This is an exciting opportunity to join our Regional Family Support Team in the East of Scotland and work to ensure the delivery of high-quality support to people who have a family member in prison.

We are looking for a Regional Family Support Coordinator to join our team in the East of Scotland. In this position you will play a crucial role in supporting families affected by imprisonment who live in Edinburgh, Lothians and Scottish Borders and pro-actively engaging with external partners through different means to deliver Families Outside’s key messages to ensure everyone is recognising the needs of families affected by imprisonment.

The Regional Family Support Coordinator will be responsible for supporting families, including children and young people at home and in their community via 1:1 work, to address the social and family adversities that people who have a family member in prison face, so they feel engaged, supported, and empowered. Whilst supporting children to ensure they are safe, healthy, included, and achieving at home, school, and in the community.

Primary responsibilities will include:

• Engaging with prison staff, attending meetings and family events at HMP Edinburgh.
• Providing support to families affected by imprisonment who live in Edinburgh, Lothians, and Scottish Borders.
• Engaging with Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) in relevant surrounding areas including Edinburgh, Lothians, and Scottish Borders.
• Creating links with other organisations working in those areas outlined above.
• Collaborative working with Barnardo’s, at HMP Edinburgh Prison Visitors’ Centre.

About You

With experience of supporting and working alongside families, including children and young people the Regional Family Support Coordinator will be able to demonstrate that they are passionate about developing and delivering a quality service that is focused on the rights of families affected by imprisonment in their work and all they do.

We are looking for motivated and enthusiastic individuals who are passionate about making a difference for families impacted by imprisonment. If you can demonstrate a strong understanding and commitment to our organisational values, we want to hear from you.

Staff Benefits

• 25 flexible leave days plus 10 public holidays
• 4% matched contribution workplace pension scheme
• Hybrid & flexible working
• Employee Assistance Programme (Health Assured)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Laptop and mobile phone for all staff

Birthlink Redress is in partnership with Scottish Government to support people to identify and source historical records and to compile as part of the Redress Support service.

MAIN TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. To undertake administrative and practical tasks in order to access records on behalf of applicants by submitting Subject Access Requests to Data controllers including follow up and up-dating applicants on any progress.
2. To support people, taking a trauma-informed approach, who have experienced historical abuse in a care setting as children in Scotland to access their records, compile any received, create a chronology ready for forwarding to Redress Scotland.
3. To deliver a professional support service in accordance with Birthlink’s procedures and standards.
4. Liaise with appropriate local authorities, statutory or voluntary organisations to access records.
5. To record, monitor and evaluate all work.
6. To represent Birthlink in a professional and collaborative way in all multi-disciplinary meetings and events
7. To deliver training and information on the work of the project as required
8. To contribute to dissemination of information about Birthlink through professional journals, conferences and Birthlink’s bi-annual bulletin
9. To attend supervision, team meetings and training as appropriate and take responsibility for your own professional development.
10. To work within Birthlink’s policies and procedures including equal opportunities, anti-discriminatory practice, safeguarding and user participation
11. To keep up to date with changes in procedure, legislation, and research as they affect the service.

About the role:

Enquire is the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning. The service is funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Children in Scotland.

Our goal is to help parents, carers, professionals and children and young people understand pupils’ rights to extra support in school and early years settings. Our vision is that all children in Scotland are supported, included, and listened to throughout their education.

We are looking for an experienced and caring adviser whose primary responsibility will be responding to helpline enquiries. The right candidate will have excellent listening skills and be able to explain complex information in a clear and concise way, both over the telephone and in writing.

An understanding of the issues affecting children and young people with additional support needs and their families and knowledge of the Scottish education system would be an advantage.

About Children in Scotland

Giving all children in Scotland an equal chance to flourish is at the heart of everything we do.

By bringing together a network of people working with and for children, alongside children and young people themselves, we offer a broad, balanced and independent voice. We create solutions, provide support and develop positive change across all areas affecting children in Scotland. We do this by listening, gathering evidence, and applying and sharing our learning, while always working to uphold children’s rights.

Our range of knowledge and expertise means we can provide trusted support on issues as diverse as the people we work with and the varied lives of children and families in Scotland.

Diversity

Children in Scotland values the contribution of all our staff, whatever their background. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open processes, with appointment on merit. We welcome applications from everyone.

Further information

For an informal chat about the job, please contact Mark Patterson, Senior Advice and Information Officer by email on mpatterson@childreninscotland.org.uk

Home-Start Edinburgh is a volunteer-led charity with over 35 years' experience working in local communities, supporting families with a child under 5 in the home. We are currently recruiting a part-time Community Engagement Co-ordinator to join our team.

This role will be responsible for overseeing events for families and volunteers, and community events for the purpose of raising Home-Start Edinburgh’s profile to recruit volunteers, raise our community profile and support fundraising activity.

The post-holder will work with the team to ensure that our services are well run and of a high quality. We are open to flexible working patterns, and some evening/weekend work will be required within this post.