Family Practitioner CAST 1

The 2022 independent review of children’s social care has been described as a once in a generation opportunity to transform the children’s social care system and provide children with loving, safe, and stable families. The Isle of Wight, together in our partnership with Hampshire County Council who are rated as outstanding by Ofsted, we were one of the first Councils in the country to recruit to the new role of Family Practitioner described in the care review. This builds on our local success of developing and delivering multi-professional teams to support, safeguard and promote positive outcomes for children.

In our most recent Ofsted inspection in 2021, inspectors found that, ‘The resilience around families team (RAFT) works alongside children and their families to provide multi-disciplinary intervention and support. The targeted support is effective and valued by families.’

These new Family Practitioner roles will be based in pairs within each of our four Children’s Assessment and Safeguarding Teams (CAST) teams. You will have a comprehensive induction and training programme.

As a Family Practitioner you will work with specific children and young people on a child in need plan decided by the Team Manager, taking account of the needs of the family and your existing and developing skills and experience.

You will jointly undertake initial assessments of need with social worker colleagues in specific situations, develop and progress family plans as well as delivering a range of tasks and interventions; all within our strengths-based framework aimed at keeping more children safely at home. 

We are looking for practitioners who can demonstrate previous experience of working with vulnerable children, young people, and families, with the skills to motivate and engage families to make, and sustain, positive change. 

In your role you will have regular supervision which will also ensure that you are accessing the training you require to fulfil your role and to support your professional development. Some non-social worker roles, like this one, within the service offer the opportunity for post-holders to start to train as social workers within children’s social care.

As well as being a great place to work within a supportive team, we also offer a competitive remuneration package.

When you join #TeamIWC you'll receive our staff benefits package, including:

-  Annual leave entitlement of 32 days p/a PLUS public holidays!

-  Local Government pension scheme

-  Discounted Solent ferry travel

-  Island bus network discount

-  Cycle to work scheme

-  Staff parking permit scheme

-  Discounted island sports & leisure gym membership

-  National and local discounts & benefits schemes

A relocation scheme of up to £8,000 may be available to new employees specifically relocating to the Isle of Wight to take up a role with us. If you choose to commute to the Isle of Wight daily, you may be eligible get your travel costs reimbursed. Further details are available upon request.

Find out more about working for the Isle of Wight Council and living on the Island here.

The Isle of Wight Council protects its employees from discrimination and this is supported by the Unacceptable Behaviour Policy, Employee Code of Conduct and Behaviours Framework. We actively promote the diversity of our workforce and we provide flexible working options (where appropriate) to support the different needs of our employees.

The Isle of Wight Council’s Terms & Conditions of employment are available upon request. Please contact our recruitment team via adverts@iow.gov.uk if you would like to receive a copy.

The Isle of Wight Council is an equal opportunities employer, who is proud to encourage applications from all cultures, backgrounds and abilities to better reflect the diversity within our local community. In addition to this, we are also a Disability Confident Employer. Along with a number of other areas of commitments, this means that providing you meet the basic essential requirements of the advertised role and have declared yourself as disabled, you will be offered an opportunity for an interview within the council.

This council and its schools recruit according to the council’s Recruitment, Policy and Procedure and are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.

This role falls within the strategic partnership between the Isle of Wight Council and Hampshire County Council. The employer will be the Isle of Wight Council and employment is on Isle of Wight terms and conditions. Hampshire County Council has delivered, on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council, all of its children’s services functions and will continue to do so until 2023. The original five-year partnership arrangement under direction of the Secretary of State finished in 2018 but has been extended voluntarily by both local authorities for a further five years.

The management reporting line for this role is ultimately through Hampshire County Council Children’s Services Director/Assistant Director and managers who take operational responsibility for children’s services.

If you have difficulty completing your online application or if you need further information about how to apply, telephone 01983 823134 or email callcentre@iow.gov.uk. Please note only applications completed and submitted online by the closing date will be accepted.

We often receive a high volume of applicants for our vacancies. If you do not hear from the recruiting manager within three weeks of the closing date, we regret that your application will not have been successful on this occasion. If unsuccessful, we actively encourage you to revisit our job pages and apply to alternate posts that may be suitable.