Dorset Council
Family Worker - Fostering
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Family Worker within the Fostering Service
As a Family Worker within the Fostering Service you will provide a range of support to children and young people in care and under Special Guardianship. You will support children and young people to remain in their fostering and Special Guardian families as much as possible through a range of creative interventions. You will undertake 1:1 and relationship based work with children and young people.
This is an exciting role, with additional training provided including Life Story Work, therapeutic parenting and trauma informed support for children and young people.
This role will also include focusing on family finding and thoughtful matching for Children who are moving homes.
The post will be flexible and reflect a consistent approach to working with families across Children’s Services. For this reason the list of job duties and responsibilities described below will depend upon which context the service area is responsible for and should be read as such.
What You Can Expect To Be Doing
- We are looking for a dedicated and dependable Family Worker with a history of working with children and young people
- The successful applicant will be supporting Foster Carers, Special Guardians, Children in Care, children under Special Guardianship and Care Leavers across Dorset, including outside of the County
- You will have a caseload of young people and carers allocated to you, who you will be required to support, as well as a focus on family finding
- You will be liaising closely with the team around the children and young people to create the most appropriate pathway, stepping stone to independence for young people, whilst making sure that 'positive endings' and their move on is young person focused
- You will be preventing immediate home endings for children in care, care leavers and children under Special Guardianship within their homes
- You will provide reliable support to foster carers, Special Guardians and children, this includes Children in Care, and occasionally birth children of foster carers
- It is important that you have a passion for children and young people, excellent organisational skills, be able to meet deadlines, have excellent communication skills and the ability to analyse situations accurately and produce detailed written reports
- This role will include safeguarding our children and young people
- You will promote the need to keep all children and young people, regardless of their ability, physical and or emotional/ mental health needs safe from harm
- You will ensure that all safeguarding concerns are escalated appropriately through the relevant designated manager
- You will positively contribute to and deliver within a multi professional team setting in supporting and enabling children to thrive within their kinship, or mainstream, families
- You will develop meaningful relationships and work with children and young people, parents/carers and a range of professional to meet the overall outcomes for children, young people and their families
- You will undertake direct work with young people and their carers to address a range of issues such as family conflict, family breakdown and behaviour issues in their home
- You will support children and young people in a strength-based approach with a therapeutic and trauma informed lens
- You may be required to escort, supervise or transport children when required as part of planned support
- You will be required to support with duty matters
- You will discuss any proposals for expenditure in order to seek agreement by the budget holder
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What’s In It For You
- As a Family Worker you will be able to support Dorset's Foster Carers and Special Guardians and help them achieve great outcomes for the children and young people they care for
- You will be well supported by the Fostering Team and feel a strong team ethos of partnership working, passion and creativity
- You will have the opportunity to support the Team Manager in shaping the service to promote positive outcomes for children
- You will receive monthly, reflective supervision to develop your skills to be able to support our carers to have a therapeutic approach to the young people that they are caring for
- You will have access to full and dynamic training opportunities, and an induction programme
- You will have access to 1:1 support from advanced practitioners in the team
- You will have access to Dorset's staff wellbeing service
- You will be supported with your career progression in Dorset Council
Context Of Work
- To keep children and young people at the heart of our support
- To work as part of a team to provide a range of high-quality loving homes for children in care and Special Guardianship arrangements
- To support carers to be resilient, developing a supportive network within the fostering community
- To provide carers with an appropriate balance of support and challenge and reflection
- To be creative in ensuring that children and young people can remain living within their communities and support networks where possible
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Further Information
- Hybrid working is appropriate but office presence is required at least once per week to enhance collaborative working and colleague partnership.
- If more information about this role is needed, please contact Catherine Moore, Kinship Support Team Manager, Fostering Service at [email protected]
- This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.
This Post Involves
- working with children
- working with vulnerable adults
- and/or having access to significant information about them
It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.
See our policy on safeguarding children and young people.
About Us
At Dorset Council, it's not just about the work we do, it's about how we do it. Hear directly from our employees about what makes Dorset Council special in this short video:
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At Dorset Council, we are working together to create a fairer, more prosperous, and more sustainable Dorset for everyone, now and in the future.
We
- provide essential services that support over 300,000 residents
- work in partnership to make a real difference
- value every role and the impact it has on our communities
- support our employees to grow, develop, and thrive
You Will
- be part of a team that works together for a better Dorset
- have access to a range of benefits and support
- receive training and development opportunities to help your career progress
We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation where different skills, perspectives, and backgrounds strengthen both our council and the communities we serve.
We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. If you declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role, we will offer you an interview. We also want our recruitment process to be accessible, if you need any reasonable adjustments, just let us know on your application.
This role is UK-based, and we will need to confirm your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. We use generic job descriptions and person specifications, so the job title in any attachments may differ from the advert. If needed, we will provide additional details in a context statement.
If you’re passionate about making a difference, we’d love you to join us.
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