Family Practitioner

Job Introduction
You will be required to work with children and families to support children to remain within their families by providing crisis intervention and working collaboratively with social workers to support children in need, children on child protection plans and children in care.

You will be expected to undertake flexible, creative and imaginative approaches to offering support to children, young people their families and carers whilst underpinning our restorative approach. This may include being available outside of traditional working patterns including evening and weekends to provide support to children, families and carers when it is needed.

Main Responsibilities
As a member of the district team, you will:

- Be a key worker for children and families leading on early help assessments and plans and work collaboratively with social workers to support children in need, children on child protection plans and children in care.
- Work with children and families including contributing to parenting assessments, support mediation, crisis prevention, conflict resolution and Life Story Work.
- Carry out work outlined within assessment and planning on specific topics with children, families and carers (including but not limited to) staying safe, loss and grief, behaviour management, attachment and criminal exploitation.
- You will hold a Minimum standard of NVQ3 in respect of working with children and their families or equivalent plus an understanding of child development and the knowledge of mental health, substance misuse, domestic abuse, poverty and other vulnerabilities and how these impact on families
- You will have the ability to communicate effectively with children, their families and carers. Have the ability to build relationships and deliver interventions to children, families and carers as well as being able to work effectively in conflict situations
- You will require the ability to use IT systems and to write a good standard of records and have the commitment and ability demonstrate restorative approaches to working with children and families.

About Staffordshire County Council
**We are no ordinary county council**:
**Our Values**:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

**Our benefits**:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to a range of benefits.

**Our recruitment process**:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.