Family Support Worker - Emergency Duty Team

An exciting opportunity has opened in the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) based at the Criminal Justice Centre.

We are looking to recruit a Family Support Worker to be part of the team who responds to out of hours statutory emergencies and other social work matter within the childcare arena.

This is a great opportunity for a person with experience of working directly with children and Families

We welcome the opportunity to speak to any interested candidates so please feel free to email:  and they can agree a mutually agreeable time to call you.

We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do.

We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:

• 28 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health pension protection.
• Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days annual leave
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits
• A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions
• Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities
• Subsidised town centre car parking scheme

You will be one of two Family Support Workers who work a set pattern over 7 days on a rota basis alongside Principal Social Workers (Advanced Practitioner level). Your responsibilities will include receiving and screening referrals alongside the PSWs, identifying those that meet the threshold of safeguarding and require an urgent response from a qualified worker. You will record all work completed in accordance with policy expectations, including those that are internal to the EDT.

You will receive out of hours referrals of children who are missing and monitor updates on their return, again with an expectation that you have the experience to identify when risks are such that a child missing needs to have oversight from a qualified worker.

The Family Support Worker may at times provide focused urgent family support to children and families with complex needs, many of whom are either on Child in Need or Child Protection Plans.

The role will be based at the Criminal Justice Centre with some remote working. The post is an essential car user thus the right candidate needs to have access to a vehicle and be able to work out of hours, weekends and public holidays. You will receive an additional 15% for out of hours working. You will be prepared to undertake an enhanced DBS check.

You will carry out a broad range of tasks deemed appropriate for the FSW grade, which will include reasonable requests to complete tasks that are not directly associated with EDT. You will have an ability to work independently but with oversight from a qualified Social Worker.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, we encourage you to submit your application as early as possible.

We are looking for people who are highly motivated and can work both independently and as part of a team.

You are passionate about making a positive difference for children and families. You thrive in a role where every day brings new challenges and opportunities to empower families and improve outcomes for children. You will be confident working directly with families in their homes and engaging with professionals from schools, health…