Child Protection Caseworker

Division: Communities and Justice- Location: Campbelltown, NSW, AU, 2560 Sydney, NSW, AU, 2000 Fairfield, NSW, AU, 2165 Liverpool, NSW, AU, 2170 Ingleburn, NSW, AU, 2565 Bankstown, NSW, AU, 2200- Req ID: 60521**Prenatal Caseworkers**

**Location: South Western Sydney - Liverpool**

**Employment Type: Ongoing**

**$75,992 - $101,994**

**Your role**

As a prenatal Caseworker you will be part of the Brighter Beginnings initiative. The role works with expectant parents to reduce the likelihood that the parent’s child, when born, will need to be placed in out-of-home-care.

Brighter Beginnings is a whole-of-government initiative to give children the best start in life. It aims to:

- provide families with the information they need, when they need it to make their decisions - a customer centric approach to empower families with clear, reliable, and timely information
- improve universal services that lift the standard of opportunity for all - facilitating full participation in universal health, education, and family servicestarget support and services for families that need it most - improve existing services and deliver evidence-based supports for families with additional needs
- The primary focus of decision making for a caseworker is in assessing/investigating and supporting expectant parents during pregnancy to reduce risks and help parents build skills and prepare them to keep their baby safely in their care.
- Planning next steps for families in connecting them with appropriate support services and developing supportive networks prior to the birth of their baby.
- A critical role of the prenatal caseworker is to ensure clear discharge planning, consider parallel planning and assessment as required.

**What you’ll do**
- Undertake assessment/investigation and ongoing family work with expectant parents to identify and address safety and risk concerns for children following their birth
- Advocate for and support families to engage with services and participate in meetings such as Pregnancy Family Conferences or hospital complex case meetings
- Develop and maintain networks and relationships with key stakeholders, in particular NSW Health staff such as Pregnancy Family Conference facilitators, birthing hospital staff and hospital social workers
- Work in collaboration with NSW Health in the promotion and implementation of the Pregnancy Family Conferencing Model
- The primary focus of decision making for a caseworker is in assessing/investigating and supporting expectant parents during pregnancy to reduce risks and help parents build skills and prepare them to keep their baby safely in their care.
- Planning next steps for families in connecting them with appropriate support services and developing supportive networks prior to the birth of their baby.
- A critical role of the prenatal caseworker is to ensure clear discharge planning, consider parallel planning and assessment as required

**What we’re looking for**

To be a Prenatal Caseworker you need to be confident, curious and resilient.

The essential requirements include:

- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Social Work, Social Science, Welfare or related discipline
- Experience in child protection assessment and case planning. Able to engage with families to support participation in Pregnancy Family Conferencing to develop achievable family action planning
- Experience engaging with and supporting change in voluntary clients while navigating complex vulnerabilities and service systems
- Able to build relationships and stakeholder engagement
- particularly with NSW Health and preservation services.
- Experience working with prenatal cases is preferred but not essential
- A valid driver’s licence
- A paid working with children clearance number

Download the role description.

**We do work that really matters**

Working for the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) provides lots of opportunities to make a real difference. We collaborate with other agencies and community partners, to improve lives and realise the potential of children, adults, families and communities. We're focused on breaking, rather than managing, disadvantage. It’s work that really matters.

**Are you ready to join us?**
- a statement of claim (of no more than 2 pages) that outlines why you are interested in the prenatal caseworker role and what skills and attributes you would bring.
- An up-to-date brief resume which clearly details your skills and experience as relevant to this role and a cover letter (maximum 3 pages) addressing the 2 targeted questions below with a brief outline on how you meet the requirements of the role
- Name and contact details for your current supervisor, who will be contacted as your referee.

**Target Questions**:

- As a Prenatal Caseworker you will use your strong knowledge of child protection and out of home care practice and processes to work with expectant parents in potentially challenging situations. Since engaging with DCJ is volunta