Family Navigator
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
About this job
We have a vacancy for the role of “Family Navigator” in Barking and Dagenham to support our Best Start in Life Family Hub’s; our wider locality-based Family Hub network and our Early Help improvement journey. As a Family Navigator, you will be instrumental in signposting families to a wide range of services on offer, across our Universal & Early Help system. In this role, you will often be the first point of contact for families who are in need of Early Help support. As a Family Navigator, you will be part of a small team who work with multi-agency teams of professionals who will be party to our Family Hub and locality networks, that includes our Schools, Community Hubs, Housing, Welfare and debt management services, Health visiting, Primary Care networks, our Social Prescribing team, School nurses, Refuge, substance misuse provider, our VCS and volunteers to name a few. As a Family Navigator, you will be proactive in finding ways to engage and support families, who would benefit from Early Help. This will include attending multi-disciplinary meetings in schools, our Vulnerable clinics and providing direct outreach and home visiting support, to families who may be isolated due to culture/language and inequality barriers. In this role you will assess the needs of families and assist them to access the relevant services that will support meet their needs. Family Navigators will also play a key role in supporting a more integrated early help offer for children and families through the Lead Professional and Team around the Family approach and support families navigate what to them may seem a complex system.
Special requirements for this post
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and a comprehensive screening process will be undertaken on successful applicants including an Enhanced Children’s and Adult's Department of Barring Services check Re-applying for posts Applicants who have not been shortlisted or who are unsuccessful at interview cannot reapply for the same job if it’s within 6 months of the first advert – for further information please refer to our Jobs and Career Page - ‘Working for us and Information for Applicants’ on our website
About you
We are looking for an exceptional individual with excellent communication skills, creative and a track record of supporting families, and who can share our passion and commitment for building a fairer future for everyone who lives here. You will be committed to the protection and safeguarding of children, and you will display the attitudes and behaviours that ensure a person-centred, risk appropriate approach to safeguarding across the system. You will be the link between the family Hubs and wider internal and external services
About us
This is an exciting time to join the team. We are committed to the improvement journey that we are on, and we are working closely with our partners to design and deliver a new Early Help model. We are keen to develop new and innovative ways of working to support the most vulnerable residents in our very diverse communities whilst ensuring we provide the best possible care. We do not want to stand still, with early intervention and prevention is central to us as we move forwards, the post holder will help develop and support the communities to access appropriate services to meet their needs and navigate the changing landscape, ensuring that high quality services and the care that is accessible for now, and the future. This year has seen all our certainties overturned; the way we work, how we interact with our residents and colleagues, how we provide services, how our local economies function. This has given us new challenges, but more than anything, it has intensified our existing challenges, and our focus on them. The successful candidate will be vital to helping us overcome these new challenges, and meet our ambitious goals, together as one team.