Practitioner, Safer Family Services

**Department of Human Services**
**Job reference**: 628243
**Location**: 5168 - NOARLUNGA CENTRE, 5223 - KANGAROO ISLAND
**Job status**: Long Term Contract
**Eligibility**: Open to Everyone

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

**About the Business**

Our Safer Family Services team delivers a range of services, including intensive family support and multi-agency responses, to help children stay safely at home with their families and avoid the need for out-of-home care. They also help families with parenting support, workshops and connection to community events and initiatives to improve child safety and wellbeing.

**Role Details**

The SA Government is reforming the child protection system in South Australia. The Department of Human Services is leading the implementation of the Child and Family Support System reform, in which Safer Family Services (SFS) plays a key part.

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 Practitioner, Safer Family Services works intensively to support and engage directly with vulnerable unborn children, infants, young people and families to prevent them from entering the statutory child protection system. The Practitioner, Safer Family Services is accountable to the Supervisor, Family Practitioner Program for:

- Case practice and case management that provides high quality, effective and timely service delivery to respond to the needs of children and their families in a supportive diversionary role.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.

Key outcomes and accountabilities:
1. Manage complex cases, including implementing case conference (when required) with children, young people, their families and agencies, and deliver support services for children at risk and their families, using professional judgement to provide the most appropriate service.
2. Lead 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.
3. 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 unborn children, infants, young people and families at risk of a statutory response.
4. Engage with the Supervisor, Senior Practitioner, and other specialist practitioners 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.
5. Integrate contemporary information and research evidence with practice experience to support decision making, innovative thinking and objective analysis and case work.
6. 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).
Note: Any other responsibilities in line with the classification level of the role as assigned by Line Manager and/or the Department. The responsibilities as specified above may be altered in accordance with the changing requirements of the role.

**Special Conditions**

National Police Check required.
Employment-related Screening Check required.
Some interstate and intrastate travel may be required.
Must hold a current Australian issued driver's licence (equivalent to minimum class C).
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