Preschool jobs

Recruitment Information Pack

ROLE: 6-Month, Fixed-Term Maternity Cover

Family Development Practitioner (West Cork Based)

Who we are:

Childhood Matters is a not-for-profit organisation aimed at improving developmental and life outcomes for children 0-18 years old. We also work directly with parents and foster carers to support and develop parenting in challenging contexts. As an organisation we strive to positive impact the wider professional network we operate within through external training, research and professional development opportunities.

We are committed to embedding an evidence-based culture of trauma-informed care and therapeutic practice and hold ourselves to high standards in all engagement with service users, colleagues and stakeholders alike. We are committed to research and evaluation and continually assess the effectiveness of our service through independent research and partnership with third level institutions. We strive to be a positive place to work, providing staff with reflective practice, regular supervision and a training budget.

With offices and services in Blackrock, Blackpool, Clonakilty and Farranree we employ 130 staff across all departments. We offer competitive salary packages as well as benefits including enhanced maternity leave; pension contribution scheme; health care plans; flexible working hours; internal and externally provided training opportunities, and competitive annual leave entitlement.

Job Title

Family Development Practitioner (Maternity Cover)

Department

Limetree

Applications considered Via

Application Form Only – CV’s will not be accepted

APPLICATION FORM AVAILABLE AT: https://childhood-matters.ie/careers/

Please forward completed application forms to : recruitment@childhood-matters.ie

Opening date for Applications

09th September, 2026

Closing Date for Applications

23rd September, 2026 @12 noon

Proposed Interview date(s)

TBD

Location of Post

Clonakilty – Outreach throughout West Cork

Details of Service

Childhood Matters is a not-for-profit organisation that provides child and family services aimed at supporting positive childhood outcomes, developing parenting capacity, strengthening family resilience, and contributing to healthier, more sustainable communities.

· Parent and Infant Unit: Nationwide parenting capacity-building and assessment residential service for complex parents and infant situations where distinct child protection concerns.

· CHIPPS: CHIPPS is a specialist attachment-focused, trauma-informed mental health service for children and young people in care.

· Young Parents Support Programme: The Young Parents Support Programme (YPSP for short) is the only targeted community-based support service for young parents in Ireland.

· The Limetree Project: Therapeutic community-based family support and family contact project, in partnership with South Lee & West Cork Social Work Department to include out of hours service.

· Supervised Contact: Contact Service provides structured supports and interventions for children who are in the care of TUSLA to have contact with their parents, siblings and other family members.

· Placement Support Project: This project is aimed at stabilizing at-risk foster placements, and supporting family reunification through intensive multidisciplinary support over a 10-week period, and the provision of a stability roadmap specifically tailored to the family. Emergency place of safety and Aftercare is incorporated into this project

· Crèche & Preschool: Award-winning Community Crèche and Childcare facility to include afterschool programme with a current capacity of 124 children.

· Secondary School One Year Leaving Certificate programme in partnerships with Cork Education and Training Board, providing parents opportunity to advance education when using clinical family services

· Employment Support Service: Vocational training for long term unemployed individuals within therapeutic and trauma-informed environment.

Purpose of Role:

The role of Family Development Practitioner is to provide intensive family support to those referred to the service. All referrals come from the Child Protection Social Work team or through CCA. The eligibility criteria for referrals is where children are at risk of coming into care. The family have to be identified as being at a level 3 or 4 on the Hardikar Scale.

Limetree works with a family through home visiting, direct work with children and supervising access. The role also requires the staff member to attend Child Protection Case Conferences and Court where applicable.

Limetree visits a family 2 to 3 times per week while carrying out an assessment for a 12 week period. Following this the family are signposted to other services or Limetree carry out an intervention depending on the findings of the assessment and the needs of the family. These visits can occur out of out of normal working hours (depending client’s needs)

Limetree also supervises access on site at Childhood Matters or in the community. Staff assess the access, offering parenting support and make recommendations around duration and frequency of access dependent on the findings of their assessment.

