Ahp2 Child Wellbeing Practitioner

**Department of Human Services**

**Job reference**: 534875

**Location**: 5112 - ELIZABETH

**Job status**: Long Term Contract

**Eligibility**: Open to Everyone

**Role Highlights**
- Access excellent learning and development opportunities
- Flexible working arrangements available
- Provide a range of services to promote wellbeing of young people

**Role Details**

The SA Government has committed to reforming the child protection system in South Australia. The Department of Human Services (DHS) has lead responsibility for implementing the Child and Family Support System reform, in which Safer Family Services plays a key part. Safer Family Services (SFS) provides help and support to children and their families at risk of harm, neglect and family violence, by deliberately and strongly intervening to disrupt the patterns of intergenerational trauma, and increase the number of children able to be cared for safely in their homes, connected to culture and community. This is particularly relevant for children and families with multiple and complex needs.
The Child Wellbeing Program (CWP) is a targeted program aimed at assisting Education staff to quickly identify vulnerable children and their families, to engage them in, and with, timely and appropriate support services, resulting in fewer children and families reaching the level of concern that requires a statutory child protection response. Child Wellbeing staff work closely with Education sites, to enhance their ability to engage with families in a setting that is generally perceived by children and families to be accepting and positive. The Child Wellbeing Program has been designed to provide an integral link between Education sites, Child Protection operational services and Department of Human Services (DHS), Safer Family Services (SFS). Child Wellbeing staff will build and support collaborative systemic responses across pre-statutory child protection systems, across government and non-government service sectors.
The Child Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) works to support and engage directly with vulnerable children, young people and families at risk, and is accountable to the Supervisor, Child Wellbeing Program (CWP) for:

- strengthening communication and understanding between the Department for Child Protection (DCP), Department for Education (EDU), and Health systems for timely and effective service responses to meeting the needs of children and their families
- demonstrating effective case practice and case management, providing high quality and effective service delivery to respond to the needs of children and their families in a timely manner and in a supportive diversionary role
- promoting and developing partnerships with government and non-government support services, to identify and implement responses to mitigate child protection risk (including domestic and family violence) for vulnerable children and their families
- creating opportunities to work in collaboration with other services to effectively link vulnerable children and families to relevant services
- identifying risk and assessing the needs of vulnerable children and families, planning and delivering focussed intervention to safeguard children and young people within their families and communities to promote positive outcomes.

Key outcomes and accountabilities
1. Develop local, regional, and state-wide networks with a broad range of government and non-government agencies, including building and maintaining effective partnerships within Education sites to promote outcomes for vulnerable children, young people and families at risk of a statutory response.
2. Contribute to the professional knowledge base; reinforce professional ethics and standards in decision making. Integrate contemporary information and research evidence with practice experience to support decision making, innovative thinking and objective analysis and case work.
3. Consult with Cultural Elders, Cultural consultants, and other relevant community members, to enhance culturally appropriate and accessible services to all client groups (with particular focus on Aboriginal children, young people and their families).
4. Lead or co-work the delivery of supportive diversionary responses to children and their families, identified as at risk, including undertaking home visits, providing case management services, and recording all client related activity in identified data systems.
5. Engaging with the Supervisor, Senior Practitioner, and other specialist practitioners (as required), through supervision, regular case discussion and reflective practice sessions, including contributing to complex case reviews, and implementation of evidence-based practice which provide high quality services for vulnerable children, young people and their families.
6. Manage complex cases, including implementing case conference (when required) with children, young people, their families and agencies, including delivery of support services for children