Parent Support Coach | Full-time

Ireland’s national organisation for one-parent families is recruiting a Parent Support Coach. One Family is Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, sharing parenting or separating. We provide support, information and specialist family support services to all members of all one-parent families, as well as to those experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and to professionals working with one-parent families. One Family’s vision is that every family in Ireland will be cherished equally, and will enjoy the social, financial and legal equality to create their own positive future.

One Family Parenting Service

The One Family Parenting Service provides a range of supports to parents who are parenting alone, sharing parenting and separating.  The service aims to support parents to find the best way for them to parent their children after separation or to resource parents to parent alone.

The Parenting Service offers group-based as well as individual supports to parents, many of whom are difficult to engage. The One Family Parenting Service provides the following:

  • Group-based Parenting courses
  • Individual Parent Mentoring
  • Mediation
  • Professional Development Training for those working in the area

Parent Support Coach Role

The Parent Support Coach role is designed to provide dedicated support to parents experiencing emotional and practical difficulties which impact on their quality of life and stability within their families. This post will provide the right applicant with the opportunity to work as part of a team, providing individual support to parents as well as group-based support.  The project aims to support people parenting alone or sharing parenting through our parenting courses: Positive Parenting for Changing Families; Family Communications, Coping with Teens and Family Life; Family Communications Parenting When Separated; and Parenting Under Stress.  One to one support will range from parent mentoring to key-working parents who find it difficult to connect with support services.

The role will in particular focus on working with parents who are difficult to engage, whose children may be on the edge of the care system due to the ongoing conflict within the family due to the difficulties encountered by sharing parenting. This role will focus on parents who are considered those most hard to engage in order to help them when they are experiencing the challenges of transitioning through the stages of family life that parenting alone or separation may bring.

Job Description:

Client Work

  • To contribute to the provision of a professional and comprehensive Parenting Service for One Family clients
  • To engage hard-to-reach families, whose children may be on the edge of the care system and support them to access the range of supports available to them in One Family
  • To deliver individual Parent Mentoring and key-working sessions, within the agreed ethos of the One Family Parenting Service
  • To deliver group-based Parenting Courses both within One Family and in outreach locations
  • To support the client One Family events
  • To deal with client queries in relation to the Parenting Service and make appropriate referrals
  • To contribute to the parenting sections of the One Family social media platforms
  • To maintain the high professional and ethical standard in provision of care to clients established by the One Family Parenting Service.

Administration:

  • Keep client notes and log sheets up to date
  • Complete the necessary administration associated with the role
  • Ensure all the monitoring and evaluation requirements of the service are met and funder’s requirements are reported upon
  • Contribute to evaluations, policy, reports, funding applications etc as required

Other:

  • Follow all One Family’s policies and procedures
  • To liaise with the line manager and take direction where appropriate
  • Attend monthly internal supervision
  • Attend training internally and externally as required
  • Supervise and support student placements
  • Support volunteer parent mentors
  • To undertake any other duties as require

Person Specification:

  • Minimum of 5 years experience working directly with parents through individual and group-based supports within an organisation
  • Hold a qualification in Early Years, Social Care, Community Development or related discipline
  • Ideally hold a qualification in Counselling, Relationship Mentoring or Parent Mentoring, or related field
  • Be an accredited Parent Facilitator
  • Be an accredited member of relevant Professional bodies
  • Have a client-focused perspective
  • Be enthusiastic and motivated
  • Be well organised with good attention to detail
  • Have knowledge of the issues facing one parent families and those sharing parenting or separating.
  • Be confident in Children First and Meitheal
  • Have a very good knowledge of domestic abuse, family law, child to adult violence and suicide ideation
  • The person carrying out this role will a good communicator and experienced in interagency work as well as working as part of large team
  • They will be self motivated and a good team player.

Terms of Role

This is a full time post of 35 hours per week with an annual salary ranging from of €33,366 to €39,338 based on skills and experience. Flexibility regarding hours of work is essential in order to meet the needs of our clients. This post is subject to a 6month probationary period and is based in One Family’s new offices in Smithfield, Dublin 7 although working from outreach locations will be required. A panel may be formed as a result of this recruitment process, from which current and future vacancies may be filled. One Family offers good terms and conditions to employees.

Application Process

A cover letter and CV addressing the role and the required competencies as outlined

in the attached job description should be emailed to Geraldine Kelly, Director of Children & Parenting Services at: info@onefamily.ie

Applications should be marked clearly:  Parent Support Coach

Closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 29 January 2021.

It is anticipated that first round interviews will be held shortly afterwards with second round interviews taking place within a close timeframe.

One Family is an equal opportunities employer | www.onefamily.ie