Are you passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and families? Do you have the skills to engage, empower, and support families to create lasting, positive change? If so, this could be the role for you.
About the Service
Southwark’s Family Early Help Service is dedicated to providing early intervention and support to families facing challenges, ensuring that children and young people thrive in safe, nurturing environments. We take a whole-family approach, working closely with schools, health services, social care, and voluntary organisations to prevent issues from escalating and to improve outcomes for children and families across the borough.
We are proud to be part of Southwark’s Children’s and Adult’s Services, which has a strong commitment to delivering high-quality, evidence-based support. Our mission is to empower families, strengthen communities, and create lasting change.
About the Role
As a Family Early Help Practitioner, you will play a vital role in supporting families where children have been identified as at risk of poor outcomes. Your work will focus on early intervention, preventing the need for statutory intervention by providing tailored support to families facing challenges such as poor school attendance, mental health issues, substance misuse, domestic abuse, and financial difficulties.
Key responsibilities include:
* Acting as a lead professional, working directly with children and families to assess their needs and develop whole-family support plans.
* Engaging families in recognising the need for change and working collaboratively to achieve sustainable improvements in their lives.
* Providing evidence-based interventions and support through one-to-one sessions, family work, and group-based activities.
* Coordinating Team Around the Family meetings, bringing together professionals from different services to deliver the best possible support.
* Supporting families who have stepped down from statutory services, ensuring continued progress and preventing re-escalation.
* Promoting school attendance, working with parents and schools to tackle persistent absenteeism and prevent exclusions.
This role requires flexibility, as you will be expected to provide outreach support across the borough, sometimes outside of standard office hours, to meet the needs of families.
About You
We are looking for a dedicated professional with a strong background in working with children and families. You will be able to build trusting relationships, work collaboratively with multiple agencies, and apply a high challenge, high support approach to drive meaningful change.
To be successful in this role, you will have:
* A recognised qualification at Level 4 or above in a relevant field (such as social work, education, youth work, or psychology).
* Experience of direct work with children and families, particularly in an early help or intervention setting.
* Knowledge of child development, safeguarding, and risk factors affecting families.
* Strong assessment and case management skills, including experience in creating and reviewing family support plans.
* Excellent communication skills, with the ability to produce high-quality reports and coordinate multi-agency meetings.
* A flexible approach, with the ability to work evenings and occasional weekends to meet the needs of families.
Why Join Us?
Southwark Council is committed to creating a fairer and more equal borough, where every child has the opportunity to thrive. As part of our team, you will benefit from:
* A supportive and collaborative work environment, with regular supervision and professional development opportunities.
* The opportunity to innovate and contribute to shaping early help services.
* Competitive salary and benefits, including a generous pension scheme and flexible working options.
Join us in making a lasting impact on the lives of children and families in Southwark.
How to Apply
If you are ready for the challenge and want to be part of a high-performing, passionate team, we would love to hear from you.
Apply now and help us build a brighter future for families in Southwark.
This post requires a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) DBS check at Enhanced level.
Recruitment timetable
Advert close: 21st March
Interview date: 7th April
As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:
• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition
We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.
Salary Range (Full time equivalent) £41,580 - £47,628
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