Early Help Worker - Unit

Role Responsibility

Fixed Term: Until March 2025

Early Help Worker (Unit) - Social Work, Family Support, Case Holding

• Do you want to make a difference to children and family’s lives?
• Do you want to work in an inclusive environment where no two days are the same?
• Are you a confident communicator who thrives when working with others?
• Do you enjoy working with other services to support families?
• Can you work independently and manage a complex caseload?

About Intensive Early Help:

Kent’s Early Help and Preventative Services aim to promote family resilience, not reliance. It means taking action to support a child, young person or their family early in the life of a presenting issue or as soon as it emerges. Support can be required at any stage in a child’s life from pre-birth into adulthood. Our vision is that families will receive Intensive Early Help services in a timely and responsive way, so that children and young people are safeguarded, their educational, social and emotional needs are met.

The guiding principles within Early Help Intensive Units are that we work with Children, Young People and their families to:

 • Build on families existing resources with a culture of high aspiration and empathy

 • Build family wellbeing and resilience that leads to sustained change

• Listen to the voice of children, young people and families and using their voice to shape our support

• Join up services to support families at the right time and in the right place, with a focus on reducing transitions

About the role and main responsibilities:

You will work within an Intensive Early Help Unit which are composed of a Unit Lead, Senior Early Help Worker(s) and Early Help Workers supported by an administrative officer. Working together using a strengths-based systemic approach underpinned by our Practice Framework, the unit undertakes direct work and casework with children, young people and families of all ages who require intensive support for multiple and complex issues.

This role requires you to assess the needs and develop intervention plans that aim to prevent the need to involve a specialist service. You will support children, young people and their families who are impacted by a broad range of issues and your interventions will include;

• Direct work with children and young people to promote change and work in partnership with other services to get the best support for families
• Parenting support to reduce the negative impact on children and young people’s physical development, emotional wellbeing, enhance their learning and life chances. The challenges impacting on the lives of children and young people may include; Domestic Abuse, Parental Mental Health, Substance Misuse, Learning Needs, Finances and Poverty, Special Educational Needs, Emerging Neglect plus many more.
• Creating a support network for families

The role is varied and interesting and we offer: -

• A starting salary of £26, 515 with annual performance related pay increases
• Opportunities for personal training and development
• Regular supervision
• Option to enrol in the Local Government Pension scheme with employer matched contributions
• 27 days paid annual leave per year (rising to 29 after 5 years’ service) + bank holidays + a concessionary day
• A range of flexible leave options to help you manage your work/life balance such as Carers leave, Maternity leave, Personal Leave, Timeout/career break, Study leave, Religious observance
• Hybrid working – work from home or office as required and we’ll provide you with the kit needed to work remotely
• Staff discounts on a range of leisure products and services through our Kent Rewards programme  

Transport

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wide operational area.

This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence – The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

About your application - Please read:

• Within the ‘Reason for Application’ section of your application, please demonstrate how you meet the criteria within the person specification attached to the Job Description.

PLEASE NOTE A WHOLE DAY IS REQUIRED FOR YOUR INTERVIEW AS IT WILL BE A MORNING ASSESSMENT FOLLOWED BY AN INTERVIEW SLOT.

Interviews to be held Friday 16 August.

Contact Details

For further details about this role, please contact the hiring manager:

Amanda Weston, Early Help Unit Lead, Team 2, Ashford Early Help Team 

Telephone: 03000 419150 

Email: amanda.weston@kent.gov.uk 

Or 

Raj Tomsett, Early Help Unit Lead, Team 1, Ashford Early Help Team

Telephone: 03000 410465

Email: Raj.Tomsett@kent.gov.uk 

About the Company

Work that works for you and us - let’s talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county’s working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.