Family Support Worker Job Description Sample – Job Description And Resume Examples

Family Support Worker job description, duties, tasks, and responsibilities — Family Support Workers give support and counsel to children and families in need. Image source: Rainbowtrust.org.uk

Family Support Worker Job Description Sample

What Does a Family Support Worker Do?

A family support worker is a social service expert whose job description involves giving support and counsel to children and families that are in need.

Family support workers work in places like child protective services, foster care centers, adoption agencies or family services organizations.

Their duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the location, but most are targeted on offering social services involving promotion of the physical and mental well-being of their clients.

Other tasks the family support worker performs include assessing complaints of crucial family challenges involving domestic violence, drug abuse or mental ill-health.

He/she is expected to get acquainted with clients in their homes and carry out assessment to ascertain the type and cause of their problems and the possibility of withdrawing children from their homes in case of abuse or child negligence.

It is the duty of family support workers to educate their clients on diverse relevant social service related issues and mental health topics.

Usually, they might need to provide some parent-child interaction, entrepreneurial skills, prenatal care, discipline, prevention of abuse and many other professional help.

This form of education may be in groups, families or individual one-on-one basis.

In some cases, they may also be obligated to carry out community outreaches and educate families residing in targeted area of operation.

It is essential for the family support worker to have an extensive understanding of the availability of resources and help programs that will assist their clients in acquiring the needed services.

This is where referrals become an integral part of the role of a family support worker.

He/she must be aware of community programs relating to his/her area of practice.

These programs may include after-school care programs, assisting families in discovering the appropriate child-care facilities, assisting substance abusers or locating treatment programs.

Sample of Family Support Worker Job Description

The job description sample below shows a list of key duties, tasks, and responsibility most family support workers are usually required to perform where they work.

Ensure care, counsel and problem resolution for clients on subjects affiliated with family operations by making use of procedures such as resolution of conflict, active listening and fundamental counseling techniques on a group basis.
Design schedules of services provided through the organization or program and use this to supply referral to other professionals and community service providers as necessary.
Organize and execute educational session in group discussion on subjects relating to family functioning.
Maintain relevant statistics and records and provide them to the supervisor or superior officer.
Give support to parents in their parenting obligations either as a group or individual setting using family-centered and strength-based approach.

Writing a resume for the position: information from the job description example given above can be used in making parts of the resume for the family support worker position. These includes the employment history section.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for the Family Support Worker Position

Most employers would normally look out for the following qualities from applicants when hiring for the post of family support worker:

Bachelor’s degree in social care, social work or any other human related courses. An advanced diploma in counseling might be an added advantage.
An excellent proficiency in communicating efficiently with compassion and empathy particularly with children, as well as adults.
Efficiency in initiating a working relationship with families, especially those who may at first appear unapproachable.
Familiarity with the needs of children and child development principles.
Experience in assisting parents to develop the expertise needed to operate their home.
Non-discriminating approach to duties.
Strong commitment to assisting families in challenging situations.
Outstanding knowledge of the significance of child development and early years.
Compassionate, persevering and a good listener.

You can also read: #1. Family Support Worker Job Description