Parent support worker jobs in plymouth, devon

PACT is one of the UK’s leading voluntary adoption agencies, rated Outstanding by Ofsted, and has been at the forefront of adoption services for over 60 years.

We are currently looking for Independent Social Workers based in the following areas to undertake adoption assessments:

· Milton Keynes

· Bedford

· Peterborough

· Cambridge

· North London

Caseloads are flexible and can be arranged to fit around other commitments.  We can offer a competitive rate for each assignment.

You must be SWE registered and have at least three years’ post qualifying experience, preferably in adoption or fostering, and have solid assessment skills.  It is also important that you are willing to travel, and that you hold your own professional indemnity and public liability insurance.

For further details and information on how to apply, please visit our website.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at PACT. We have robust measures and best practices in place to safeguard and protect the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and we take pride in maintaining outstanding safeguarding standards.

Anyone joining our team is subject to PACT’s safer recruitment pre-appointment enquiries, including a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS). The role description provides information on what our safer recruitment enquiries include and the level of DBS required to work in the role.

All opportunities with PACT are based in the UK. No agencies please.

This is National Lottery funded role in a growing charity representing children and young people affected by the neuropsychiatric conditions PANS and PANDAS. 

The purpose of this role is to work closely with our established Youth Board to ensure that the voices of young people affected by PANS and PANDAS are heard, valued, and reflected in our work.

The successful applicant will support the Youth Board in identifying, developing, and delivering one or more youth-led projects that align with their priorities and lived experiences. 

See the job description and the recruitment pack attached for more informaton.

Main Purpose of the Role:

To lead the Support Team to provide emotional and practical support to families and individuals living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It includes leading the support team to provide 1-2-1 and group support provided in person or virtually, and creating and growing support networks for the wider Duchenne community which includes Duchenne parents/caregivers; young people and adults living with Duchenne; extended family and friends; and professionals in environments such as schools, local authorities and clinics. 

Specific Tasks:

The focus areas and key deliverables of this role are as follows:

• Develop a clear process for identifying case loads and capacity for the Support Team.

• Identify opportunities, alongside the team, for cross team working - including residentials; family events; Science Educations workshops with regional meetups and education visits to schools and local authorities.

• Obtain, decipher and provide training to the Support Team on new updates relevant to Duchenne families, such as DLA, EHCP and more.

• Work closely with your team, to ensure that each family receives the best support possible, and that long-term support is provided.

• Lead on the development and delivery of monthly reporting of engagement and support contact, which will feed into the wider All Through Support journey. 

• To work with the Head of Operations and Events to contribute to Agenda topics and speakers from the community; assign roles for the conference to the Support Team.

• Establish a database for external stakeholders also supporting those living with Duchenne on a national basis, fed in to from the Support Team.

• To develop a triaging and caseload process for the Support Team, and how best to regularly monitor this.

• Be involved in the recruitment, selection, and induction of volunteers appropriate to your area of work.

• To maintain the contact database, keeping it up to date and accurate.

• Coordinate cover for the Support Team when there is sickness or leave.

NB This is not an exhaustive list, the role holder will be asked to carry out additional tasks as required for the Team’s successful service delivery. Such tasks will always be reasonable and broadly in line with current knowledge levels and skill sets.

Person Specification Criteria (essential, except those noted specifically as desirable) 

Education and Qualifications

• Experience leading a team (either through line management or mentoring)

Knowledge and Experience

• A proven track record of providing support to those in need in a professional setting. 

• Experience of safeguarding reporting.

• Experience of reporting on services and development of monitoring dashboards.

• Knowledge of current legislation around either accessibility, equal opportunities, Disability Living Allowance, or Education Health Care Plan.

• Knowledge of networks and signposting for those living with a life-limiting condition.

• An understanding of and commitment to Equal Opportunities and the ability to promote this in the day-to-day work of the post.

• Experience working in the health sector or at a patient-led charity. [Desirable]

• Experience of a CRM system. [Desirable]

Skills and Aptitude

• Passionate about improving the lives of young people, adults and their families living with Duchenne.

• Ability to communicate effectively, both in writing and verbally.

