Family Mentor & Advocacy Worker

Organisation: The MindKind Projects CIC

Programme: Family Mentoring and Advocacy Programme

Location: The MindKind Wellbeing Centre and home and community locations across Walsall

Hours: Approximately 12 hours per week

Pay: £15.00 per hour

Contract: Self-employed temporary contract until December, with a view to extension

Reports to: Programme Lead / Operations Manager

Purpose of the Role

The Family Help Mentor & Advocacy Worker will provide practical, consistent and relationship-based support to children, young people, parents and carers referred through Walsall’s Family Services system.

The worker will build trusted relationships with families, help them identify and overcome barriers, support them to progress agreed plans for change and connect them with appropriate services, activities and community opportunities.

The role also includes providing advocacy support to parents involved in Child Protection processes, helping them understand what is happening, prepare for meetings, communicate their views and participate meaningfully in Child Protection Conferences.

The overall aim is to help families become stronger, more resilient and increasingly able to manage challenges independently.

Key Responsibilities

Family Mentoring

• Provide regular one-to-one mentoring and practical support to children, young people, parents and carers.
• Build consistent, reliable and compassionate relationships with families.
• Take a whole-family approach, understanding the wider circumstances affecting children and parents.
• Work with families to identify their strengths, needs, priorities and goals.
• Support families to progress actions identified through Family Help plans.
• Help participants develop confidence, resilience, communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Support positive relationships between children, young people, parents and carers.
• Encourage families to build greater independence and confidence managing challenges.

Support may include issues relating to:

• Emotional wellbeing and mental health.
• Education, learning and school attendance.
• Parenting and family relationships.
• Reducing parental conflict.
• Housing and financial difficulties.
• Employment, training and aspirations.
• Social isolation and community connection.
• Substance misuse.
• Domestic abuse.
• Exploitation and safeguarding concerns.
• Other circumstances affecting the wellbeing and stability of the family.

Education and Aspirations

• Help families overcome barriers affecting engagement with education.
• Encourage improved school attendance and engagement where this forms part of the family’s plan.
• Support parents to better understand and respond to their child’s learning and development needs.
• Encourage children, young people and parents to develop positive aspirations for education, training and employment.
• Work constructively with schools and other education professionals where appropriate.

Child Protection Advocacy

Where allocated to Child Protection Advocacy work, the worker will:

• Support families who are engaging with Children’s Services processes.
• Meet with parents before Child Protection Conferences to explain the process and help them prepare.
• Help parents understand professional reports, terminology, concerns and proposed actions.
• Listen carefully to the parent’s views, concerns and priorities.
• Help parents identify what they want professionals to understand.
• Encourage and empower parents to communicate their own views wherever possible.
• Communicate the parent’s views on their behalf where this has been agreed and is appropriate.
• Attend Child Protection Conferences and relevant meetings with parents where required.
• Help parents understand decisions and agreed actions following meetings.
• Support parents to engage constructively with their Child Protection Plan.
• Appropriately challenge situations where a parent appears not to have been fairly heard or represented.

The worker’s role is to support participation and understanding. It does not replace the responsibilities or professional judgement of Children’s Services or other statutory agencies.

Practical Advocacy and Navigation

• Help families understand and navigate services and systems.
• Assist participants to access appropriate health, education, housing, financial, community and family support.
• Support people to prepare for appointments and meetings.
• Help participants understand correspondence, referrals and agreed plans.
• Liaise with professionals and partner organisations with appropriate consent.
• Help remove practical barriers preventing families from engaging with support.
• Encourage participants to develop the skills and confidence to advocate for themselves over time.

Community Connection and Positive Activities

• Connect families with positive activities and opportunities within their local communities.
• Encourage children, young people and parents to develop stronger support networks.
• Help families identify activities based on their interests, strengths and aspirations.
• Support or help organise appropriate group activities where required.
• Promote opportunities for social connection, volunteering, learning and community participation.
• Help families develop a stronger sense of belonging within their local community.

