Terms and Conditions: Fixed term for 12 months with potential to be extended, 37 hours per week position
Department: Children's and Education
Interview date: 14th September 2026
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Family Help Engage Team as an Family Help Engage Practitioner.
One Full Time Fixed-Term post covering maternity leave available from as soon as possible until February 2027
The Family Help Engage Team is a multiagency team who specialise in supporting children and young people who are at risk of and experiencing child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation, and those who go missing from home.
We are seeking to appoint a highly motivated and experienced individual, who will support some of our most vulnerable children and young people. Possessing effective risk management skills, you will be knowledgeable in the complexities of exploitation and able to adapt to the challenges of the role.
As a Family Help Engage Practitioner you will be required to work intensively with young people and their families. Adopting a trauma-informed approach, you will complete complex, analytical child exploitation assessments, deliver direct work interventions and work creatively to engage and maintain positive working relationships with young people. You will have an understanding of Contextual Safeguarding as an approach to increasing safety and disrupting harm, and will be required to liaise effectively with colleagues in the Police, Health, Ivison Trust, Children's Social Care along with other partner agencies, and contribute to decision making forums.
You will be working in a locality from a family hub, where services are accessible to children, young people and their families.
The Family Help Engage Practitioner role is rewarding and varied, and you will also be required to prepare and deliver awareness raising and training. You will also complete return home interviews for children who go missing from home.
To meet the needs of the service out of hours and flexible working may be required.
This is an essential car user post and is also subject to DBS and Police Vetting.
Should you want to find out more about the role or have any questions, please contact Family Help Engage Team Managers - Joanne Fearns [email protected] Megan Cottam [email protected]
The Government has confirmed plans to reorganise local government across Lancashire. From April 2028, the current 15 councils will be replaced by four new unitary councils covering North, South, East and West Lancashire.
If you're successful in your application, you'll initially join Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. As part of the reorganisation, your employment will transfer to the new East Lancashire council from April 2028.
We're committed to continuing to deliver excellent services throughout this transition. By joining us now, you'll be part of an important period of change and have the opportunity to help shape the future of local government for local communities.