• Excellent organisational and time management skills, ability to work as part of a team and work on own initiative and to deadlines.

• Ability to be assertive but also have empathy and the ability to be sensitive with the families and young adults we support.

• Interest in networking and continued learning about new areas of support for those living with Duchenne. 

About Kinship

We are Kinship. The leading kinship care charity in England and Wales. We’re here for kinship carers – friends or family who step up to raise a child when their parents aren’t able to. 

Together, let’s commit to change for kinship families.

About the role

Funded by the Department for Education, the National Peer Support Service for England is a game-changing service that creates a sustainable and life-changing legacy. It builds on Kinship’s 10 years of experience in developing peer support groups and over two years of delivering a national service that has set up 145 new groups.

This role is community-based and focuses on engaging kinship carers, bringing them together to form peer support groups, and supporting them to achieve independence at which point they will receive ongoing support from our national Hub.

You will do this by working with local authorities, schools, other charities and community groups. Arranging information events such as coffee mornings to engage kinship carers. You’ll create a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive community for kinship carers, building belonging, resilience, and empowerment.

About you

We are seeking a dynamic person located in or close to Greater Manchester, and willing to travel into priority areas across the North West of England who possesses the drive, passion, and skills to: 

• Establish new peer support groups across a diverse range of communities 
• Supervise a small team of Peer Support Development Officers 
• Demonstrate the energy and enthusiasm required to inspire yourself and your team to achieve key targets and objectives 
• Work collaboratively within the Peer Support and Community Team, as well as throughout the broader organisation, to ensure the delivery of safe and effective support services for the kinship community
• Support the sustainability of existing Peer Support Groups, taking the lead from the Hub (our network support Team)
• Keep precise records to create reports, extract learning, and share key insights throughout Kinship, enabling the organisation to enhance our services and products continuously

In the role of Senior Peer Support Development Officer, you will be instrumental in ensuring the delivery of a high-quality, consistent, and sustainable peer support service that has a significant impact on the lives of kinship carers. 

You should have experience in developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with various community-based stakeholders such as local authorities, health services, schools, charities, and kinship carers. You will need to understand the key success factors involved in establishing and developing new in-person groups in areas of high need, as well as how to support existing groups in their journey toward sustainability.

An essential requirement of the role is to be a driver with access to a vehicle for work purposes.

Essential requirements include:

• Experience of team leadership or line management and supervision of a small team and managing performance to deliver targets effectively.
• Proven experience in reaching and establishing strong relationships with hidden or underserved communities in person.
• Experience developing peer support communities.
• Proven experience of recruiting, managing, training and supporting volunteers in community settings with an emphasis on understanding and working with vulnerable volunteers.  
• Proven experience of ensuring outcomes and impacts of services is evidenced through high-quality data collection.  
• Evidence of delivering training/support to volunteers, 
• Strong facilitation skills and essential experience of peer support or user led groups with charity beneficiaries.  
• Understanding of safeguarding particularly around vulnerable families.  

What we’ll offer you 

Kinship offers 30 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time) as well as a generous pension scheme. We have an excellent wellbeing offer including the Employee Assistance Programme and clinical supervision. We will invest in your professional development with training and career development opportunities.

Kinship is committed to championing equality, diversity and inclusion.  We believe our work is greatly enhanced by the varied backgrounds, experiences and views represented within our teams.  We aim to create inclusive teams, celebrate differences and encourage everyone to join us and be their true self at work. We therefore encourage applications from anyone who fits our values, whatever their religion or belief, sex, gender identity, race, age, sexuality or disability and are actively seeking candidates that can bring real innovation and commitment to us. 

This is a fantastic time to join a supportive and well-established team within an organisation with rapid growth ambitions. This role will be what you make it and we’re looking for someone to seize this opportunity!

How to apply

Please apply via Charity Job with your CV and a cover letter of no more than 2 pages for the attention of Deborah Fox. Please include your notice period and earliest availability to start in your cover letter.

• Application deadline:      11.59pm, Thursday 26 June 2025
• First interview:                 We will hold ongoing online first-round interviews as we receive applications. Final interviews will be held face-to-face in Manchester on Thursday 3 July 2025

Kinship reserves the right to close applications early on receipt of sufficient applications. Apply early!

