Family Support Worker

About Youturn

Youturn is a national not-for-profit which delivers Health and Community Services to vulnerable people of all ages across Australia. Trusted to deliver safe, inclusive, and supportive programs, Youturn ensures that those we support can have access to secure and affordable housing and enjoy optimal mental well-being, allowing them to thrive and live a healthy, meaningful life.

In the past year alone, Youturn has provided support to nearly 10,000 individuals through a diverse range of health and community service initiatives. These programs encompass:

• Mental Health: Providing clinical and non-clinical support services to young people to manage their mental health.
• Suicide Prevention: Supporting people and communities bereaved or impacted by suicide.
• Child Safety: Providing children and young people with safe and caring environments.
• Homelessness: Delivering sustainable housing for those in need in our communities.

The Opportunity

As a Family Support Worker you will work within the Family Support Program to improve the stability, confidence and competence of parents to care for their children and ensure their wellbeing and safety. 

You will use your strong interpersonal skills to deliver this service within a group setting with a focus on building awareness and skills and providing additional support and assurance to parents that they are not alone in the challenges they may be facing. 

Your focus will be on providing families with the knowledge, skills and resources to care safely for their children and young people (unborn to 18 years) through the use of educative, preventative, and early intervention family building strategies. 

Some of your key responsibilities will include:

• Providing information, advice and case management services to families and young people;
• Functioning as a link between families and resources/services in the community;
• Effectively using strategies to engage hard-to-reach families;
• Providing programs to assist parents; and
• Establishing and maintaining networks with agencies, partnerships and community services. 

You will play a key role in ensuring the Family Support Program reaches its aim to provide families with the knowledge, skills and resources to: 

• Improve the wellbeing and safety of children, young people and their families; 
• Build the capacity of families to care for and protect their children; and 
• Prevent entry or re-entry to the statutory child protection system.

This opportunity is for a full-time position for parental leave coverage until November 2024.

Please respond to each of the following criteria in your cover letter: 

Essential

• Tertiary qualification in social science, counselling, mental health, Child & Family Intervention, social work or community work; and/or equivalent level of case management experience.
• Demonstrated sound knowledge of, or the ability to rapidly acquire sound knowledge of government legislation such as the Queensland Child Protection Act 1999, and other relevant legislation. 
• Experience in accountability to a funding body is desirable.
• Highly developed interpersonal and negotiation skills; including a proven ability to problem solve and communicate effectively and professionally with children, young people, families, students, management, government departments and community agencies to meet organisational, governmental and client outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and within a professional team; and to meet deadlines and commitments including the management of incident and crisis situations in an informed and appropriate manner.
• Demonstrated well-developed skills in written and verbal communications, including succinct report writing and case planning.
• Ability to operate Windows applications at an Intermediate to Advanced level, including the following Microsoft applications: Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel. Experience using an online data-management system is desirable.
• Flexibility to be able to work effectively as a team member including the ability to deal with day-to-day support of a range of clients that present in a busy office environment, meeting organisational reporting deadlines, and participating in succession planning.
   

Other Requirements

• Successful applicants will also need to hold a ‘C’ class Open driver licence, State Working with Children Check and hold, or be eligible to apply for, a Licensed Care Suitability Check issued by the QLD Department of Child Safety, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs.

Why join Youturn?

• Benefits & Leave: Enjoy additional wellbeing benefits including corporate fitness discounts and Birthday Leave! 
• Salary Packaging: Maximise your income by increasing your take home pay.
• Culture & Values: Supporting young people in their time of need, is at the heart of what we do at Youturn.  Our organisational culture is built on trusting relationships that are meaningful and inclusive. We listen to understand, we embrace diversity and we offer a safe space free from judgement.  
  To ensure our young people receive individualised support, we invest in team members who embody our values to foster a collaborative culture of excellence.

We’d love to meet you!
If you have the skills, experience and passion to fit our team, please take the next step and apply by submitting your resume and cover letter.

For everyone who shares our passion
We encourage applications from people of all ages, nationalities, abilities and cultures – including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the LGBTQI+ community and people living with disability.