JOB SPECIFICATION
Title: Home-Start Family Support Coordinator
Employer: Home-Start Cymru
Location: Home-based with regular travel required for home visits and team meetings. Whilst home based, the service involves assessment and reviews in the family home, attendance at meetings and volunteer supervisions which are a mix of phone based and face to face.
Responsible to: Project Manager
Responsible for: A caseload of families and volunteers; direct delivery of targeted Speech and Language interventions.
Hours: 34 per week
Salary: £25,055.24 per annum
Home-Start Cymru
Children need happy, healthy homes in order to thrive. Being a parent of young children is challenging at the best of times. Families face more pressures than ever, with many parents finding the practical and emotional demands overwhelming. That is when Home-Start Cymru can help. A carefully selected volunteer visits regularly to offer emotional and practical support.
Home-Start Cymru works with families with young children through a volunteer-led, home-visiting model of support. We combine the strengths of our network of community-based volunteers across Wales with our professional expertise in the early years. We are there for parents when they need us most, because childhood cannot wait.
Our volunteers are drawn from the communities in which they support, and the work we do not only helps parents and children, but makes a vital difference to strengthening communities.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Purpose of the Role
The Family Support Coordinator will work closely with the Project Manager to provide strengths-based support to families with babies aged 6-15 months through home visits, group work and delivery of the To and Fro programme. The post holder will support parents to strengthen communication, attachment and interaction with their babies while reducing isolation and improving confidence and wellbeing.
Job Summary:
To ensure:
- To uphold and comply with all Home-Start Cymru policies, procedures, behaviors, and values, ensuring effective day-to-day operations of the team in accordance with HSC guidance and standards.
- To maintain high standards of practice in supporting families within the Home-Start model.
- To ensure equality of opportunity, fairness and diversity in all aspects of work.
- Implement and adhere to good safeguarding practice in all areas of work.
Key Responsibilities
Service Delivery & Safeguarding
- Receiving referrals and assessing needs of families to develop family support plans.
- Deliver the To and Fro intervention in family homes.
- Ensuring all relevant documentation regarding the family’s journey is recorded appropriately.
- Introducing families to appropriate support including emotional support, practical guidance and signposting.
- Support families to identify and build on existing strengths and resilience.
- Use video feedback and reflective approaches to strengthen parent-child communication.
- Ensuring support to families is reviewed at regular intervals and at the end of Home-Start support, in line with current Home-Start guidance.
- Documenting the reviews and closures of families in accordance with Home-Start Cymru’s policies.
- Plan and facilitate parent and baby group sessions within Integrated Children's Centres.
- Promote positive parent-child interaction through play and communication activities.
- To undertake designated responsibilities to safeguard and promote children’s welfare.
Volunteer Coordination, Development & Support
- Matching and introducing volunteers to families.
- Providing support, supervision and initial and on-going training opportunities for volunteers
Collaboration & Networking
- Ensuring appropriate liaison with referrers and other professionals such as Health Visitors, Speech and Language therapists.
- Encourage peer support and community connection.
- Support families to engage with wider community services.
- Attend multi-agency meetings when necessary or requested to do so.
- Support Senior Coordinators and Project/Locality Managers in promoting the organisation, its profile, ethos and practice through presentations and participation in meetings, networking and local/regional events when required.
- Supporting Senior Coordinators and Project Managers in the development of Home-Start locally, regionally and nationally.
Additional duties
- To meet regularly with the management team, and participate in other relevant internal meetings.
- Work co-operatively with the Locality Manager and staff members to ensure project activities are delivered and targets/outcomes are met in line with funder’s requirements.
- Work to the organisation’s administration, including providing data and statistical information for reports.
- Any other additional duties that fall within the nature of the role and responsibilities of the post as detailed above.
- To understand and act in accordance with our agreed behaviours framework in everything they do in the course of their employment
- Assist to actively engage with families to capture their feedback, thereby ensuring family voices are heard and integrated into the development and improvement of services and policy objectives.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
At Home-Start Cymru we are committed to shaping an environment where everyone is valued and respected. As part of our team, you will be expected to understand and support the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in all aspects of your work. This includes promoting fairness and equality of opportunity, respecting and celebrating differences, and actively contributing to ensuring we consider each other’s experiences and views. By embracing EDI principles, we can better support each other, and the families we serve and create positive change together.
In consultation with the post holder, this job description is liable to variation by Home-Start Cymru to reflect actual, contemplated or approved changes in/or to the job.
The job holder may be required to undertake any other duties that fall within the nature of the role and responsibilities of the role as detailed above.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Education and Qualifications
- ‘A’ levels/NVQ - equivalents: Essential
- A relevant Level 3 qualification in early years, childcare, health and social care, family support, or a related field: Essential
Experience
- People management and development experience: Desirable
- Demonstrable experience of working with families and volunteer: Desirable
- Ability to work on own initiative: Essential
- Ability to communicate, negotiate and influence: Essential
- Ability to work as a member of a team: Essential
- Strong administrative skills: Essential
- Ability to inspire trust: Essential
- Aware of and sensitive to equal opportunities issues: Essential
- Passion for working in the voluntary sector: Essential
- Ability to engage with people through digital platforms: Desirable
Essential Skills and Attributes
- Empathic, calm and non-confrontational: Essential
- Energy, enthusiasm, flexibility, commitment, integrity, motivated: Essential
- Commitment to work in a non-judgemental and anti-discriminatory way : Essential
- Commitment to Home-Start Cymru’s vision, mission and purpose: Essential
- Commitment to personal and career development: Essential
- Car driver with current licence, business use motor insurance, and use of road-worthy vehicle: Essential
- Evidence of training adults: Essential
Skills and Knowledge
- Awareness of targeted speech and language courses for families in specific Counties: Desirable
- Attachment theory, early child development, and infant communication: Essential
- A commitment to modelling the behaviours which exemplify the values of the organisation: Essential
- An excellent understanding of the Voluntary Sector and Local Authority structures: Essential
- Understanding of the Family Support and Children’s Services Sector in Wales: Desirable
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, both written and orally, able to adapt style in various situations and with a range of audiences, considering the differing needs of people: Essential
- Excellent interpersonal skills, able to identify, establish and nurture productive internal and external relationships, partnerships and networks: Essential
- Good oral and written bilingual (Welsh/English) communication skills (essential/desirable depending on location): Desirable
Other
- Understanding of the management of information technology in the workplace: Essential
- Demonstrable commitment to the values and principles of the UNCRC: Essential
- Demonstrable understanding of and commitment to equality and diversity, health and safety and safeguarding: Essential
- A flexible approach to work, with the willingness to work some evening or weekend work and occasional residential training: Essential
Pay: £25,055.24 per year
Application question(s):
- Drivers License with Access to own vehicle
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: On the road
