Early Help Family Practitioner

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF SHOFA’S MARKET

Children’s Services in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where courageous and inspiring professionals bring everything to their work. Sometimes this even includes heartbreak. Shofa is a shining example. Shofa’s brother suffered with his mental health and died tragically young. She uses his memory as motivation to give Westminster Youth Council members the opportunity to have a voice and get involved in decision making. This passion resulted in her innovation: The Westminster Youth Market. Here local teenagers learn about entrepreneurship and develop their personal skills. This is an inclusive platform where everyone’s contribution and abilities are celebrated. Inspired by a promising life cut short, Shofa believes without vision there is no direction and every young person should be supported to realise their dreams.

As an Early Help Family Practitioner, you can make your own powerful contribution. With the overarching aim of providing interventions which will improve the life outcomes of vulnerable children, young people and their families – while reducing their reliance on Social Work services – this is a highly varied role that will provide you with the autonomy to explore the boldest approaches. Join us in a full-time permanent contract, and you will have the opportunity to make a considerable difference to the wellbeing of local families with complex needs.

We are focused on understanding the reasons behind specific behaviours. As such, we work with families in a variety of settings including their homes, where we adopt a people-centric approach to all that we do. We give our service users the space to come to terms with what has happened to them, while providing them with the support they need to build a positive future. We appreciate the value that reading body language can add to our understanding of a situation, and we are always open to trying new approaches in order to connect with everyone who comes to us for help.

Utilising the ARC model of trauma-informed practice, you will work with schools, health services and the voluntary sector to support children with additional needs, and you will signpost families to available community services. Flagging up safeguarding issues, you will create risk management assessments and define outcome focussed plans. From raising school attendance to assessing parenting skills and supporting the families to make a change for themselves, this is a valuable chance to enable children to remain with their families whenever it is safe to do so.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

This is a genuinely fantastic opportunity to join a progressive, highly motivated, experienced and cohesive team which is comprised of experienced Family Practitioners and a Family Therapist, all of whom champion the considerable benefits of early intervention. As such, you will thrive in this forward-thinking department if you are a collaborative individual, and you are keen to learn from multidisciplinary colleagues. As you will be collaborating with Social Work and Early Help colleagues, you will be a team player with fantastic communication skills, and you will adopt a flexible approach to delivering a joined-up service.

On a practical level, you will have experience of working with families with multiple problems, plus collaborating with schools to deliver better educational outcomes. With a sound understanding of threshold management, you will be well versed in child protection issues with a good awareness of safeguarding vulnerable children. IT literate, you will have a comprehensive knowledge of assessment frameworks, and you will be capable of creating outcome-focussed support plans. You will also have a current DBS check.

Westminster is an amazing place. There are 250,000 diverse residents, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people working here every day. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities we service at all levels. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and are empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

We are a multi award winning and forward-thinking Council which appreciates that people work in different ways, and where our staff benefit from working in a range of flexible and agile working patterns.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.