Family Support Worker (Project Worker 2)

Family Support Worker (18351)

We have an exciting opportunity here at Barnardo's for experienced, enthusiastic and assertive Family Support Workers to join a brand-new team who will deliver the In Reach Hospital Emergency Department Family Support Programme.

The role is full time , 37 hours per week, permanent fixed term funded until March 2025 and will be based at the Lincoln County Hospital, Greetwell Road, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN2 5QY

Successful candidates will work in partnership with the clinical team to facilitate discharge of children aged 0-12 years from the Emergency Department where the clinical presentation is not acute and can be managed at home by local services.

“This role requires workers to have experience of holistic ways of working with families and young people. Including assessment, support, signposting and making referrals to appropriate services where needed. The successful applicant will be able to work as part of a team as well as on their own initiative and manage the pressures of working in both a busy emergency department and the community”

Some but not all of the key responsibilities are:

• Initial face-to face conversation or triage call to identify presenting issues and the level of intervention required.
• Delivering support flexibly and tailored to the needs of the family unit including telephone, virtual and face-to-face support and home visits where necessary. Contact with families could be a one-off or over weekly sessions based on level of need targeted. 
• Signposting to partner agencies, based on needs identified.
• Supporting families to navigate their way through referral pathways and enable them to access universal & targeted services.
• Where required advocating on behalf of families, supporting parents and carers to communicate with professional/Services.
• Supporting families to access other local services.

Ideal Candidates must have's

• Experience of working with families with complex needs and the ability to build and maintain rapport through effective communication and listening skills, using a whole family approach.
• Ability to be clear and realistic about what support the service and you can offer to families.
• Ability to maintain a visible presence and sustain relationships with clinical staff, being mindful of the various working patterns/ professionals within the department.  
• Ability to navigate a high pressure, fast paced acute healthcare setting. 
• Competent IT skills to record and maintain accurate data. 
• A basic understanding of Public Health, health inequalities and wider determinants that underpin health and wellbeing. 
• Knowledge of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
• Relevant Level 3 Qualification (Health and/or Social Care)

More about the Programme

The In Reach Hospital Emergency Department Family Support Programme model offers a robust way of supporting often vulnerable families to uncover and address unmet need. Through identifying the underlying factors causing the clinical presentation and attendance, and addressing holistic needs of the family unit, we hope activity to unscheduled, primary and emergency care is dramatically and sustainably reduced.

The model is based on Family Support Workers based within Children's Emergency Departments, offering holistic, family-oriented support in a flexible manner either in-person, telephone- based and home visits to be able to address the underlying causes of repeated / avoidable ED attendances.

*Although this contract has a permanent status, please be aware that this post is subject to funding currently to March 2025 and therefore should this funding not be extended further, you may be subject to a redundancy consultation or a TUPE arrangement.

** Please note the hours for this role will be required over a 5-day week and may be done in longer day shifts or with set times i.e. 8am to 4pm (to suit Emergency Department and community/family needs). The role can adopt flexible working arrangements to meet service and personal need but will NOT provide 24 hour provision in the ED settings. This can be discussed further at interview.

When completing your application please refer to the skills, knowledge and experience you have in relation to the Additional Information sheet, Person Specification & Job Description.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out 1st April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a key pillar of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to grow and develop in their career at Barnardo's as it will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues to progress through the pay band of their role.

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay progression steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's

At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is reflected in our values and our practice, and we have invested in this area of our work to ensure that we can deliver on our commitments to be an inclusive employer. EDI is a key enabler of our purpose as a charity and we want to ensure that the diversity of our teams is reflective of the communities we serve and that we continue to learn and develop our work with a focus on inclusion. We particularly encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian and  Minoritised Ethnic Communities, candidates who are LGBT+ and Disabled candidates.