Family Support Assistant

West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents' every day. Through our Early Help Service, we will work with children, families, and young people to help ensure that every person is supported to achieve his or her potential. The foundations for mental health, emotional control, doing well in education and parenting ability are all set in place in the early years; the home surroundings, family life and parenting are all important factors in determining positive outcomes for children as they grow and develop.

For more information about Children's Services, please visit our Education, Children and Familiespage and our WSCC Health and Social Care section of our website.

Salary: £24,294 to £24,702 per annum (pro rata £14,773 to £15,021)
Working Pattern: Part Time (22.50 hours)
Contract Length: Permanent
Location: Shoreham-By-Sea

As a Family Support Assistant, you will be committed to enabling families to manage their problems and access support and advice quickly, equipping parents to be the best they can be for their child, by increasing knowledge, confidence, and resilience. You will undertake direct work with parents to find out what they are worried about and what goals they want to work towards using a whole family approach. You may facilitate some direct group work with families, covering a range of subjects and based on identification of need within a locality hub area.

You may be the co-ordinator of Early Help Plans to assess each member of the family and agree outcomes that the family and professionals around them will work towards.

You will help to provide a safe and welcoming space for young people through the Find It Out (FIO) offer. You'll be able to speak confidently with young people, understand their needs and be able to help them access appropriate support at a time that suits them.

Key Skills:

• Good communication and interpersonal skills across a range of audiences, with an ability to present information verbally and in writing which is clear, concise and accurate.
• Strong customer focus with the ability to work as a key contact and provide a professional service to meet customer's needs, both individually and in groups.
• Ability to respond sensitively and flexibly to diverse groups of providers and families whilst maintaining confidentiality.
• Ability to organise/prioritise work, co-ordinate a variety of tasks in a clear and logical way and meet agreed deadlines.
• Ability to work within recognised procedures, able to effectively organise own workload.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• NVQ level 3 in childcare, play work, Family Support or related area and/or relevant experience working with parents, carers and children.
• Good knowledge of child development.
• Good understanding of the importance of parenting skills and community development with an understanding of the challenges of family life.
• Knowledge of safeguarding procedures.
• Experience of working with families in a community setting.
• Experience of working within the early years, Family Support, family centre or child health sector

For a full list of the benefits offered, you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05033.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Jonathan Bertram at .

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and cover letter.