Job Information
Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us
Supervised Contact Worker
This exciting new opportunity will be based within our Supervised Contact Service which provides a safe environment for children to have supervised contact with their parents and other family members. Promoting contact for children at risk who are undergoing assessment within a statutory team and children looked after. Section 34, of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on local authorities to promote contact between any children looked after and their parents, relatives and friends, where this is consistent with the child’s welfare and safety.
You will be required to work flexibly across the portfolio of buildings and in the community as the service develops and travel within these areas and attend meetings across both boroughs and beyond. You will work on a rota basis that will include evening and weekend work to meet the needs of the service.
About the role
As a Supervised Contact Worker, you will:
1. Provide a high quality focused and safe contact service for children and their families/carers to pursue the best possible outcomes for children and young people in relation to contact arrangements and life story work.
2. Safeguard and promote the welfare of the young people.
3. Participate in the provision of contact to a range of children/young people and their families/carers, ensuring that the intervention is appropriate to the identified need, the goals are clear, outcomes identified, and that the service is provided within the time frames agreed.
4. Maintain a high level of communication with children/young people and carers and to consult in planning, delivery, and review of contact. Prepare and present reports and records as required, and represent the Contact Service view in relating to your work and observations of the child and family.
For further information about this role, please contact Helen McNally by email for an informal discussion.
About you
The successful candidate will:
5. Hold a professional qualification in a relevant discipline (e.g. family support, education, social care, youth work, early years.) or be able to demonstrate substantial experience.
6. Proven and well-developed skills of working in partnership with parents and carers delivering parenting interventions through group work and individual sessions.
7. Experience and knowledge in contact, attachment, and strength-based parenting and accurate record-keeping in a supervised contact context
8. Well established verbal and written communication skills, a high standard of ICT literacy; and experience of keeping and maintaining records and case record management systems.
9. Experienced in undertaking written or dynamic risk assessments, adhering to health and safety and making decisions related to risk to ensure the safety and wellbeing of young people, parents and workers.
10. A passion for Achieving for Children’s vision, mission and values (trust, empower, respect) to support children and young people to live safe, happy, healthy and successful lives.
About our benefits
We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:
11. 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month(Or for term term workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract.)
12. Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
13. Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
14. Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
15. A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
16. A range of staff benefits and discounts
17. An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway
To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children. For our social work offer .
Important Information
Start dates: Achieving for Children have meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.
Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the for right to work guidance.
Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.
Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
For more information about AfC: Drop in and meet Regina on the first Wednesday of every month at Civic Centre, Twickenham.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.