Specialist Family Violence Child Protection Advisor

Co-located between cohealth Footscray & Child Protection Services, DHHS Footscray.

Make the change and be rewarded with a position that directly and positively influences the quality of life for our clients; working with an organisation that values your professional contribution and personal well-being..

The 2015-16 State Budget committed $17.57 million in funding over five years to the Child Protection Flexible Responses Initiative. The initiative, now known as the Family Violence Child Protection Partnership, co-locates 17 Specialist Family Violence Workers in Child Protection offices across the State and aims to strengthen Child Protection practice, enable joint assessments, assist Child Protection to navigate the family violence system and strengthen opportunities to divert children away from statutory responses.

The aim of the Family Violence Child Protection Partnership is to:

• Support and promote improved understanding of the perpetrator’s pattern of coercive control and its impact on children and the ability of the protective parent to safely parent;
• Restore and enhance safe, child-centred parenting, and
• Use this knowledge to assist Child Protection achieve the following improved outcomes for the service system and for the families reported to Child Protection

As the Specialist Family Violence Child Protection Advisor you are a senior practitioner with extensive knowledge of family violence. You will be responsible for providing operational and strategic advice to Child Protection practitioners and their managers who undertake investigations of families where a child is or may be in need of protection due to family violence.

The position would be ideally suited to someone who:

• Holds qualifications in counselling & social work, eligible for membership of AASW and has two or more years supervised experience providing counselling;
• A minimum of three years’ experience working in the family violence service system, preferably with supervisory experience;
• Demonstrated understanding of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008, the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, the Health Records Act 2001, the CRAF and Victoria Police Code of Practice;
• Demonstrated experience in developing and maintaining relationships with other stakeholders in a multi-disciplinary environment, including the capacity to problem solve and negotiate with other professionals; and
• An established strong working relationship with Child Protection and a relevant second language are desirable.

This position will be paid under the Community Health Centre (Stand Alone Services) Social and Community Service Employees Multi Enterprise Agreement 2013 – 2015 Social Worker Class 2 Year 3, (SCHADS Level 6)