Description
Job Description & Person Specification >
We are looking to recruit a committed and skilled Family Support Worker to join Torbay Children’s Services. We currently have one 37 hour position and one 22.2 hour position available.
Family Time (contact) is a critical part of a child’s journey through care, and in this role you will be central to ensuring that the time children spend with their families is safe, meaningful, and focused on positive outcomes.
As a Family Support Worker, you will be responsible for overseeing and supporting contact between children and their parents and wider family members. You will help to promote safe relationships while contributing to ongoing assessment and care planning, ensuring that Family Time is both purposeful and child-centred.
In this role, you will supervise Family Time sessions in a safe and supportive environment, ensuring the wellbeing of children at all times. You will observe interactions carefully and produce clear, accurate recordings that contribute to social work assessments and decision-making. You will support children before, during, and after Family Time, recognising and responding to their emotional needs, particularly where there has been trauma or disruption.
You will work closely with social workers, foster carers, and other professionals to ensure a joined-up approach to planning and reviewing Family Time. You will promote a trauma-informed and child-centred approach in all aspects of your work, while also supporting parents to engage positively with their children. The role requires confidence in managing challenging situations calmly and professionally, always maintaining appropriate boundaries and prioritising safety.
Family Time is more than a supervised session; it is a vital opportunity to maintain and strengthen relationships, support children’s identity and emotional wellbeing, and inform key decisions about their future. The quality of this work can have a lasting impact on children’s lives, and your role will be essential in helping to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and families in Torbay.
This post will be carrying out Regulated Activity. As such the post will require an Enhanced Criminal Record Check plus an additional Barred List Check. The check will reveal any spent and unspent convictions and adult cautions (which have not been filtered), any local Police information and a check of either the Adult, Child or Adult and Child Barred Lists.
If you are viewing this advert on a job board, you can access the full job description by placing the below URL into your browser:
https://www.torbay.gov.uk/jobs/job-descriptions/family-support-worker/
For an informal chat please contact Katie Cavanna on 07345 768667 or katie.cavanna@torbay.gov.uk.
Interviews are expected to be conducted during the week commencing 1st June 2026.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
Our adverts do sometimes close early - even where there's a published deadline - so if you're keen, please apply as soon as possible.
Skills
Essential:
* Ability to observe and engage with a child/children and adults on a 1:1 or group situation.
* Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate clearly, accurately and positively with parents, children and colleagues.
* Ability to give advice and support to parents/carers on issues of child development.
* Ability to undertake supervised contact for children and their families and hold a caseload.
* Ability to work with families as part of a specified plan.
This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
Knowledge
Essential:
* Sound knowledge of child development.
* Sound knowledge of child protection.
* Awareness of confidentiality issues.
* Knowledge/awareness of the theories of 'positive self-esteem' and 'attachment/separation' task centered, time-limited work with children and/or families.
* Practicing knowledge of the Children Act 1989 and the Framework for Assessment of Children in Need and their Families.
Experience & Qualifications
Essential:
* Educated to GCSE O Level standard or equivalent.
* Formal professional qualification, e.g., NVQ3/4, Probation, Social Work, NNEB, RGN.
* Training in a relevant discipline.
* Experience of work in a statutory, voluntary or private capacity with children / adults / parents / carers.
* A proven ability to undertake individual and family work with children and their families/carers.
Please review the available pages within the careers site .
A list of employer benefits can be found here .