Specialist Support Worker – Children’s Residential Stabilisation Home
Location: Letchworth Garden City, HertfordshireSalary: £16.00–£17.00 per hour, depending on experienceHours: Full-time / shift work including days, evenings, weekends and waking nightsJob Type: Permanent
Experienced Senior Support Workers & Team Leaders – We Want to Hear From You
Oliver House is a specialist children’s residential stabilisation home in Letchworth Garden City, supporting young people who have experienced significant trauma, instability and placement breakdown.
We are not looking for standard residential Support Workers.
We are looking for experienced practitioners who have the confidence, maturity and professional judgement to work with young people whose needs and behaviours may have resulted in multiple placement breakdowns.
Our ideal candidates will have substantial experience working in children’s homes at Senior Support Worker, Team Leader or equivalent level.
We will also consider applicants from other sectors where they can demonstrate substantial and highly relevant transferable experience.
Salary: £16–£17 per hour depending on experience.
About Oliver House
Oliver House provides a structured period of therapeutic stabilisation for young people who require intensive support before moving into a longer-term placement.
Our aim is not simply to maintain a placement.
We work with young people to:
Stabilise → Understand → Develop → Transition
The programme is designed to help young people develop emotional regulation, establish positive relationships, increase their sense of safety and develop the skills required to successfully transition into a stable longer-term placement.
Young people referred to Oliver House may have experienced multiple placement breakdowns and may present with complex or challenging behaviours, including:
- Emotional dysregulation
- Aggression or challenging behaviour
- Trauma-related behaviours
- Attachment difficulties
- Self-injurious or high-risk behaviours
- Placement instability
- Complex social and emotional needs
- Difficulties engaging with professionals and services
Our approach is trauma-informed, therapeutic and relational.
We seek to understand what sits behind behaviour, rather than simply responding to the behaviour itself.
About the role
As a Specialist Support Worker, you will play a central role in the young person’s therapeutic journey.
You will:
- Build positive, consistent and trusting relationships with young people.
- Provide emotionally regulated and predictable care.
- Support young people through periods of significant dysregulation.
- Implement individualised therapeutic and behavioural strategies.
- Support young people to develop emotional regulation and coping strategies.
- Contribute to assessments, care planning and risk management.
- Complete high-quality daily records and incident reports.
- Work closely with managers, therapists and other professionals.
- Support structured activities and community engagement.
- Promote independence, education and positive routines.
- Participate in key-working sessions.
- Help young people understand and reflect on their behaviours.
- Maintain professional boundaries while developing meaningful relationships.
- Contribute to preparing young people for their transition into a longer-term placement.
- Act as a positive role model at all times.
- Work as part of a highly consistent and reflective team.
Who we’re looking for
We are particularly interested in applicants who are currently working, or have previously worked, as:
- Senior Residential Support Worker
- Team Leader
- Senior Children’s Residential Practitioner
- Deputy Manager
- Experienced Key Worker
- Experienced Children’s Home Practitioner
You should have substantial experience of working with young people with complex needs and be comfortable taking responsibility within a residential environment.
We will also consider applicants from other sectors where they can demonstrate substantial relevant transferable experience.
Potential backgrounds could include:
- Youth justice
- CAMHS or mental health services
- Specialist education
- Secure or semi-secure settings
- Social care
- Supported accommodation
- Therapeutic services
- Autism and learning disability services
- Specialist behavioural services
What matters to us is not simply the job title you currently hold.
We want people who have real experience of managing complex situations, building relationships and making sound professional decisions under pressure.
This role is not for everyone
We are not looking for someone simply wanting to start their career in residential childcare.
Our young people require staff who can walk into a difficult situation, remain calm, think therapeutically and make good professional decisions.
You need to be able to:
- Remain calm when a young person is dysregulated.
- Maintain boundaries without unnecessarily escalating situations.
- Challenge behaviour without damaging relationships.
- Understand the difference between behaviour management and therapeutic support.
- Reflect on your own practice.
- Work consistently as part of a team.
- Follow risk management and safeguarding procedures.
- Recognise when a situation requires escalation.
- Build relationships with young people who may initially reject support.
Essential requirements
You must:
- Have substantial relevant experience working with children, young people or individuals with complex needs.
- Ideally have experience at Senior Support Worker, Team Leader or equivalent level within children’s residential care.
- Be confident managing challenging behaviour and emotionally difficult situations.
- Demonstrate excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
- Be able to maintain professional boundaries.
- Be emotionally resilient and able to remain calm under pressure.
- Understand safeguarding and professional responsibility.
- Be willing to work shifts, including evenings, weekends and waking nights.
- Be willing to undertake the training required for the role.
- Hold or be willing to obtain an enhanced DBS check.
- Hold a full UK driving licence and be able to drive as part of the role.
What we value
Qualifications are important, but experience, attitude and emotional maturity matter just as much.
We want people who:
Stay calm when others are not.
See the young person behind the behaviour.
Can challenge without confrontation.
Can provide boundaries without damaging relationships.
Can think rather than simply react.
Understand that consistency is therapeutic.
Want to make a genuine difference to young people’s lives.
What we offer
- £16.00–£17.00 per hour, depending on experience.
- Specialist experience working within a therapeutic stabilisation model.
- Comprehensive training and ongoing professional development.
- Regular supervision and reflective practice.
- The opportunity to work alongside therapeutic and clinical professionals.
- A supportive management team.
- Opportunities for progression within the service.
- The opportunity to develop specialist skills working with complex young people.
- Waking night shifts rather than sleep-in duties.
- The opportunity to be part of a service designed around achieving meaningful, sustainable outcomes.
The opportunity
Oliver House is being developed around a simple principle:
Stabilise. Understand. Develop. Transition.
We want young people to leave Oliver House in a significantly better position than when they arrived.
That requires exceptional staff.
If you are an experienced residential childcare professional who wants to work somewhere that values relationships, therapeutic practice and genuine outcomes, we would like to hear from you.
How to apply
Please submit your CV along with a supporting statement explaining:
- Your experience working with complex young people.
- The level of responsibility you have held within previous roles.
- Your experience managing challenging or high-risk behaviour.
- Why you believe you would be suited to the Oliver House stabilisation model.
- How you would contribute to helping a young person successfully transition into a longer-term placement.
Pay: £16.00-£17.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
