Family Group Conference (FGC) Coordinator

Job Title: Family Group Conference (FGC) Coordinator
Starting Salary: £38,220 progressing to £41,771 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Hours: 37.0
Location: Countywide

Please note we have 4 vacancies:

• 2 covering the East and North of the County
• 2 covering the South and West of the County

Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Childrens Services

About the team

Hertfordshire has a well-established and accredited Family Group Conference (FGC) Service. We believe that those families open to Hertfordshire Children’s Services should be supported to come together, talk through concerns and find solutions from within their own networks at the earliest opportunity and that FGCs offer this possibility. The FGC is supported and facilitated by a trained and skilled coordinator, who helps the family prepare for the meeting and attends to support.

Family Group Conferences promote children remaining within their own families and community.

To help us deliver and promote our Family Group Conference service, we are recruiting Coordinators to join our experienced, innovative and friendly team, where reflective, relationship-based and systemic practice is supported and encouraged.

About the role

As an FCG coordinator, you will be coordinating and facilitating Family Group Conferences which will involve direct work with children and families.

As a coordinator you will need to be self-motivated, dynamic and organised, with an experience and passion to help empower children and families to come together and create a family plan, to support positive change.

This role offers the opportunity to primarily work with and support adolescents and their families experiencing acute distress.

About you

Essential:

• Experience of working in children social care or a similar setting.
• Experience of and commitment to delivering high quality work for families, children, and young people.
• Direct experience of children and young peoples participation.
• An understanding and ability to manage groups and meetings.
• Ability to understand and manage complex family dynamics and needs of CYP.
• To be able to demonstrate a commitment to the Family Group Conference model of practice, and a knowledge and commitment to a solution focused approach.
• Ability to be flexible in your working hours, evenings and weekends may be required to meet the needs of this role.
• This is an essential car user post. You will be required to provide a car for use in connection with the duties of this post and must be insured for business use.
• Excellent communication skills with the confidence to engage with different partner agencies.
• Proficient use of IT packages such as Microsoft office, excel, word, MS teams, email.
• A commitment to anti-discriminatory practices in employment and service provision.

Desirable:

• To have delivered the Lifelong Links process as part of the wider delivery of Children and Young People's Services.
• To have worked independently and within agreed time constraints.
• Experience of working with a child-led approach.
• Experience of working in a trauma-informed way.
• Experience and knowledge of working with cared for children and young people living in foster and residential homes.
• Using initiative and a proactive approach to progress and achieve a child or young person’s stated aims.
• To have had experience in working in a partnership with other professionals.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is within the Health and Social Care Services, level HSC10 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Health and social care

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Anna LeVesconte (anna.levesconte@hertfordshire.gov.uk) or Louise Hagger (ouise.hagger@hertfordshire.gov.uk)

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.