Making a Difference as a Family Group Conference Facilitator.

We are seeking to recruit two full-time Family Group Conference Facilitators to an existing stable and experienced team, within the Families Staying Together (FaST) Service. The service aim is to support the most vulnerable children and families in St Helens and work closely with all teams within Children’s Services, supporting those children at risk of becoming a Child We Look After and those children who are a Child We Look After, who could be reunified home. The team takes a holistic approach to support families where crime, anti-social behaviour, school attendance, domestic violence, substance misuse.

As A Family Group Conference Facilitator you will be responsible for creating a supportive environment for families to come together to establish their own plan to provide them with the best opportunity of remaining a family and reducing the risk to the children and families. Offering an independent mechanism to discuss the risks and strengths to build on and review, you will be a valued member of the Families Staying Together Service. The focus of this role is to work in partnership with families and other agencies to identify and address the often complex issues that families face and reduce the risk of issues and problems escalating.

The work is sometimes emotionally demanding, but always rewarding. Flexible, positive and willing to learn, you'll be capable of communicating with people from all walks of life in a wide range of situations, remaining calm in a crisis and adapting to constantly changing situations and priorities.

To be successful in this role, experience of providing services to children and/or families with complex needs is essential, along with good record-keeping skills, the ability to construct coherent reports and contribute to and complete assessments as required. Strong mediation/negotiation skills and the ability to work in an inclusive and non-discriminatory manner is a must as is working effectively with other professionals and organisations.

This Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This is an exciting opportunity for you to utilise existing skills and develop new ones. You will receive continuous support, development, and career progression opportunities on your journey with us. The posts include some home working but will require you to regularly attend the St Helens office and travel around the St Helens and surrounding areas.

Interested to Find Out More?

You can review our full job description details, and person specification information here.

For an informal discussion please contact Kathryn Lowe, Family Group Conference Manager kathrynlowe@sthelens.gov.uk

St Helens is a great place to work so why not visit our Children’s Services web page https://socialcarerecruitment.sthelens.gov.uk/ to see what our colleagues have to say and discover our full range of in work benefits.

Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early should we receive a sufficient number of applications and encourage you to apply early, to avoid disappointment.

This post is subject Enhanced DBS Disclosure.