Support Practitioner

**Support Practitioner - Identified**

**Churches of Christ, Children, Youth and Families, Daisy Hill**

**Permanent, Full-Time Opportunity**

**About the role**

**This is an identified position within Churches of Christ. To perform this role, it is essential that the person who holds the position be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. It is therefore a genuine occupational requirement under section 25 of the **_Anti-Discrimination Act 1991_** that applicants are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.**

The Support Practitioner - Identified is responsible for providing high level support to children, young people, foster and kinship carers and families, primarily of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

The Support Practitioner - Identified contributes as an integral member of the Children, Youth and Families group and supports activities aligned with the strategic direction of and consistent with the mission and values of Churches of Christ.

**Key responsibilities**:

- Undertake screening, intake and placement partnering processes for children and young people with foster and kinship care families.
- Utilise a range of assessment, crisis and short-term intervention skills and therapeutic approaches to clients; report issues to management.
- Facilitate the delivery of evidence-based parenting programs to parents and carers and utilise appropriate modelling techniques to address identified needs and vulnerabilities; collaborate with community agencies and referral partners to build professional networks.
- Generate comprehensive assessment and/or reports regarding the initial and ongoing suitability of carers and/or young people and facilitate the foster care approval process (where relevant to the role).
- Negotiate, coordinate and implement case management and planning and support the integration of joint case management processes; maintain detailed and accurate client records.
- Work primarily and sensitively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, children, young people, families and communities to provide culturally inclusive services and achieve sustainable outcomes within a culturally safe environment with the aim of circumventing the intergenerational cycle of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care.

**About you**

You are passionate about the welfare of children and achieving the absolute best outcomes for them. You will have the ability to easily establish and build rapport with people, in addition to being a naturally caring and positive individual.

This is a role that requires that you have excellent communication and interpersonal skills to engage with a range of internal and external stakeholders, an ability to deliver quality service and handle challenges that occur in an organisation driven by change and innovation.

You will have well-developed problem solving, decision making and negotiation skills and the ability and willingness to support a culture of safety, legislative compliance, quality and continuous improvement with an understanding of the principles and values of Christianity and a demonstrated commitment to the mission, vision and values of Churches of Christ.

To be suitable for this position, your qualifications for the role will consist of:

- Degree qualification in social work, psychology, social sciences or a related discipline (or an equivalent level of expertise (more than 4 years’ experience) attained through previous appointments, service and/or study (minimum Certificate III Community Services) as approved by the State Manager or Operations Manager).
- Applied knowledge and understanding of child protection and out-of-home care frameworks, including knowledge of, or the ability to acquire knowledge of the Child Protection Act 1999.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the contemporary challenges for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- Experience working with First Nations people.
- Demonstrated understanding of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 and Child Protection Act 1999.
- Sound understanding of child development and trauma theory to inform assessment and decision making.

Pre-Requisites
- Possess a current National Police Certificate - or the ability to acquire.
- Possess Working with Children (Blue Card) - or the ability to acquire.
- Possess Child Safety and Personal History Screening Check (LCS) - or the ability to acquire - where the service and role provides care or support in a licensed care service.
- Importantly, you will be someone who closely aligns with our organisational values of: _**_Unconditional Love, Continual Innovation, Mutual Trust, Wise Stewardship and Safety._**

**Imagine working for us**

Our values encourage us to be accepting of differences and embrace all. Our size and variety offer you real choices and opportunities to grow your career.

**Employee Benefits**

As a not-for-profit entity, our employees can package up to $18,549 p.a. of the