As a Family Worker within the Fostering & Supported Lodgings Team, you will provide a range of support to children and young people in care. Your role will involve supporting children and young people to remain in their foster families as much as possible through a variety of creative interventions. You will undertake 1:1 and relationship-based work with children and young people, both in care and those leaving care. This position is flexible and will reflect a consistent approach to working with families across Children’s Services. The duties and responsibilities described below may vary depending on the specific context of the service area. What You Can Expect to Be Doing: supporting Foster Carers, Supported Lodgings Hosts, Children in Care, and Care Leavers across Dorset, including outside the county. completing statutory visits every 6 weeks and recording these promptly. liaising with the team around the children and young people to create appropriate pathways and stepping stones to independence, ensuring a young person-focused approach. preventing immediate endings for children in care and supporting Foster Carers and Supported Lodgings Hosts. providing reliable support, supervision, and undertaking reviews. You will also attend/present at the Fostering/Supported Lodgings Panel. demonstrating a passion for working with children and young people and applying excellent organisational and communication skills to meet deadlines and produce detailed written reports. ensuring safeguarding procedures are followed, escalating concerns appropriately and participating in training for Foster Carers and Supported Lodgings Hosts to promote their development. promoting the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people, regardless of their physical, emotional, or mental health needs. collaborating within a multi-professional team to support children’s thriving within kinship or mainstream families. developing meaningful relationships and working with children, young people, parents/carers, and professionals to meet overall outcomes. undertaking direct work with young people and their carers on issues such as family conflict, family breakdown, behaviour issues, risk of offending, emotional health, school attendance, neglect, and sexual exploitation. supporting children and young people with a strengths-based approach and therapeutic focus. escorting, supervising, or transporting children when required as part of planned interventions. discussing expenditure proposals with the budget holder for approval What’s in it for You: Impactful Work : Support Dorset's Foster Carers and Supported Lodgings Hosts, helping them achieve great outcomes for children and young people. Personal Growth : Contribute to making a difference in the lives of Care Leavers and Children in Care, helping them transition into adulthood and beyond. Team Support : Be part of a team that values partnership working, creativity, and passion. Service Development : Help shape the service, introducing new ideas and approaches to exciting changes being implemented. Reflective Supervision : Receive monthly, reflective supervision to develop your skills and support your personal growth. Therapeutic Approach : Support foster carers and hosts to maintain a therapeutic approach to care. Training and Development : Access dynamic training opportunities, including a comprehensive induction programme. 1:1 Support : Receive guidance and support from advanced practitioners in the team. Wellbeing Support : Benefit from Dorset's staff wellbeing service. Career Progression : Enjoy opportunities for career development and progression within Dorset Council. Context of Work: keep children and young people at the heart of our support to foster carers, staying put, and supported lodgings providers. work as part of a team to provide high-quality, loving homes for children in care, those on short breaks/respite, and those needing supported accommodation. assess and support Kinship family arrangements. support carers to be resilient, developing a supportive network within the fostering community. provide carers with an appropriate balance of support, challenge, and reflection. be creative in ensuring that children and young people can remain placed within their communities and support networks whenever possible Further Information For further information about this role, please contact Lisa Coombs, Team Manager, on [email protected] Travel Requirement : This position has a significant travel requirement. A vehicle will be needed to carry out normal duties, and you may be required to provide a replacement vehicle if your usual vehicle is unavailable for an extended period. Hybrid Working : Hybrid working is appropriate, but office presence is required at least once per week to enhance collaborative working and partnership with colleagues. This is a full time role at 37 hours per week. 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 and/or 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. See our adult safeguarding policy. About Us Dorset Council: A great place to work We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception. At Dorset Council we: provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents have ambitious aspirations are excited about our future care about Dorset and all the people who live here know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success You will: have access to a range of employee benefits be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role. We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments. We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process. If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn. This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant. Find out more about how to apply .