About Kinship

We are Kinship. The leading kinship care charity in England and Wales. We’re here for kinship carers – friends or family who step up to raise a child when their parents aren’t able to. 

Together, let’s commit to change for kinship families.

About the role

Our Participation and Involvement Manager will build on existing practice across the organisation and lead on the implementation and further development of a participation and involvement framework, enabling a large and diverse range of kinship carers to share their views and expertise meaningfully, safely and effectively to shape Kinship’s activity. It will also support our growing participation and involvement activity which involves children, young people and young adults with experience of growing up in kinship care.

You will work closely with kinship carers and colleagues across the organisation to understand the key challenges and opportunities with embedding participatory methods, including co-production and co-design, which improve Kinship’s work – right from the design and delivery of our advice and support services through to influencing policy and campaigning for change.

With support from colleagues, you will act as the key cross-organisational adviser on participation and involvement practice, supporting and empowering colleagues to develop the skills and knowledge they need to embed a consistent approach to the involvement of kinship carers to best suit the needs of their roles.

As an enthusiastic and engaging facilitator, and an advocate for participatory methods, you will sensitively and skillfully work alongside kinship carers and colleagues to deliver high quality involvement activity which supports the charity’s mission and aims. You will also be an experienced project manager, ensuring all activity is appropriately monitored and evaluated, and aligned with best practice around equality and diversity, remuneration, safeguarding and governance.

Key responsibilities include:

• Refine and further develop an existing organisational participation and involvement framework which supports staff to meaningfully, safely and effectively involve kinship carers in their work.
• Design and implement a plan to embed effective practice based on the framework across Kinship, building a positive organisational culture and providing appropriate training, upskilling and support to colleagues to ensure consistency of delivery and experience for kinship carers.
• Lead a cross-organisational working group of people with relevant lived, learned and professional experiences to support and advise on embedding high-quality participation and involvement activity.
• Work closely with colleagues across the whole organisation to understand their bespoke needs, strengths and requirements around implementing participatory methods in their day-to-day work, and develop strategic relationships with colleagues in areas with more extensive existing participatory or adjacent activity (e.g. research, volunteering).
• Develop and recruit a network of people with lived experience interested in being more intensively involved in participatory activities, with a focus on increasing the diversity of people working with us.

Essential experience includes:

• Experience managing and leading the delivery of participation or involvement activity with people with lived experience of social issues.
• A commitment to meaningful participation and involvement activity, including a nuanced understanding of the individual and organisational opportunities and challenges associated with this.
• Knowledge of models, methodologies and approaches used in high quality participation and involvement activity, and strong skills in creative facilitation – particularly with groups.
• An understanding of kinship care and how this may impact on kinship carers’ involvement with Kinship and our activity.
• Experience of effective project management with strong attention to detail and organisational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

What we’ll offer you 

Kinship offers 30 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time) as well as a generous pension scheme. We have an excellent wellbeing offer including the Employee Assistance Programme and clinical supervision. We will invest in your professional development with training and career development opportunities.

Kinship is committed to championing equality, diversity and inclusion.  We believe our work is greatly enhanced by the varied backgrounds, experiences and views represented within our teams.  We aim to create inclusive teams, celebrate differences and encourage everyone to join us and be their true self at work. We therefore encourage applications from anyone who fits our values, whatever their religion or belief, sex, gender identity, race, age, sexuality or disability and are actively seeking candidates that can bring real innovation and commitment to us. 

This is a fantastic time to join a supportive and well-established team within an organisation with rapid growth ambitions. This role will be what you make it and we’re looking for someone to seize this opportunity!

How to apply

Please apply via Charity Job with your CV and a cover letter of no more than 2 pages for the attention of Sam Turner. Please include your notice period and earliest availability to start in your cover letter.

• Application deadline:      9.00am, Wednesday 25 June 2025
• First interview:                 Online, Monday 7 July 2025
• Second interview:          In-person (Vauxhall), Wednesday 16 July 2025

Kinship reserves the right to close applications early on receipt of sufficient applications. Apply early!