Very Special Kids currently have an exciting opportunity for two part time Family Support Practitioners to join our team. If you are passionate about caring for children and are seeking more purpose, fulfilment, and connection in your everyday work – Very Special Kids might be your perfect fit? 

At Very Special Kids, we nurture and foster a culture where our team is empowered, supported and safe through the process of caring for children and families. As part of our team, you will have access to education and training to enhance your personal and professional development; expert specialist resources; and a comprehensive supervision model that will support you to make a significant impact in the lives of children and their families.

Both vacancies will be located in a new office in Officer and will be required to provide support to families in the Gippsland, outer southeast and Peninsula regions. Our services are delivered in person, over the phone and through telehealth outreach.  The successful candidate will be required to attend head office in Malvern on a regular basis.

 Very Special Kids House is located in Malvern. Our new state-of-the-art hospice (including hydro-therapy pool) is a world class facility that supports the complex needs of the children and young people in our care. 

About Very Special Kids:

At Very Special Kids, we believe that all children and young people have the right to a quality of life, no matter how long or short their life may be. We are a highly respected organisation with circa 100 employees and over 950 volunteers who provide essential, free-of-charge, palliative care services for children and young people living with a life-limiting condition.  Very Special Kids provides specialist services for the whole family, including counselling, peer support, bereavement support and respite and end of life care at Victoria’s only hospice for children and young people. 

To be successful in this role you will need: 

• Tertiary qualifications in social work, psychology, or related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience working with children and families in grief and bereavement, family services, or the general health field required.
• Demonstrated ability to provide trauma informed therapeutic intervention, including formal counselling and emotional support to one or more family members, including children and young people.
• Demonstrated understanding and application of counselling theoretical frameworks.
• Demonstrated ability to undertake psychosocial assessment and develop, implement, and review level of support required to meet the changing needs of families.
• A genuine interest and commitment to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, LGBTIQ, refugee and culturally diverse families and communities, and other higher risk cohorts.

Very Special Kids offers its employees a unique and rewarding environment including a supportive team, salary packaging, health & wellbeing initiatives, and targeted individual development plans. 

At Very Special Kids, our goal is for our workforce to reflect the diverse community we serve.  We continually seek to employ people of any gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, with a disability, Aboriginal Australians and varied cultural backgrounds.  If this sounds like you, please take a look at the position description on our website   www.vsk.org.au and below.

Confidential enquiries are welcome, please contact Jess Birnbaum, Family Support Manager, on 0487 001 766 or via [email protected].

Applications are open until Tuesday the 12th of September 2023. Please include a cover letter, addressing the key selection criteria and an updated copy of your resume via [email protected].   We will review applications as they are received.

Very Special Kids is committed to providing a child-safe environment and requires all staff to have Working with Children Check, Police Record Checks and evidence to demonstrate vaccination against COVID-19.