West London Family Support Worker

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Title: West London Family Support Worker

Team/Directorate: Family Support Team

Salary range/pay band: £26,104 - £28,308

Reports to: Family Support Lead

Direct reports: None

Reports to:Family Support Lead

Direct reports:None

Hours:22.5 - 37.5 hours per week

Location:Shooting Star House, Hampton and work out in the community

Job holder:Vacant

Main purpose of Family Support Worker role

Family Support Workers carry a caseload of end-of-life and bereaved families. They get to know each family, and check-in regularly with phone calls and home visits. Our Family Support Workers tell the families about the different care and many services they can access at Shooting Star.

Our West London Family Support Worker helps families in this area, who may find it more difficult to learn about and access Shooting Stars care services. This includes families of different ethnicities, and families living in poverty.

Our dedicated team of Family Support Workers work closely with our Therapists, Counsellors, Social Workers, Transition Team and our Care Events Team. Weekly meetings bring the team together to think of ways to help families in crisis. The work is varied and creative, taking place at the hospices, in family homes and hospitals, allowing the support to be where the families need it. Our Family Support Workers are hugely appreciated by the families we support.

Main duties and key responsibilities

Individual responsibilities

To help children, young people and families receive holistic care that considers all aspects of health and wellbeing, from the point of referral through the three years and three months after a child dies.

To build connections with families from different backgrounds, learning about what is important to Shooting Star families and helping to ensure our service is as inclusive as possible.

To understand different practices associated with the many cultures and faith groups in the communities supported by Shooting Star.

To be a first responder at the time of a childs death, providing emotional and practical support, in a way that is sensitive to a familys culture and wishes.

To be the Named Team Member of end-of-life and bereaved families, delivering care outlined in our bereavement pathway.

To act as an advocate for families, making sure their views and needs are heard.

To carry out initial assessments for those referred to the bereavement service, gathering relevant details about a family and presenting this to the wider multi-disciplinary team.

To identify ways to help hard-to-reach families feel confident and safe accessing our care.

To design, propose and deliver bespoke bereavement plans for families requiring a higher level of care, suggesting frequency of contact and support measures. To seek longer-term solutions to benefit the family, including social prescribing.

To help families to access welfare support such as local food banks.

To help the team personalize care thoughtfully, in order that families of all backgrounds can engage with support that is helpful to them. To take time to transition families from our bereavement service to appropriate support in their locality, personalized to their needs.

To discuss all work with children, young people and families openly in clinical supervision and with appropriate professionals, enabling reflective practice and development of knowledge, understanding and skills.

Teamwork

To participate in the duty roster, answering queries from families seeking support in person, via the Family Support Line or email.

To work in partnership with the wider care team, for example assisting with memory making and supporting siblings, sharing knowledge and understanding of working with families from different cultures.

To help provide groups and events for supported and bereaved children and their families, including siblings trips, bereavement cafes and drop-ins.

To support communication with families concerning event attendance, to strive to increase engagement and access. To ensure all services are inclusive and accessible to families of different cultures and backgrounds.

To attend and participate in internal and external meetings, contributing to multi-disciplinary discussions.

To form effective inter-agency collaboration with schools, GPs, social services, child death review teams and other external professionals.

To identify places of worship, community centres and childrens centres who are important in the lives of Shooting Star families, and to build positive partnerships to further support families.

To ensure that the wider team is informed of any relevant changes in the family, child or young persons needs or circumstances.

To act as an ambassador for Shooting Stars Specialist Bereavement Service, supporting other Named Team Members with their learning and delivery of the bereavement pathway, and continually seeking ways to improve quality.

Learning and safeguarding compliance

Our Family Support Workers receive a full program of training so that they can provide excellent bereavement care, helping families with everything they need at the time their child dies and for three years and three months after.

To be a responsible and independent learner, completing competency training.

To engage in the learning and development program, building knowledge and understanding relevant to the delivery of psychosocial care.

To learn about the different practices in end of life and bereavement care, associated with cultures and faith groups in the communities supported by Shooting Star.

To share skills, knowledge and learning with members of the direct and wider team.

To safeguard children, young people and adults, adhering to Safeguarding policies.

To work to identify and understanding of the barriers that may prevent families from accessing care.

To ensure accurate and contemporaneous notes and records of all contacts are recorded within the electronic notes system.

The post holder must hold a driving license and be able and willing to work from Shooting Star House in Hampton, and to travel to homes in the borough of Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster. From time to time, you may be asked to travel to our Christophers hospice and to other homes and hospitals in the Shooting Star catchment.

The post holder will be required to apply for a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

The post holder will be working in a developing environment, and he/she will therefore be expected to undertake other appropriate duties as required for the effective operation of Shooting Star Childrens Hospices.

Person Specification

Experience, Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• 1 year of experience working with individuals experiencing hardship, trauma, mental health difficulties or social vulnerabilities.
• Confidence to be a hospice first-responder, for example to be sent to a family in hospital of a child who is imminently dying or has just died.
• Relatability and likeability that would enable children, young people, and parents to welcome support from Shooting Stars Specialist Bereavement Service.
• A caring and reassuring approach that would help a family feel safe in the face of trauma/death.
• An individual willing to learn about anticipatory grief, acute grief, and living with grief. A passion for ongoing learning and development.
• Awareness of issues of equality and diversity, with an ability to personalise care and enhance accessibility, removing barriers that may prevent engagement.
• Understanding of boundaries around the role in relation to children, young people and families.
• Ability to anticipate risk and think creatively about support measures that will enable the best outcomes for families.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage time effectively.
• Good literacy skills.
• Able to work 1 or 2 weekend days each month.
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams).
• Car owner/driver with full UK drivers licence.

Desirable

• Experience of managing a caseload and working alongside other professionals to find best outcomes.
• NVQ Level 2 in Health and Social Care (this qualification is desirable, not essential).
• Social Worker or counselling qualification (this qualification is desirable, not essential).
• Proficiency in a second language.
• Professional experience working with bereaved families in a statutory or voluntary setting.
• Previous paid or voluntary work supporting families who experience the expected or unexpected death of a baby, child or young person.
• Knowledge of Safeguarding procedures and experience in raising concern appropriately.
• Experience of designing and facilitating support groups and events.
• Experience of volunteering or working within hospice care.
• Mental health first aid qualification.
• Evidence of professional development.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Shooting Star Children’s Hospices

Address

Shooting Star Childrens Hospice

The Avenue

Hampton

Middlesex

TW12 3RA

Employer's website

https://www.shootingstar.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)