Families First Practitioner / Coach

JOB DESCRIPTION

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Directorate: Stronger Communities

Grade: PO2 £41,442 - £44,331

Contract Type: Full-time/Permanent (5 days a week)

Working hours per week: 36 hours per week 9am-5pm

Application Deadline: 10/01/2025

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC

Reference:1550

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.

About the role:

The London Borough of Waltham Forest is recruiting for a Early Help Practitioner based in Queens Road Family Hub.

You will deliver integrated and comprehensive early intervention services to children and young people and their families with the aim of supporting them to achieve positive outcomes, increase their resilience and improve family functioning.

You will manage a caseload of families, conducting in depth assessments to identify needs, utilise the Team Around the Family process to effectively action plan with the family and other professionals.

You will ensure that families and or individuals are met with in according with Early Help standards to ensure that there is a timely review of the progress of the family.

You will form and maintain good links with partners and coordinate services and, where applicable, source resources to aid the delivery of services to the families. This will include working with the Queens Road Family Hub.

In the London Borough of Waltham Forest, we take equality and inclusion seriously and are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity and difference and is a true reflection of the diverse communities of Waltham Forest. We are committed to fostering an environment that empowers our workforce and gives them the freedom to bring their authentic self to work to provide excellent services to all.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of signs and indicators of child abuse and neglect, and understanding of child protection issues
• Experience of working with children and families with specific, multiple and complex needs
• Experience of child engagement, child's voice work, and ensuring they remain at the center of interventions
• Experience of family outreach work including home visiting
• Knowledge and understanding of families from a range of cultures and communities
• Ability to chair meetings such as the Team Around the Family (TAF) or professionals meetings
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience of partnership working
• Good planning and organisational skills,
• Proven initiative and judgement to identify and resolve problems
• Good ICT skills - both standard Microsoft applications and specialist systems

Indicative Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent or vocational qualification in relevant subject or area
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;

Satisfactory declaration of interest;

This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;

Satisfactory DBS check;

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council,please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs- and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Lisa Mathurin, Family Help Lead for Schools at Lisa.mathurin@walthamforest.gov.uk or 07776589575

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.