• Part time for 22.5 hours per week - may include Saturday and evening working
• Fixed term until 31/10/2025
• 25 days annual leave, raising to 28 after 5 years, pro rata
• You will need to be able to travel countywide, including travel out of the county where needed and to areas that are not currently serviced by public transport.
• Family Time Sessions will vary in length and depending on travel time required sessions will run from 1 hour plus.
• This will be an opportunity to develop skills in supporting families to have time with one another.

We’re working to improve the lives of children and families in Somerset – and you’ll be a key part of that.

You will supervise the time children in our care spend with their parents/family. This is crucial work in supporting children’s family connection and emotional well-being. Sometimes the work is part of a care plan agreed in court.

Family time takes place in a range of settings including our family time centres, in the community and at the homes of relatives. As a family time worker you will:

• Supervise the important time children spend with family members.
• Work with parents and carers to encourage and empower them to participate as fully as possible in the Family Time sessions and provide advice and support as required.
• Participate in the assessment of the quality of family time and provide advice, support and assistance to parents/relatives to allow them to safely care for children during sessions.
• Keep a written record of the session.

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be. But it will really help if you have:

• some experience in caring or supportive role – not necessarily in paid employment.
• some experience of working with individuals and professionals
• the ability or willingness to undertake direct work with children and their families to improve parenting skills and relationships.
• an Awareness and understanding of rights of users and carers and the principles embodied within the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers.
• a positive attitude to the use of computers and willingness to develop appropriate skills including communication on various virtual platforms.

You will:

• have experience working as part of a team and be good at developing interpersonal relationships with families and professionals,
• need to be confident transporting children to and from sessions

We’re proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more.

The salary for this role is £14,529 to £15,798 per annum for 22.5 hours per week.

For an informal chat about the role, you can contact:

Hayley Reed, Family Time Leader at hayley.reed@somerset.gov.uk

When completing your application/CV please provide your full employment history and ensure that any gaps in employment are explained. Please start with your current or most recent employment.

We anticipate offering and conducting interviews ahead of the closing date for suitable candidates.

If you have all the information you need, just hit the apply button - we can’t wait to hear from you.

This post requires a criminal background check via the Disclosure procedure.