About the Role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Father’s Family Worker to join Newpin in Newcastle Centre based at Lambton on a part-time basis working 4 days per week until June 2023.

Newpin is an intensive therapeutic centre based program applying a trauma informed approach to support the restoration of children safely home to their parent/s. The Newpin Centre provides therapeutic support groups and personal development programs as well as therapeutic play sessions designed to promote bonding and attachment between children and their parent/s. Your role will be to facilitate the parent groups both educational and therapeutic and to provide casework support to the parents whilst working with other agencies to enact the restoration case plan. 

As a Family Worker in Newpin you will:

• Work within a trauma informed practice framework to provide informal and formal therapeutic interventions for groups, individual parents and children. This includes facilitating therapeutic support groups, contact visits for children in OOHC and their parents, playroom activities, time in the lounge room and lunch times.  
• Management of restoration and family preservation family work/casework for families attending the program.
• Work in partnership with parents to assess individual and family needs by completing the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale (NCFAS), develop Family Case Plans and review on a six monthly basis or as needed
• Participate in case conferences for families working towards restoration and those working toward family preservation
• Write monthly updates and formal reports to Family and Community Services and/or OOHC NGO’s on the progress of families attending Newpin. 
• Develop and maintain collaborative relationships and effective communication with our community partners to facilitate effective practice and the best outcomes for Newpin parents and their children. 

About You

This role would ideally suit someone with experience in the Social Services Sector with therapeutic casework experience.

Our ideal candidate will have:

• Demonstrated skills and experience facilitating therapeutic support and psycho-educational group work programs. 
• Demonstrated ability engaging with families in crisis and working in partnership with them to achieve their goals
• Demonstrated understanding of attachment theory, trauma theory and developmental theory and their integration into practice.
•  Demonstrated understanding of child protection issues and an ability to conduct risk and family assessments using a strength based approach
• Ability to work as part of a multifunctional team and across teams
• High level of interpersonal and formal written communication skills

Even Better:

• Eligibility for membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers or the Australian Psychological Society 
• Certificate IV in workplace Training and Assessment

 Employment with Uniting is subject to satisfactory background checks which include a National Police Check and Reference Check.