Skip to main content

This job has expired

Children & Families Support Worker

Employer
Shelter
Location
Bristol
Salary
£23,472 pa + Essential Car User Allowance + excellent benefits
Closing date
23 Apr 2021

Children & Families Support Worker

£23,472 pa + Essential Car User Allowance + excellent benefits including 30 days holiday and flexible working

Fixed term contract until 31 March 2024

Bristol

Closing date: 23 April 2021 at 11.30 pm

Do you have a good understanding of child development and the needs of homeless families and children plus proven experience of supporting parents and children with complex needs? Then join Shelter as a Children & Families Support Worker and you could soon be playing a vital role aimed at minimising the impact of bad housing, homelessness and exclusion in the Bristol area.

About Shelter
A home is a fundamental human need, as essential as education or healthcare. Yet millions of people across Britain struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, soaring rents, discrimination and the threat of eviction. So, we are striving for change, with individuals, in communities, across society, and leading the way to a safe home. We need ambitious, best-in-class individuals who are passionate about our cause to join us at this exciting time. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

At Shelter we are united by our purpose to defend the right to a safe home. Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. We believe that to win that fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement for change. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, fair, equitable and transparent.

We have committed to combat racism both within and outside Shelter and welcome you on our journey to becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.

About the team

Our thriving Hub in Bristol is a place where people can access a range of advice and support provision. Integrated with our services we also undertake community organising; challenging the systemic barriers preventing access to housing and a home. The aim is to empower clients to make decisions and take action for themselves by providing advice, referrals and signposting, advocacy and practical support. There are currently around 16 people working in the Hub across services that include Legal, Advice Support DIY Skills Advice and volunteers. You could soon be joining them.

About the role

As a Support Worker we’ll rely on you to deliver professional, impartial, pragmatic and outcome focused support for a caseload of families. You’ll also act as a key worker and help families either resettle or prevent homelessness. Your primary focus will be on households where some tailored interventions are required around the needs of the children in order to stabilise their housing situation and enable the family to thrive. Accordingly, you’ll need to provide intensive, tailored support as part of a whole family approach in a 1-2-1 setting and via group work. On any given day you could be advising on techniques and approaches to ease pressures on vulnerable families or advocating on behalf of a family so that they’re able to access support that meets their needs. Along the way, you’ll need to regularly visits clients’ homes and schools across the city and liaise with other agencies in the community in order to provide a co-ordinated service.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

About you

We believe that people with lived experience are often best placed to use this to shape the way they work with the people who use our services. Therefore, we would specifically like to hear from people with personal experience of homelessness. If you are also familiar with housing, homelessness and ASB legislation and welfare benefits that affect families, that would be great, but we are more interested in your ability to work with families and children, who are sometimes in great distress due to their circumstances. You’ll need to be able to demonstrate that you have worked within, or understand, a safeguarding framework, that you can balance competing priorities and that you are proactive in the way that you work.

You’ll need to be able to use a range of IT tools to carry out your work, including case management systems, Microsoft Office applications, internet and email etc., and be able to type. You must also possess a valid driving licence and be willing to use your vehicle for work purposes, for which an essential car allowance will be paid.

Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We’re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

To find out more about the role and the benefits of working for Shelter please visit our website. Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.  

Please note that due to the nature of the work, this post is exempt from the provisions of Section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 by virtue of The Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exemptions) Order 1975

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert