Family Support Worker

About the job

Salary: £33,143 – £36,363 a year plus £963 essential car user allowance
Hours per week: 37
Contract type: Fixed Term until 31/12/2026

Family Support Worker, you will play a vital role in supporting children, young people, and families to achieve positive outcomes and improve their wellbeing. Working as part of the Family Wellbeing Service, you will undertake direct work with families in their homes and within the community, carrying out assessments, developing family support plans, and delivering targeted interventions that build resilience and strengthen parenting capacity.

You will work collaboratively with families to identify their strengths and needs, providing practical and emotional support in areas such as parenting skills, child development, managing challenging behaviours, parental mental health, self-confidence, and family relationships. Ensuring that the voice of the child is heard and influences decision-making will be central to your work.

The role involves coordinating and leading multi-agency support, acting as Lead Professional where required, and chairing meetings to develop and review plans that help prevent escalation of need. You will work closely with colleagues and partners across statutory and voluntary sector organisations to deliver joined-up services and achieve the best possible outcomes for families.

You will also support the delivery of evidence-based individual and group programmes, including parenting and family support initiatives, while monitoring and evaluating progress to ensure families are developing the skills, confidence, and resilience needed to thrive independently.

This is a rewarding opportunity for someone who is passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of children and families, has strong relationship-building skills, and is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.

 

About you

We’re looking for a passionate and motivated individual who is committed to improving outcomes for children, young people, and families.

You’ll have experience of working with children and families within a social care, education, health, or related setting, with an understanding of the challenges families may face and the support required to help them thrive. Experience of working within a child protection environment would be advantageous.

You will be skilled at building positive relationships and working collaboratively with children, young people, parents, carers, and professionals from a range of agencies. Your ability to engage families, gain their trust, and work in partnership to achieve agreed outcomes will be key to your success in this role.

You will have strong assessment and planning skills, with the ability to identify needs, analyse information, and develop clear, outcome-focused support plans and reports. You’ll be confident managing your own workload, prioritising competing demands, and using your initiative while working both independently and as part of a team.

The successful candidate will be able to contribute to decision-making where the safety and wellbeing of children is paramount, demonstrating sound judgement and a commitment to safeguarding practice. You will also have an understanding of the impact of discrimination, inequality, and disadvantage, and be committed to delivering inclusive services that respect and value diversity.

Most importantly, you will be passionate about helping families build resilience, overcome challenges, and achieve lasting positive change.

 

About us

Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision – that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty – is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council – and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?

We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough

 

Application Process

Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person’s criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.

On occasions, we may close a vacancy early due to a very high number of applications being received.

 

Benefits

We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

– From 25 to 32 days’ annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
– Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
– Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
– Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 19.2 per cent (at April 2026) and 3x salary death in service grant
– Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
– Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
– Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
– Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
– Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
– Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel

 

How to apply

We understand that job applications take time and effort, but a high-quality application shows that you are professional with a good attention to detail. The recruiting manager may receive a number of applications for each job advertised so you want yours to stand out!

Our ‘How to apply’ page has more tips to help with your application: How to apply