Family Link Worker

OVERVIEW OF ROLE

Families caring for children with life-shortening and highly complex health conditions tell us their lives can feel really challenging and chaotic. Accessing and navigating palliative care or help with symptom management, dealing with multiple agencies and health professionals alongside practical issues around finances, getting the right equipment or adapting the home can be exhausting, stressful and scary. 

Forget Me Not children’s hospice has been here for over 10 years, providing CQC-rated outstanding support for children and families across West Yorkshire. But we want to do more to enable families to live well. We are developing new ways to assess and meet families’ needs to ensure every member of each family gets the support they need at the right time. And that’s where you come in. As part of our family support team, you’ll help us to pilot this new way of working.

You’ll support a caseload of families, providing information, advice, advocacy and handholding. And you’ll link families to and help them navigate tailored support, both inhouse and by collaborating with local partners. You’ll also work to build partnerships with external services, including by tapping into community groups across our region to ensure support is culturally appropriate and accessible to all.

You’ll be experienced in working with families with complex needs and in complex circumstances, providing support that is person-centred and strengths-based. You might currently be working in education, health or social care but you’ll have an understanding of palliative care and have experience of multi-agency collaboration.

Most of all, you’ll be excited to be part of a new approach to supporting families that will make a positive difference to their lives. If that sounds like you, then please apply now!

JOB DESCRIPTION

Role Summary

Our vision is to deliver pioneering care through pregnancy, childhood and loss, wherever families need us, whatever the future holds. This role supports our vision by providing holistic family centred care to babies, children and young people with life limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families within the family support team, as well as working collaboratively with external providers within local communities. Working as part of our family support team, you’ll be a key point of contact for a caseload of families, supporting them to navigate the complex systems of palliative care and bereavement; providing information, advice, advocacy and handholding, with the aim of increased independence, resilience and empowerment. In this Family Link role, your specific focus will be to help develop and embed a new way of working with families, focusing on further developing our holistic, outcome focused family assessment, support and review pathways. You’ll help to link families to personalised support, and enablement through both our in-house services and by collaborating with local partner agencies and organisations. 

Main Duties and Key Responsibilities

Family link responsibilities

• Undertake holistic, parent-centred family assessments, ensuring that there is a clear understanding of the needs and goals of each family member, with a coproduced outcome focused plan put into action.
• Working alongside members of the care team, midwife or other members of the family support team to co-ordinate the support offered to individual families.
• Navigational support and signposting for parents/carers and other immediate family members to access support and services outside of Forget Me Not, this may include information, advice and support in respect of home and family life, financial and employment matters, education, health and community inclusion.
• Develop partnerships and collaborations with key external organisations to further develop and enhance our support to families.
• Support signposting to partner organisations through building up knowledge and links in the local community. Family support
• Help assess, plan, deliver and review holistic family centred care and support to a caseload of babies, children and families in the community or in the hospice, working with alongside other family support team and care coordinators.
• Deliver practical and emotional support that is best practice, evidence based and meets all statutory requirements.
• Undertake specific family support tasks during pregnancy, birth into childhood and during the initial period following a child’s death aimed at supporting the needs and emotional wellbeing of families, including parents and the wider family.
• Provide initial immediate and practical help and signposting to families at times of need including changes in circumstances, wellbeing and bereavement.
• Support families in making an informed choice regarding options during palliative, end of life care for their child and post bereavement.
• Work seamlessly with clinical, care and family support team members, responding promptly to any identified needs or changes in the circumstances of the individuals or families supported.
• Participate in the in-reach service alongside other team members including, but not limited to, initial hospice visits, support appointments, delivering presentations, transportation of baby/child and family as appropriate including the transportation of family and deceased patients from hospital to the hospice family suite (snowflake) /home.
• Facilitate memory making opportunities for the families with both colleagues and external professionals. This includes but is not exclusive to tribute funds, grants and wishes and linking families in with the fundraising team when appropriate.
• Undertake high quality system recording to support the family journey, as well as service performance indicators and family case studies.
• Complete and maintain core competencies associated within the role and to use this knowledge to safely undertake care delivery.
• Share knowledge and skills with care team colleagues, providing support and training where appropriate.
• Be responsible for your own on-going practice development and life-long learning, including actively participating in appraisal, practice supervision, reflective practice, education and training.
• Contribute to the development of current and new services and other initiatives.
• Ensure that family feedback is sought, outcomes for families tracked and reported through agreed channels.
• Where appropriate, manage a small budget.
• Work with, and support volunteers, assisting in family support activities.
• Support the organisation to meet CQC fundamental standards (for example in safeguarding, infection prevention and control and health and safety).
• To work within the guidelines of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) procedures. We expect all staff to undertake any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job, the title of the post and its grading, as requested by your line manager or their higher level of authority on behalf of the charity.

For all of our roles we expect employees to abide by the expectations set out within the Together for Families Framework (click here). Complying with Together for Families means that we will all act with integrity to ensure we are trusted the people we care for, the people we work with and everyone who supports Forget Me Not. 

Person specification

Essential:

- Experience of working with families and children with complex needs in a professional setting such as early years, education, health or social care

- Experience of managing a complex caseload, where competing demands and constant interruptions to the work pattern, require the workload to be prioritised

- Understanding of the work of a children’s hospice and the need for specific care of children and young people

- Understanding of the key aspects of grief, loss and bereavement• Able to work in a palliative care environment inc bereavement suite support. 

- Knowledge of current legislation relating to babies, children & young people including best practice in safeguarding children

- Ability to work within community settings, meeting professionals and leaders of community groups • Proven track record of reliability 

- Evidence of a good standard of written and effective oral communication skills

- IT literate (e.g. word processing, email, recording systems)

- Able to interpret and follow written instructions, such as care plans 

- Enthusiastic and confident approach to work 

- Good teamwork and ability to support other team members

- Understanding of evidence-based practice

- Able to work independently and in partnership with members of the Multidisciplinary Care Team

- Able to prioritise work and effectively manage time

- Ability to set and maintain professional boundaries with staff, children, family and visitors

- Positive attitude towards change

- Able to work flexibly including occasional evening and weekend work

- Able to act on own initiative in delivering care, recognising when to seek supervision and advice from a more experienced member of the team.

Desirable:

- Experience of working in a palliative care service and providing community care services

- Knowledge of the wide range of services available to children and families in the locality

- Knowledge of trauma-informed care principles

- Experience of training others

- Experience of working with volunteers 

- Understanding and experience of managing safeguarding concerns, including following safeguarding referral processes and liaising with social care professionals

- Knowledge of different multi-agency assessments inc. housing, mobility, adaptations, social care assessments and education assessments. 

- Experience of person-centred planning

Skills and experience

Essential:

NVQ level 3 (health and social care) qualification or equivalent experience

Desirable:

- Childcare and Learning Development (CCLD)/CHCHE/ BTEC/NVQ level 3, or equivalent Counselling qualification / Counselling/bereavement course

- Advanced communication training

- Additional community language(s) Degree in a relevant subject

As this role involves working out in the community, you will need to have a full, clean driving licence and access to a car for work purposes.

This role will some involve evening and weekend work to best support the needs of families.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Equality and Diversity

Please note that we are committed to equality and diversity and make the following pledge in relation to our recruitment practices;

- We will actively encourage and support under-represented groups to join us as employees

- We will always interview you if you are an applicant with disability who meets the essential requirements of the job and will provide adjustments to the recruitment process if required.  

- We are committed to supporting part time and flexible working; we will consider part time working requests for all our roles