Location
Westway Information Centre, Kensington & Chelsea Citizens Advice, London

Hours
Full time, 12 month fixed term contract

Salary
£40,404 per annum (Grade E)

About the Role
Support children and families facing complex challenges – a role rooted in care and practical action. As an Early Help Practitioner, you will work directly with households across Kensington and Chelsea, helping families build safety, stability and confidence from an early stage. You will be part of a team committed to stepping in early, turning complex challenges into genuine opportunities for positive growth.

You will usually work from home for no more than one day a week, with the remainder of your time spent working in the borough or visiting families placed outside the borough. This may include time in the office, accommodation sites, family homes, asylum hotels, schools or local community settings.

Your focus will be providing direct early help support to children, young people and families experiencing complex and overlapping vulnerabilities across our No Recourse to Public Funds and Refugee Services. Managing a caseload, you will carry out whole-family assessments that capture strengths, cultural backgrounds and migration-related needs, creating outcome-focused plans alongside each family.

Your day will involve delivering one-to-one emotional, practical and motivational support using strengths-based approaches. You will act as a designated link worker for asylum hotels and support resettled Afghan families, Homes for Ukraine guests and households in temporary accommodation to access education, healthcare and community resources. You will also participate in the Early Help duty rota, ensuring timely responses to emerging needs.

Collaboration is central to this work. You will partner with schools to improve attendance and reduce barriers to learning, while maintaining strong working relationships with Children’s Social Care, Health, CAMHS and voluntary sector organisations. You will chair family meetings, contribute to multi-agency planning and maintain clear, analytical case notes that keep the voice of the child at the centre of every decision.

At RBKC, you will join an expanding, supportive service where learning and reflective practice are embedded into daily routines. We offer structured supervision and ongoing training in trauma-informed practice, safeguarding and migration support. Flexible working options, local government pension schemes and comprehensive wellbeing support are also provided.

This role offers the opportunity to contribute to an evolving early help service where your frontline work directly informs service improvement.

Experience
Experience supporting children, young people and families facing complex challenges, including households with No Recourse to Public Funds, asylum seekers, refugees or families in temporary accommodation. A solid understanding of safeguarding principles, thresholds of need and preventative early help practices is essential.

About you
You are able to build trusting relationships with sensitivity to cultural, linguistic and migration-related factors. Confident in conducting whole-family assessments, applying trauma-informed approaches and contributing effectively to Team Around the Family meetings alongside multi-agency partners. You have clear written and verbal communication skills, can manage your caseload independently while maintaining accurate case notes and short reports. You demonstrate a clear commitment to equality, fairness and continuous professional development, with a genuine desire to support families through challenging times.

Qualifications
Background knowledge or training in early help, youth work, family support, refugee services, education or safeguarding is highly valued. This role requires an Enhanced Children and Adults DBS check.