Associate Therapist - Fostering at Polaris Community, Cardiff

Foster Care Associates (The FCA)
Role: Associate Therapist - Fostering
Location: FCA Cymru - Home-based
Office Locations: Bridgend, South Wales or Abergele, North Wales
Salary: £30 per hour / £20 per hour for report writing

This is an amazing opportunity to join Foster Care Associates.

We are looking for a highly motivated and passionate Therapist to deliver high-quality therapy services and to facilitate and enable a therapeutic environment for looked-after children and young people placed with Foster Care Associates (FCA) by local authorities.

As an Associate Therapist, you will offer consultation sessions to foster parents who need help when they are working with particular difficulties in placements. You will also provide consultation to other staff within the team to discuss issues that arise in relation to actual or potential placements, as well as to external local authorities, social workers and the young person's school.

The successful candidate will also offer therapy sessions jointly with foster parents and young people, where direct contact with the young person contributes to our foster parents' confidence and placement stability and enables the attachment relationship between the two to be explored in the light of the young person's history.

This rewarding role allows you to build firm relationships with our new foster parents by running sessions/groups for new foster parents during their first year and to facilitate their understanding of what it means to be a therapeutic foster parent.

Our offices are based in Bridgend and Abergele. We support the hybrid model of working with lots of flexibility to work from home. A robust induction will be provided to the successful applicant.

Benefits of Joining Our Team:

• Staff Wellbeing Strategy focused on increasing wellbeing, self-esteem and a sense of belonging to a team
• Activities including walks and talks at the beach or in parks, wellbeing hour, park runs, mindfulness sessions, sea dipping, yoga sessions, raft racing and charity events
• A friendly and inviting office environment with tea, coffee, breakfast and lunch items available for staff
• Robust induction
• Supportive management team
• Monthly reflective supervision with your Line Manager
• Regular learning and reflective opportunities with the social work team
• Free on-site parking
• Refer a friend scheme with a monetary incentive
• An exceptional platform available for online and face-to-face training opportunities

About Us

Set up by a former foster parent and former social worker in 1994, Foster Care Associates (FCA) is an established fostering agency which forms part of the Polaris Community - one of the UK's largest communities of children's services providers.

The business was born out of an enthusiasm for delivering fostering services to make a positive difference to the lives of looked-after children. Our first office was in the Worcestershire countryside, and that's still where our Head Office is today.

We've come a long way since those early days and, over the years, FCA has built a strong reputation for excellence and now offers a wide range of services to children and families. But our purpose remains the same; 'to make a positive and lasting difference for children, families and communities', and it's underpinned by a series of values designed to help us assist children and young people to reach their full potential.

Today, we're one of the country's largest and most experienced independent fostering agencies. But just because we're large doesn't mean we're impersonal. At FCA we're one big family, and we're committed to supporting every single child and foster parent, every single minute of the day.

It would be beneficial to have experience of working within a fostering service or similar. You should be able to evidence your administration skills, ability to follow regulatory policies and processes and have the ability to work well within a fast-paced team.

We are a family of independent fostering agencies, all with our own individual areas of expertise, but with one shared vision. We want to give children across the country who have had a difficult start in life the support they need to build themselves a stronger and happier future. For our foster parents, we provide a close network of support that becomes like a second family.

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contact Ffion Williams, Fostering Service Manager, on (phone number removed).

To be considered, please apply and we will be in touch.

No agencies please.

Foster Care Associates is an equal opportunities employer and has Disability Confident Employer status through Jobcentre Plus. The successful applicant will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.