Restoring Families Early Years Practitioner Case Manager

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Restoring Families Early Years Practitioner Case Manager

• Full-Time, Fixed Term (7 months)
• Based in Dandenong
• $94,419.72 per annum plus super.  
• 17.5% annual leave loading and generous salary packaging options 
• Progressive Workplace Flexibility options that enable genuine work life balance

About Odyssey Victoria:

Odyssey Victoria (OV) is a place of hope and positive change for individuals working towards breaking their pattern of addiction. At Odyssey Victoria we believe that every person should have the opportunity to change and grow. Our diverse teams work with individuals, families, and communities to reduce alcohol and other drug (AOD) use, improve mental health, and reconnect people to their family and the community. OV is a dynamic and fast-growing organisation committed to excellence in service provision and innovation in responding to alcohol and other drugs use problems.

Role Purpose:

The RF Practitioner will provide intensive wraparound service and support to families, where children ages range from unborn to 18 years. This role includes a high volume of outreach and requires flexibility including availability to work outside of business hours as required to meet family needs.

The RF Practitioner will engage parents/carers to understand and respond to children and young peoples needs, and to build their capacity as parents/carers to support improved family functioning. They will support the parents/carers to provide for their children’s health, safety and development as well as work towards building their confidence, self-reliance and sustainability through access to therapeutic supports, education, vocational training and employment. RF Practitioners will work with families to explore referrals to other services as required.

The RF Practitioner will deliver the program in the home and community as needed for approximately 4 to 6 months. However, the length of the program is flexible in-line with family needs and some families may benefit from more extended engagement to achieve identified goals. Areas of clinical focus include risk assessment and safety planning and practitioners will strive to empower parents/carers to help their babies, children and adolescent’s live safely in the community, attain school/vocational goals, and develop prosocial behaviours. Practitioners will work with the ecology of the family which includes any identified family/community, schools, childcare, and other services identified as supports by the family.

The RF Practitioner will engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in a culturally safe and competent way. This includes engaging in regular consultation with MacKillop’s Nanyubak Unit, Odyssey Victoria’s Senior Aboriginal Cultural Advisor and including ongoing training.

Key areas of focus:  

• Conduct an initial assessment including review of referral information, identifying, and engaging key participants (family, professionals and community), identifying systemic strengths and needs, and developing an analysis of the referral concerns/behaviours within the ecological context.
• Engage primary caregivers and other key participants, as identified by the family, in active change-oriented practice by identifying strengths and needs and overcoming any barriers to engagement.
• Ongoing case conceptualization in partnership with the family, care team and Restoring Families Practice Leader. Collaborative case planning with the family through the developed and review of Child & Family Action Plan and actively work on identified goals utilising outcome tools and an evidence informed analytic process.
• Maintain clear and concise documentation of all communication with families, professionals and internal consultation/direction that demonstrates engagement, analysis and critical thinking in line with evidence informed interventions.
• Collaborate with all relevant systems and key participants to ensure that services and systems are working effectively and efficiently to achieve the best outcomes with the family, ensuring that roles and responsibilities are clear and feedback is prioritized.
• Identify and respond to Family Violence in accordance with MARAM Framework, including completing Screening MARAM (where appropriate) and Brief & Intermediate MARAM assessments, Safety Planning and adherence to the Information Sharing Scheme including actively requesting information to aid assessment and proactively sharing information where necessary.
• Participate in all training, supervision and consultation activities as directed, including the completion of DFFH Practice Modules, Coaching and Reflective Practice.
• Supporting parents to participate in drug and mental health treatment through direct provision of counselling, referrals, and/or linkage to and collaboration with AOD and mental health workers.
• Providing client education on drug and alcohol use during pregnancy and whilst breastfeeding, and promoting the use of specialist obstetric, and maternal and child health services
• Providing secondary consultation to professionals working with substance use and family issues
• Contributing to the continuing development of OV Child Safety policy and procedures and ensure that all staff and program areas promote and adhere to child safe practices.
• Attending regular staff meetings and in-service training sessions
• Participating in professional forums and the development of professional networks
• Presenting work and knowledge at forums and conferences
• Other duties as required.

