Salary: £33,143 – £36,363 a year plus £963 essential car user allowance
Hours per week: 16
Contract type: Permanent
As a Family Worker at Luton Council, you will play a key role in supporting children, young people, and their families to achieve positive and sustainable change. You will work directly with families in their homes and communities, completing high-quality assessments and developing family support plans that are rooted in their strengths, needs, and aspirations. Managing risk appropriately, you will ensure families receive the right level of support at the right time.
In this role, you will co-produce and co-deliver targeted interventions alongside partner agencies, contributing to a coordinated multi-agency approach based on clear working agreements with families. You will develop and deliver practical interventions to support parenting skills, strengthen family relationships, build self-confidence, improve understanding of child development, and help families manage challenging behaviours. You will also have the opportunity to develop specialist expertise in an agreed area of family support.
A key part of your role will be ensuring the voice of the child is always heard, represented, and acted upon in all planning and decision-making. You will complete professional assessments of need and risk in line with Department of Health and Luton Council criteria, taking a lead role in coordinating multi-agency responses for children in need.
You will plan and implement effective interventions using available resources, working collaboratively with families and professional partners to ensure needs are met. You will promote anti-discriminatory practice, empowerment, and inclusive approaches throughout your work.
The role also requires maintaining accurate case records, statistics, and documentation, and preparing professional reports or witness statements for court when required, ensuring full compliance with relevant policies, procedures, and statutory guidance.
Regular review of families’ needs is essential, and you will take responsibility for monitoring progress, identifying any changes in circumstances, and arranging or chairing multi-agency meetings to ensure support remains effective and responsive.
Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.
You will bring a strong commitment to improving outcomes for children, young people, and families, along with experience working directly with disabled children and those with diverse needs and abilities. You are confident in making professional judgements within a multi-disciplinary setting and can manage complex cases where vulnerability and risk are present, often with minimal supervision.
You will be an effective communicator, able to build meaningful relationships with children, families, and a wide range of professionals. You can express yourself clearly both orally and in writing, producing high-quality records, concise reports, and accurate case documentation. You are confident using IT systems for case recording and information management.
A collaborative team player, you will contribute your expertise while also supporting shared learning within the team. You can work to strict deadlines and targets, using your initiative to prioritise work and respond to changing needs. You have the ability to lead and chair multi-disciplinary meetings, negotiate resources, and identify gaps in service provision to help shape effective support for families.
You will have a solid understanding of child development, family dynamics, and the statutory duties under the Children Act 1989. You can manage crisis situations calmly and safely, always following health and safety procedures. Your practice will demonstrate a commitment to equality, anti-discriminatory approaches, and inclusion.
You will hold a minimum Level 3 qualification in childcare, social care, counselling, youth work, education, or an equivalent relevant field, or bring substantial experience that demonstrates your capability. The role requires the ability to visit families in their homes regularly and to work flexibly, including occasional work outside normal office hours.
Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision – that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty – is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.
The people of Luton depend heavily on this council – and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?
We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough
Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person’s criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.
On occasions, we may close a vacancy early due to a very high number of applications being received.
We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:
– From 25 to 32 days’ annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
– Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
– Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
– Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant
– Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
– Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
– Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
– Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
– Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
– Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel
We understand that job applications take time and effort, but a high-quality application shows that you are professional with a good attention to detail. The recruiting manager may receive a number of applications for each job advertised so you want yours to stand out!
Our ‘How to apply’ page has more tips to help with your application: How to apply
