Family Engagement Worker

**Utilise your expertise to provide support and advice to key stakeholders.**:

- **Ongoing Opportunity to work with a high-performing and passionate team in the Victorian Public Service**:

- **VPS Grade 4: $97,955 - $111,142 plus superannuation.**

The Department of Justice and Community Safety (the department) is seeking a Family Engagement Worker to provide a critical role at Corrections Victoria.

**About the Business Unit**

Western Plains Correctional Centre is a modern, maximum-security prison focussed on rehabilitation, housing up to 1248 people in custody. Western Plains features multi-purpose infrastructure which is adaptable to the evolving needs of Corrections Victoria and the people in our care. Modern amenities include medical wards, a cultural centre, and vocational training facilities.

Western Plains provides a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to individualised care which motivates, encourages and promotes reintegration into the community. Western Plains has advanced technology which improves security, streamlines operations and enhances connections for the people in our care.

Western Plains operates with three primary service teams: Workforce and Prison Services, Communities, and Safety and Operational Service, which collaboratively deliver comprehensive services for people in our care, safety management, and corporate services. Through its innovative design and service model, Western Plains aims to create a thriving environment conducive to safety and positive behavioural change.

**About the Role**

Family Engagement Worker will undertake welfare assessments, develop family support plans, co-ordinate support services, facilitate family-related programs and services, and provide practical support to prisoners and their families to assist transition to the community. The Family Engagement Worker will liaise with community organisations, including other Government departments, such as the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) Child Protection.

The role will participate in the case management of prisoners, including complex care teams, working collaboratively with case managers and multi-disciplinary teams to ensure an integrated and co-ordinated approach to family and transition planning.

Some of your duties will include:

- Assist people in care to re-establish and/or strengthen relationships with their children and other family members while in custody.
- Undertake welfare assessments to identify family needs/issues and develop a family plan that engages families and meets identified needs.
- Contribute to and participate in, case management practices and complex care teams, as required.
- Actively involve prisoners in goal setting and motivate them to engage with families through visits, family sessions, transition planning and program participation.
- Co-ordinate and facilitate parenting and other family related programs and services.
- Act as a point of contact with agencies such as DFFH Child Protection, including where prisoners identify a desire to maintain/re-establish contact with their children who may be in out-of-home care arrangements.

To learn more about this role before applying, please read the attached position description.

**About you**

To be successful in this role, you will have:

- Demonstrated experience in family welfare practice and engaging with families with complex needs.
- Demonstrated experience in case management, including assessing family welfare needs, developing support plans and co-ordinating services.
- Knowledge of community resources and services, and experience in connecting people with services.
- Understanding diverse cultural backgrounds to engage with families from various communities.
- Capacity to demonstrate empathy, patience and understanding to build trust and rapport with families.
- Experience in program facilitation is desirable.
- An understanding of operational procedures within a correctional services environment would be highly regarded.

**Qualifications**:
Demonstrated skills, tertiary qualifications and experience in human services, family welfare practice, or related fields would be highly regarded.

**How to Apply**

**IMPORTANT INFORMATION**:**

**CHILD SAFE STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT**:
The Department of Justice and Community Safety is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. We seek to prevent harm of any kind impacting children and young people and have zero tolerance for racism, child abuse and inequality. Children and young people's rights, relationships, identity, and culture must be recognised and respected, their voices heard, and their concerns acted upon. We aim to foster a culturally safe, child safe and child friendly environment for all children and young people we have contact with, deliver services to, or are impacted by our work.