Partnership Working

• Work closely with Children’s Services Family Teams and wider professionals.
• Develop constructive relationships with schools, health services, Family Hubs, voluntary organisations and other partners supporting the family.
• Communicate relevant progress, concerns and barriers to the appropriate professionals.
• Escalate barriers to effective support through the agreed programme structures.

Case Management

• Hold and effectively manage an agreed caseload.
• Make initial contact with referred families promptly.
• Arrange regular mentoring and advocacy sessions.
• Agree clear actions and review progress with participants.
• Maintain appropriate communication with referring professionals.
• Complete required reviews and assessments.
• Identify when needs fall outside the scope of the programme and support appropriate onward referral or escalation.
• Ensure cases are appropriately closed or transitioned when support ends.

Monitoring and Outcomes

The worker will contribute to demonstrating the difference the programme makes by:

• Maintaining accurate and timely case records.
• Recording sessions, contacts, referrals and activities.
• Completing required outcome measures.
• Recording progress against Family Help and Child Protection plans.
• Gathering feedback from children, young people, parents and carers.
• Contributing information for case studies where appropriate.
• Recording evidence of progress and distance travelled.
• Providing information required for programme monitoring and reporting.

The programme particularly aims to contribute to:

• Improved parental ability to support children’s learning and development.
• Improved engagement with education and school attendance.
• Increased resilience and ability to cope with challenges.
• Positive progress against Family and Child Protection plans.
• Improved parental participation in Child Protection Conferences.
• Stronger and more stable family relationships.
• Greater independence for families.
• Increased community engagement and stronger support networks.

Safeguarding

The worker must:

• Follow MindKind and Walsall safeguarding procedures at all times.
• Recognise and respond appropriately to concerns relating to abuse, neglect, exploitation, domestic abuse or other risks.
• Understand their responsibility to share safeguarding information appropriately.
• Immediately escalate significant safeguarding or welfare concerns.
• Maintain clear professional boundaries with children, young people and adults.
• Work within agreed lone-working and risk-management procedures.
• Participate fully in safeguarding supervision and training.

Person Specification

Essential

Applicants should have relevant experience within education, higher education, health, social care, family support, youth work, community work, mentoring, advocacy or a closely related field.

The successful applicant will be able to:

• Develop trusting relationships with children, young people and families.
• Work compassionately and without judgement with people experiencing complex circumstances.
• Take a strengths-based and whole-family approach.
• Listen carefully and help people identify their own priorities.
• Support people to make and sustain positive changes.
• Communicate confidently with families and professionals.
• Support people within potentially difficult or emotionally charged meetings.
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
• Understand safeguarding responsibilities.
• Organise and manage an agreed caseload.
• Keep accurate and timely records.
• Reliably follow through on agreed actions.
• Work independently while recognising when advice or escalation is required.
• Work respectfully with families from a diverse range of cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Attend relevant training, supervision and multi-agency meetings.

Desirable

• Previous mentoring, advocacy or family-support experience.
• Experience working with children, young people and parents.
• Experience working alongside Children’s Services.
• Understanding of Family Help, Early Help or Child Protection processes.
• Experience attending multi-agency or family meetings.
• Experience supporting school attendance or educational engagement.
• Knowledge of services and communities across Walsall.
• Driving licence and access to transport.

Personal Qualities

We are looking for someone who is:

• Warm and approachable.
• Reliable and consistent.
• Calm under pressure.
• Able to build trust while maintaining clear boundaries.
• Practical and solution-focused.
• Patient and non-judgemental.
• Assertive when appropriate.
• Comfortable working with professionals from different agencies.
• Able to see strengths and potential within families experiencing difficult circumstances.
• Committed to helping families become more empowered and independent.

Application:
Please email hello@themindkindprojects.com with the role in the subject line with your:

· CV (max 2 pages)
· Supporting statement (max 2 pages) showing how you meet the role requirements
· Optional (but welcome): a short video (max 2 mins) on why you want to join The MindKind Projects/MWA and what motivates you to apply for this role.

We are actively recruiting for this role and the post will close once a suitable candidate has been appointed. We therefore encourage early applications.