organisation. We commit to providing a reward and benefits package to attract, motivate and reward our employees. We offer a range of flexible working options to our staff. This helps provide our employees with a greater work/life balance whilst still ensuring that service needs are met.

Our core employee rewards and benefits include:

• a competitive salary.
• a defined benefit pension scheme, based on your career average earnings. This includes the option for extra voluntary contributions
• a generous annual leave entitlement with the potential to…