Family Support Worker - 2 Positions Available - Outreach - EAL13115

Vacancy Information

Hourly rate of pay: £20.13 - £22.51

Days and Hours of Work:
Working 5 days per week on a rota within core hours
Starting and finishing times are flexible, and flexi time is applicable
To start 1st January 2027

We have an exciting opportunity for two extra family support workers to join our growing Intensive Outreach Team. Keeping children and young people in their family environment rather than in care placements.

You will combine expertise in working with vulnerable or challenging children, with promoting parenting confidence and skills. You will partner with families impacted by trauma.

We are already improving outcomes for teenagers at the highest risk of accommodation. We are now focussing upon entrenched patterns of neglect of infants and younger children too. We are seeking team members motivated to promote positive change for families with children from 0-18 years.

The service is organised flexibly to meet the needs of families. You will be required to work flexibly on a rota basis which will include early morning, evening and weekend working.

East Lothian's Children's Services are absolutely committed to keeping The Promise and keeping children, young people and their families' voices at the heart of everything we do. We are keen to recruit workers who are passionate about working with families and who want to help them to utilise their strengths and networks before we impose our own solutions.

Our staff are our greatest asset and we want to support people to have a healthy work life balance. For this to be possible, we recognise that family support workers need protected caseloads, effective supervision and support. We recognise the emotional impact of the role and benefit from access to a clinical psychologist who supports our staff with complex work and promotes staff resilience.

You will work alongside qualified Social Workers who manage each child or young person’s plan. You will receive regular supervision from a Team Leader who is dedicated to supporting all family support workers within this service area.

We are committed to promoting an open and trusting culture at all levels of the organisation and prioritise continuous professional development and learning. We are proud of our approach to learning and development and there are a number of formal and informal opportunities to develop your practice and support your career pathway within East Lothian.

We have an accessible senior management team who are committed to recruiting the best people to compliment the wide range of knowledge and experience that exists throughout the service.

Applicants should have a sound value base, excellent communication and report writing skills and a suitable understanding of children and families' social work role and responsibilities.

If you wish to discuss this job vacancy or working for Children's Services in East Lothian Council, please feel free to contact Team Leader Phil Brown on the details below: 01875 824067.

Home / Hybrid Working Consideration
Applications for home or hybrid working will be considered for this post in accordance with East Lothian Council’s Home Working and Worksmart Policies which can be found here. Home or Hybrid working options can be discussed with candidates invited for interview

Please Note
All home/hybrid workers must live in the UK. Where an application for home-working is supported, it will be subject to a satisfactory trial period. Employees will be expected to attend Council offices for the duration of induction, and be on site in East Lothian workplaces, as required. Employees with a hybrid working arrangement in place will be office based and able to work from home, with permission, on an ad hoc basis

Job Details

As part of a team provide direct family support to maintain children and young people in their family environment and/or support the prevention of placement breakdown or escalated service provision.

Please download the Job Outline/Person Specification (available under 'Job Attachments') for the full range of tasks and duties associated with this job. You will need to refer to these in order to complete the application form. You must ensure you meet every 'essential' criteria stated on the Person Specification to be considered for interview.

The ‘East Lothian Way’– values and behaviours we expect our employees to demonstrate in their everyday work. Should you be invited to interview, you may be asked questions based on these behaviours. Please refer to the document via the link to familiarise yourself with them.

Job Requirements

Relevant Qualifications
You must be educated to at least HNC/SVQ 3 (SCQF 7) in Social Care or another relevant discipline and able to demonstrate equivalent knowledge, skills and competencies gained through relevant experience.

Willingness to undertake de-escalation training e.g. Team Teach once in post.

Driving Licence
As the duties of this role require you to effectively travel to successfully undertake the full remit of the role, you must hold a current driving licence and have access to a vehicle.*
(*Where a disability precludes you from obtaining a driving licence, ELC will take into account its responsibility to make reasonable adjustments to allow for your disability.)

PVG Membership
This post is considered as a Regulated Role with vulnerable children and/or protected adults, as specified in the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020.

All preferred candidates for posts carrying out regulated work with these groups will be required to become a PVG Scheme member, or undergo a PVG Scheme update if they are already a member, prior to any formal offer of employment being made by East Lothian Council.

Please note: PVG member’s records are constantly updated with any new vetting information that arises. Any information that is disclosed on a PVG membership or update check, if relevant to the post being applied for, will be discussed with the applicant and investigated prior to any formal offer being made.

Please note:
If you have spent more than 3 months working or living out with the UK in the last 5 years then you will be required to present a copy of an overseas criminal record check. Details of how to apply and contact details can be found on the GOV.UK website.

Additional Information

For additional East Lothian Council employment information please click on the following link:
www.eastlothian.gov.uk/nonteachinginfo

If you have any difficulties creating an account on MyJobScotland or applying for this post please contact the MyJobScotland support team via this link https://www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/contact-us.

If you require further information about this vacancy, please call 01620 827868, or email us on recruitment@eastlothian.gov.uk

Please note: We do not accept CV's (either electronically or by mail). All our vacancies must be applied for by fully completing the on-line application form. Although there is an ‘import data from my CV’ function on MyJobScotland, this only imports very limited data and should not be relied upon to complete the application form. If, for example, due to a disability, you are unable to complete the on-line application form you can contact us for a paper application via the telephone number or email address above.