Family Preservation and Reunification Response

Practitioner - Family Preservation & Reunification Response

Full-time - 7 months Contract

Sunshine, VIC

About Us

At Baptcare, we care. Our Mission and Vision are lived through our WE CARE Values: for our residents, customers, clients, partners, and supporters; with the very young through to the very old, the vulnerable, with families through all of life’s stages and challenges.

Baptcare is a purpose driven organisation working across Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. Focused on providing residential and community care for older people and support to children, families, and people with disability, financially disadvantaged people and people seeking asylum.

Our Values are Wellbeing, Ethics, Co-creating, Accountability, Respect and Effectiveness.

About the Role

The Family Preservation and Reunification Response (FPRR) Practitioner supports infants, children and young people living with their parents or other family members with a specific focus on supporting caregivers to sustain placements and the reunification of children to their parents. The role reports to the Family Preservation Team Leader and indirectly to the Children and Family Services Manager.

This role focuses on providing a rapid, intensive, wraparound service, in close partnership with partner agencies, to deliver a collaborative case management approach. This role, prioritises and builds strong and positive communication and relationships with Aboriginal People and children and families from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds.

**Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to**:
**Client outcomes**: Commitment to the delivery of evidence-informed service and best practice to vulnerable children, youth and families with complex needs, children with a disability; children and families from a culturally or linguistically diverse background; and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

**Child Safe**: Commitment to the safety, well-being and best interests of children and young people, and duty of care in the prevention, identification, and response to child abuse.

**Sustainable service delivery**: Compliance with budgets, procedures, and protocols to meet best practice and compliance with legislation, Baptcare quality systems, and contractual requirements.

**Strategic Partnership**: Maintain and encourage positive working relationships with key stakeholders including funding bodies and membership of key networks.

**Team development**: Participate, assist, and support the immediate and broader team to implement evidence-based practice and ensure exceptional client service and outcomes-based support to clients.

Promotion of a high-performance client centric culture.

Workplace Health & Safety Responsibilities.

About You

You are passionate about continuing to grow your career in the Family and Community Services space. Solutions focused and up for making a difference, you align your approach to strategy to achieve organisational and divisional goals.

Working as part of a close-knit team, you collaborate with and support others, demonstrating respect in your day-to-day actions.

**Key Selection Criteria**:
Ability to work autonomously.

Excellent skills in organisation and time management. Confident communication skills, in written and verbal English, influencing, negotiation, persuasion and problem-solving skills.

Demonstrated ability to adjust to meet the changing situations and needs of the staff, carer and client group while maintaining a focus on delivery and follow-through.

Demonstrated ability to work in a way that promotes Aboriginal people’s cultural identity and promotes their connection to family, community and culture. Have a sound knowledge of Aboriginal culture.

Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of working with families to promote family preservation and working with clients to assess and promote reunification of children to parental care.

Demonstrated evidence-based family assessment skills in working with vulnerable children and families with complex issues.

Demonstrated evidence

Demonstrated evidence-based knowledge and understanding of child development, trauma, family and child/risk assessment skills.

Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of Child, Youth and Family Services Act including the Looking after Children Framework, Best Interest Planning Principles, Trauma and Attachment Frameworks and demonstrated knowledge of using a therapeutic approach within a complex service system.

Sound stakeholder management and the ability to build and maintain strong, credible relationships with relevant stakeholders.

Ability to build strong relationships with community stakeholders (i.e. DFFH, other providers, magistrates, schools, etc.) to ensure cooperation among service providers.

Strong computer skills and use of full suite of Microsoft office.

For You

Baptcare is focused on living our values, not just talking about them. You’ll find the culture at Baptcare is o