Reporting Relationship

The Family Development Practitioner will report to the Family Support Services Manager

Duties and Responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Working with Children/Young People/Families

• To participate in the development and implementation of assessments and tailored interventions and to ensure appropriate recording of same.
• To promote the rights and responsibilities of each child/young person within the service.
• Assist in supporting parents/guardians/ families to sustain the safe care of their children in the home setting.
• To liaise with the parent, family, general services and other agencies on behalf of the client.
• To attend meetings in relation to the care and development of the children and their families
• Participate in the completion of preliminary assessments, safety planning as required under Children’s First this should be done in consultation with the relevant line manager.
• Compliance with relevant Childhood Matters policies.
• Attendance at Court when required.
• Direct work with children/young people/parents/guardians/foster carers etc.
• Facilitating and supporting family contact for children in care.
• Lone working.

Administration and Accountability

• To attend team meetings and to report to the Family Support Service Manager on matters affecting the delivery of service.
• To make written reports to the Family Support Service Manager and social work department on a regular basis on the progress of development of the children and their families.
• Reporting and recording any incidents, that may happen to the / children and their families or are caused by them.
• Ensure Child protection procedures are followed
• To keep abreast of current legislation and current professional child care knowledge.
• To implement the Childhood Matters procedures and policies.
• To undertake ongoing professional training and development.
• To attend regular supervision with the designated supervisor.
• To perform any other duties that may be assigned from time to time.

Team Work /Training & Professional Development

• Participate in working within a team centered consistent approach.
• Participate in further training and development as required.
• Working with other professionals and external stakeholders
• Participate in regular team meetings, reflective practice, complex case discussions etc Engage in reflective and evidence-based practice.
• Be responsible for own health and wellbeing in order to carry out the duties of the role / is committed to managing own work / life balance.
• Keep abreast of current legislation and current professional child care knowledge.

Health & Safety

· Comply with and contribute to the development of policies, procedures, guidelines and safe professional practice and adhere to relevant legislation, regulations and standards.

The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time.

Eligibility Criteria Qualifications

Applicants must by the closing date of application have the following:

· Minimum of NFQ Level 7 qualification in social care/family support/addiction studies/social science or a related field

Or

· Be registered in the Social Care Workers Register maintained by CORU.

· Verification of garda Clearance

· Validation of three references.

· A full clean driver’s license

Other requirements of the role

Essential

Experience;

• Three years’ experience in child/family support/ social care/work
• Experience in conflict resolution mediation
• Experience in lone working/case management
• Experienced in record keeping and report writing

Skills, knowledge and abilities;

• Ability to work in a people centered and needs led manner
• Knowledge of child development and family dynamics
• Understanding of the relevant legislation, best practice and issues relevant to the area of Children’s services and Family Support
• Ability to network, develop links and engage with statutory sector and local community
• Excellent communication, IT and report writing skills
• Ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Adaptable and flexible with regard to service development and working hours

Desirable

• Group work with children and families
• Experience of working therapeutically with clients
• Experience of legal responsibilities with regard to child protection and child care
• Experience in home visiting
• Knowledge around Trauma informed Care approaches
• Informed of signs of safety
• Trained in Parenting Programmes or other relevant trainings to the post

Tenure

The current vacancies available are permanent/temporary and whole time/part- time.

Remuneration

The Salary scale for the whole time equivalent of this post is:

Aligned with the HSE Social Care Salary Scale June 2026

Candidates should note that entry will be at the minimum point of the scale and will not be subject to negotiation.

Working Week

The standard working week applying to the whole time equivalent of this post is: 37.5 hours. Limetree is an out of hours service which requires flexibility to meet families outside normal working hours. Visiting may be required early mornings, later evenings and some weekend hours. This fluctuates depending on the need of the families and staff are required to have flexibility to adapt hours where required.

Annual Leave

The annual leave associated with the whole time equivalent of this post is: 25 days pro rata

Probation

A probationary period of 6 months will apply

Benefits:

• Employee assistance program

Education:

• Advanced/Higher Certificate (preferred)

Work Location: In person