Located in the heart of the Northwest close to Liverpool, Manchester and Lancashire, St Helens is a transformational Council which is passionate and ambitious for the communities we support. We provide a wide range of local authority services to the residents, businesses, schools, and visitors to the borough. We can only do this because of our highly valued, highly skilled workforce.
Working together, our workplace vision and values guide our organisation, and the contribution of our workforce is key to our culture journey. Employees with us receive a wide range of benefits including well-being in work, financial benefits, ways of working and learning and development support.
With our ILACS inspection now over and an increasingly stable workforce it’s a great time to join us!
Making a Difference as a Family Time Support Worker.
We are seeking to recruit Family Time Support Workers to an existing stable and experienced team, within the Families Staying Together Service. The service aim is to support the most vulnerable children and families in St Helens and works closely with all teams within Children’s Services, supporting those children who are a Child We Look After.
The post will be 37 hours per week, and you will be required to work on a flexible basis (including early mornings, evenings, and weekends).
The Team support children in maintaining relationships with family members where they are not able to reside with them, by supporting them within Family Time sessions.
The focus of this role is to work in partnership with families, carers and Social Work colleagues to ensure the Family Time sessions are positive and rewarding for our children and their family members. Offering support, direction and guidance within the sessions to encourage development for the families in relation to their relationships and parenting. Providing an overview and observations of the sessions to Social Workers to support the ongoing plans for the children, providing written reports of the observed and supported sessions.
The work is sometimes emotionally demanding, but always rewarding. Flexible, positive and willing to learn, you'll be capable of communicating with people from all walks of life in a wide range of situations, remaining calm in a crisis and adapting to constantly changing situations and priorities.
To be successful in this role, experience of providing services to children and/or families with complex needs is essential, along with good record-keeping skills, the ability to construct coherent reports and contribute to and complete assessments as required. Strong mediation/negotiation skills and the ability to work in an inclusive and non-discriminatory manner is a must, as is working effectively with other professionals and organisations.
NVQ Level 3 in health, education, social care, youth work or equivalent is essential.
This Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This is an exciting opportunity for you to utilise existing skills and develop new ones. You will receive continuous support, development, and career progression opportunities on your journey with us. This is a hybrid position with some home worker, however the post will require you to be based at our offices in St Helens and be able to attend the St Helens area regularly as part of your work.
Interested to Find Out More?
You can review our full job description details, and person specification information here.
For an informal discussion please contact Sue Clough Family Time Coordinator on: 01744 671242
St Helens is a great place to work so why not visit our Children’s Services web page https://socialcarerecruitment.sthelens.gov.uk/ to see what our colleagues have to say and discover our full range of in work benefits.
These posts are subject to Enhanced DBS Disclosure.
Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early should we receive a sufficient number of applications and encourage you to apply early, to avoid disappointment.
Thank you for your interest in working for us.
If you are experiencing issues with applying online, you can contact a member of the team at Recruitment@sthelens.gov.uk and a form will be sent to you to complete.
St Helens Council is a Disability Confident Employer. This means that the Council guarantees an interview to disabled applicants who demonstrate that they meet the essential criteria for the job, as detailed on the Person Specification, and will, for qualifying disabled candidates, make reasonable adjustments within the interview/selection process.
Equality & Diversity
St Helens Council respects and values the individuality that every employee brings. We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds, who share our values, our commitment to inclusion, and who will help us on our journey to transform our organisation. Further information about Equality & Diversity at St Helens Council can be found here https://www.sthelens.gov.uk/equality
St Helens Council is a Disability Confident Employer. Disability Confident Employers lead the way in helping to take action that changes attitudes, behaviours, and cultures for the better.
NOLAN Principles of Conduct in Public Life.
All Council employees are required to abide by the ethical standards embodied by the 7 Nolan Principles: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty, and Leadership.
