Senior Family Practitioner PO1

Who You Are

A Senior Family Practitioner is typically an experienced social care professional who undertakes complex casework, provides practice leadership, and supports less experienced practitioners within children's services, family support, early help, or safeguarding teams.

What the job involves

To provide high-quality assessment, intervention, and support services to children, young people, and families with complex needs, ensuring their safety, wellbeing, and positive outcomes. The role also includes mentoring practitioners, contributing to service development, and promoting best practice.

Key responsibilities include:

• Manage a caseload of complex and high-risk family cases.
• Undertake comprehensive assessments of children and families.
• Develop, implement, and review support and intervention plans.
• Monitor progress and evaluate outcomes for children and families.
• Lead or contribute to child protection enquiries and safeguarding investigations.
• Build effective relationships with children, young people, parents, and carers.
• Mentor newly qualified or less experienced staff.
• Work closely with schools, health services, police, housing providers, and voluntary agencies.
• Prepare reports for court proceedings when required.
• Contribute to policy development and service improvement initiatives.

Skills

• Strong understanding of safeguarding and child protection legislation
• Knowledge of the Children Act 1989 and 2004
• Excellent assessment, analytical, and report-writing skills
• Ability to manage conflict and challenging situations
• Effective communication and partnership-working skills
• Experience of direct work with children and families
• Leadership, coaching, and mentoring abilities