Family Support / Community Development Worker (Part Time 28 hours)
Location of Post: St. Brigid’s Family & Community Centre, 37 Lower Yellow Road, Waterford X91 C7WT
Details of Service
St. Brigid’s Family & Community Centre provides a range of Family & Community Supports including counselling, social groups, information & advice, health and wellbeing programmes, parenting programmes, employment support, one to one parenting, outreach work and childcare targeting individuals, parents, children and families in Waterford.
Purpose of the Post
The individual appointed to this post will work as part of the St. Brigid’s Family Resource Centre Team to deliver a range of services and supports to children, families, older people, groups and individuals in Waterford.
Reporting Relationship
The individual appointed to this post will report to and will be supervised by the Manager of St. Brigid’s Family & Community Centre
Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
· To provide the required response to families referred to the service as agreed with the Manager.
· To support identified families in need
· To provide practical supports that enable parents, carers and individuals to improve outcomes for themselves and their families.
· To report and describe safeguarding concerns to the Manager.
· To work within the ethos of St. Brigid’s Family and Community Centre
· Adhere to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act (1989) policies and procedures and other relevant legislation.
· Be responsible for own health and wellbeing in order to carry out the duties of the role, and be committed to managing own work / life balance.
The ideal candidate should have:
Education & Training
· Third level qualification in Family Support / Community Development / Social Care, or related discipline
· Knowledge and experience of family support in a community-based setting
· Excellent IT and report writing skills.
· Children First & Child Protection knowledge and training
· Have participated in training and development courses relevant to the
work
Knowledge
· Thorough knowledge of safeguarding and safe practices in working with children, families and agencies
· Working knowledge of Child Protection Legislation and Guidelines and Tusla’s National Outcomes for Children and Families
· Knowledge and understanding of Data Protection, GDPR and Confidentiality issues to ensure that all information relating to clients, their families, staff colleagues etc is treated in a thoroughly professional manner, in accordance with the principles of confidentiality, Data Protection legislation and Freedom of Information.
· Knowledge and understanding of the impact of inter-disciplinary approach when working with families.
· Perform any other duties that may be assigned from time to time.
· Experience of delivering evidence-based programmes such as Parents Plus / Mellow Parenting / Rainbows is desirable.
Experience
· At least 2 years’ experience of working with families, and with groups who experience social exclusion.
· Experience of planning and providing 1 to 1 support and group interventions to children and families and individuals
· Knowledge and understanding of the issues of poverty and social exclusion and their impact on the local community.
· Experience of working with community, voluntary and statutory agencies
· Home visits may be required.
Skills and Attributes
· Excellent interpersonal, communication and listening skills.
· The ability to involve families in the decision-making process.
· The ability to deliver evidence-based parenting programmes through group work and 1 to 1 work.
· Excellent group facilitation skills
· The ability to make informed assessments of need and to formulate and implement appropriate plans in consultation with families and with the Family Support Team
· Supportive, empathetic, respectful and informative rights-based approach
· Clear understanding of confidentiality and accountability
· Strong teamwork ethic and the ability to work on own initiative.
Desirable:
· Ability to work some evenings.
· Proven experience in accessing funding.
· Experience of facilitating Parents Plus Programmes
· Experience of co-ordinating / facilitating Rainbows
· Experience of facilitating Mellow Parenting Programmes
· Own transport and full clean driver’s licence with appropriate insurance
The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to them from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.
Pay: €35,300.00 per year
Work Location: In person