To be successful in this role, you must… 

• Relevant tertiary qualification, which may include a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Child Development, Psychology or a related subject area.
• Certificate IV in AOD or have completed the required competencies (or able to complete within the first 12 months of employment).* (Refer Appendix A)
• Significant work experience in a relevant role regarding childhood development and an understanding of working within a whole-of-family approach
• Understanding of and demonstrated experience of working with children, young people and/or families around attachment, inter-generational trauma and complex needs
• Demonstrated ability to undertake complex therapeutic outreach casework with families and children who have experienced trauma and have involvement in the child protection system.
• Demonstrated experience referring to and collaborating with relevant stakeholder and local services.
• Have an awareness and knowledge of attachment and trauma theories related to Aboriginal children, young people and families; Demonstrated ability to use this knowledge to guide practice with Aboriginal children, young people and families.
• Demonstrated ability to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people, and families with complex trauma needs. Preferred Knowledge/Experience.

- Child development theories and their application in therapeutic casework with families

- Experience using strengths based, and child centered family focused theoretical models.

• Experience completing and using outcome tools including North Carolina Family Assessment Scale and Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire.
• Implementation of evidence-based interventions within or between systems in children and young people’s ecology and the ability to apply this with a whole-of-family approach
• Outreach Casework/case management with children, young people and families with complex needs, ideally in an intensive setting
• Experience working as part of a care team, and navigating complex systems such as Child Protection, NDIS, family violence and mental health systems. Additionally, experience facilitating care teams such as setting agenda, chairing and minute taking.
• Understanding and experience of working withing MARAM framework, including completion and risk conceptualization of Brief & Intermediate MARAM tool, safety planning and utilization of Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) and Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS)
• Sound knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal history, values, the stolen generation, practices and culture.
• Demonstrated understanding of cultural safety.
• Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills, with a demonstrated capacity to work collaboratively with others and respectfully engage with constructive feedback to support ongoing development and best practice
• Excellent time management and administrative skills with the ability to autonomously meet deadlines, targets and key deliverables of the program.
• An ability to work flexible hours when required including some after-hours work.
• A knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal culture and values and an awareness of the current issues faced by Aboriginal children, young people and their families.
• Commitment to the Sanctuary Model:

- Non-Violence - Mean what you say and don’t be mean when you say it

-Emotional Intelligence

- Look out for yours and other people’s feelings

-Social Learning

- We all learn from, and teach each other -Democracy

- Everyone is heard -Open Communication

- Be honest and share information

-Social Responsibility

- We all help each other … It takes a village to raise a child

-Growth and Change

- Open to new ideas and ways of thinking

*Appendix A (AOD Competencies) 

OV requires people in clinical positions to have the following competencies (or their equivalent). Where people do not already have these competencies, OV will invest in the person’s professional development by providing them through its RTO. 

The competencies required in the first 12 months of employment are: 

• CHCAOD001 - Work in an alcohol and other drugs context 
• CHCAOD004 - Assess needs of clients with alcohol and other drugs issues. 
• CHCAOD006 - Provide interventions for people with alcohol and other drugs issues. 
• CHCAOD009 - Develop and review individual alcohol and other drugs treatment plans

What we can give YOU!

In return we are committed to offering you an inclusive and transparent workplace culture where our people can develop to be their very best by:  

• Ongoing learning and development opportunities
• Providing work that is meaningful and challenging, with career development opportunities through project and secondment opportunities and succession planning
• Providing career pathways across diverse OV programs.
• Access to 24/7 counselling through our Employee Assistance Provider (EAP)
• Generous leave options such as 48/52 Purchase Leave, Study Leave and Sabbaticals
• Flexible working arrangements such as monthly RDO’s for full-timers (arrangements will vary based on role requirements).

In addition to the above, staff will also be provided monthly Clinical Supervision sessions for professional development and personal wellbeing.

Application information

Please apply directly via our careers website (applications via external recruitment websites or via email will not be considered)

Applications should be addressed to Emma Shaw and include your CV and a cover letter addressing the key selection criteria. 

We will be assessing applications on a rolling basis, and suitable candidates will be shortlisted immediately. This role will be open for one week and close once a suitable candidate has been selected, which may be prior to the application deadline, so please don’t wait to apply! 

Our commitment to diversity

At OV we value diversity and believe that a range of backgrounds brings a variety of ideas, perspectives and experiences that will enhance our effectiveness. We promote a workplace that actively seeks to include, welcome and value unique contributions by encouraging people with disability, Aboriginal Australians, LGBTQIA, young people and people from culturally diverse backgrounds to apply for this position.

Safety screening

OV is committed to child safety and is a child safe organisation. All OV employees must undergo Police Records and Working with Children Checks. Any person issued with a negative notice on their Working with Children Check will not be eligible for employment with us.

All Odyssey Victoria sites are smoke free for all employees