Family Support Practitioner

Be a part of a service that Ofsted rated outstanding in 2024 and where we are always looking for creative ways to further improve our services to children and families. The Family Support Practitioner provides timely and flexible early help and family support to children, young people and parents/carers. They work in partnership with families and engage informal and formal support networks in their communities to ensure lasting positive outcomes. They encourage resilience to enable families to build strong relationships and strategies to deal confidently with the ups and downs of parenting and family life. 

Main duties of the job 

Day to day, you will provide direct family support through a range of means including face to face in the family home, in community venues and online. You will be responsible for a caseload of families with a range of needs from the practical to the complex. You’ll collaborate with families and partners to agree on where they need help, completing family friendly assessments and plans that look holistically at family needs and aims. Your support will strengthen family resilience, reduce family stressors and improve family outcomes. You will also use your skills to facilitate parenting programmes and advice sessions. You will proactively engage and work collaboratively with schools and other community partners to validate and enhance the support they provide to families and share information, advice and guidance. 

Working for your organisation 

Bright Futures offers help to families with children aged five to nineteen years old. Early intervention and prevention is at the heart of our work. This role is part of a locality team which delivers flexible help to any family needing advice or support, provides a rapid response to families, and wraps around universal services to help with emerging needs as early as possible. The teams also offer longer term support when needed to assist families with multiple complex needs to cope with stress and build resilience. The aim is to enable children and families to reach their full potential and to support our local communities. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates to ensure we have a diverse workforce which is 

representative of the local community. 

For further details contact Ross Alderton: [email removed]

Detailed job description and main responsibilities 

• Provide a flexible, graduated approach which responds to the identified needs of families. This will range from offering hands on practical help to intensive support to families in their homes at a variety of times including early morning, evenings or at weekends.

• Undertake the role of Lead Professional, co-ordinating the professional network through a Team around the Family and one whole family plan which is reviewed and adjusted regularly in order to meet the family’s continuing needs. 

• Complete collaborative early help assessments and SMART family friendly action plans to address family needs and improve family functioning. 

• Establish effective professional relationships with key partners such as health, employment services, targeted and specialist services, schools, housing and early years’ settings. 

• Work in partnership with parents/carers to increase parental confidence and capacity, supporting healthy attachment and encouraging containing and nurturing relationships that promote child development. 

• Contribute to the implementation, delivery and evaluation of evidence based early intervention practice models including parenting programmes in partnership with other professionals. 

• Maintain accurate, up-to-date and succinct records that demonstrates work completed and progress towards outcomes. 

• Help families to develop their resilience by maintaining an up to date knowledge of national and local resources available to families in their locality, including through the voluntary and community sector, faith based organisations, universal services such as play and youth and training and employment services. 

• Deliver interventions that improve children’s outcomes such as encouraging the take up of early education provision for 2, 3 and 4 year olds; ensuring school attendance is a priority for children and young people; improving the management of health issues; reducing antisocial behaviour and offending; addressing the impact of domestic violence and abuse and providing support and guidance for families to enable them to progress to work or gain successful employment. 

• To work in accordance with local and national child protection and safeguarding procedures and adhere to London Borough of Islington policies and procedures. 

• Ensure that interventions are trauma informed and rooted in motivational practice, including participation in group and individual supervision, reflecting on practice, contributing to quality assurance and self-evaluation. 

Benefits

Islington is a place rich with diversity and culture. As a council our sense of purpose couldn’t be clearer: we serve. It’s in the logo. We are committed to challenging inequality in the borough and as one of the largest employers we know that to look after the place and the planet, we have to look after our people. Together we can change the future.

We are determined to create a more equal Islington, where everyone who lives here has an equal chance to thrive. 

To do this, everyone who works at Islington Council lives by a set of values which guide us in everything that we do: collaborative, ambitious, resourceful, and empowering. They spell out ‘CARE’, which is what we think public service is all about. 

Our offer to you We are committed to challenging inequality in the borough and as one of the largest employers we know that to look after the place and the planet, we have to look after our people. Our staff benefits include:

• Up to 31 days leave per year, increasing to 36 days after five years of local government service
• A range of flexible working arrangements to maintain a healthy work-life balance, as well as a 35-hour working week
• Learning and development opportunities to maximise your potential
• Competitive pay and a commitment to paying all staff the London Living Wage at minimum
• Excellent local government pension scheme
• Cycle to Work scheme and discounted gym memberships
• Local discounts from restaurants, shops, health and beauty therapists, and more!

Please note: Priority will be given to those at risk of redundancy within Islington Council. Current employees who are part of the redeployment pool must meet the essential criteria for shortlisting to be prioritised. Workforce Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement We are dedicated to creating an inclusive and equitable workforce, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our workforce strategy places equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of everything we do, reaffirming our commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion. We strive to create an environment where all colleagues feel they belong and can safely express their thoughts, ideas, and challenges, without fear of judgement or discrimination.

We maintain a zero-tolerance approach to any unlawful discrimination, harassment, or victimisation on the grounds of any protected characteristics under the 2010 Equality Act, including but not limited to race, disability, sexual orientation, sex, religion and belief, age, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy, and maternity. Any incidents of discrimina