Child Support Worker, Family Centre, Dublin

Child Support Worker, Family Centre, Dublin

Location: Dublin

Contract: Full Time Permanent

The purpose of this role is to work as part of the Family Centre team in providing support to children and young people linking in with the Family Centre Service who are experiencing homelessness. The Child Support Worker will engage with children, young people and their families to assess and support child welfare, support and promote child development, and develop parenting skills and capacity.

What you will do:

• Assess children’s needs across each area of development and to engage with parents around their parenting skills and capacity. To ensure a support plan is implemented and agreed.

• Manage an allocated caseload as agreed with Line Management.

• Work within the framework of the overall objectives of Focus Ireland.

• Plan and deliver activities and programmes which offer the children and young people opportunities for exploration, self-expression, education, and development.

• Hold planned regular reviews/care plan meetings with the parent and case manager of the family.

• Attend meetings concerning the children in the service, e.g., case conferences, monthly family reviews and school.  To keep and maintain accurate case records and use PASS.

• Liaise effectively with schools, clinical/medical services, social workers, Gardai, and other relevant professionals. To ensure an effective multi agency approach in the care and protection of children.

• Work effectively to support parents develop skills in the care and nourishment of the child; establish appropriate parent/child boundaries, routines, and discipline.

• Work with and under the supervision and direction of the line management within the project.

• Contact and establish links as appropriate with local services and relevant community groups.

• Be familiar with and comply with all relevant Focus Ireland policy e.g., Child Protection Policy, Confidentiality Policy, Customer Complaints Policy, Health and Safety Policy, Personnel Policy.

• Maintain accurate records and statistics in accordance with Focus Ireland policy.

• Participate in the evaluation and development of the Child Support Service and contribute to the effective development of the Family Centre service.

• Work in a close team environment and provide team support on daily basis.

• Be vigilant to any Health, Safety and Welfare risks in the workplace and bring any concerns to the attention of your Line Manager or Health Safety representative.

• Attend and contribute to Team, Section and Agency meetings as required.

• Engage in supervision sessions on a regular basis with the Project Leader or Team Leader.

• Participate in relevant training and development courses as agreed with your Project Leader/Team Leader.

• Undertake such other duties as might be reasonably assigned from time to time in consultation with the Project Leader.

What you will need:

• Third level Childcare qualification at degree level or relevant qualification.

• Relevant experience of working with children and young people.

• Respect and value children as autonomous in their own right.

• Have a genuine liking for and sensitivity towards children.

• Respect and appreciate the contributions of other adults e.g. parents, other professionals, colleagues.

• Be committed to work in partnership with parents.

• Be open minded and alert to the need for further professional development.

• Be able to communicate well with colleagues, parents, and other agencies and above all children, irrespective of their culture, religion, and gender.

• Experience of working with other agencies.

• Experience of supporting marginalised households with high risk and challenging behaviour.

• Experience of dealing with child protection and welfare responsibilities and responding appropriately to any concerns.

• Computer Literacy.

• Be able to write accurate and factual reports.

• Experience in carrying out assessments, including risk assessments.

• Experience in developing support plans and carrying out reviews.

• Ability to display flexibility in the role.

• Ability to work on own initiative, working alone and in a team setting.

• Proven advocacy skills.

• Full clean driver’s licence (Desirable)

• A working knowledge of services in the homeless sector (Desirable)

Focus Ireland is an equal opportunities employer
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