Family Mediation Central Scotland (FMCS) is looking to recruit Child Contact Supervisors.

FMCS supports separated parents and their children across the Forth Valley area by providing both Family Mediation and Child Contact Centre (CCC) services. We are a Member Service of the Relationships Scotland network of local services. CCCs are safe, comfortable places where children can spend time with the parent they no longer live with, and provide a solution for parents who find it difficult to arrange and manage contact themselves. Families using our Supervised Contact Service have usually been referred by the Sheriff Court or family law solicitors, and successful applicants will require to supervise contact sessions at any of our three child contact centres, located in Cowie, Falkirk and Alloa, on a sessional basis, predominantly on Saturdays.

Role: You will be responsible for supervising contact sessions for children with the parent they no longer live with, or another family member, predominantly on Saturdays. You will prepare factual reports on such sessions for the Sheriff Court, under the Service Manager’s guidance.

Key duties and responsibilities

Reporting to the Service Manager:

• Ensure the safety and comfort of the children at all times.
• Have due consideration for the safety of other participants, parents and staff, at all times.
• Responsible for the smooth running of any contact sessions you are involved in.
• Observe and record anything of note during supervised contact sessions, then use these notes to compile factual, observational reports on the sessions for the Sheriff Court.
• Manage the transfer of children from one parent to the other at the start and end of each contact session.
• Work with both parents on an equal basis and minimise any conflict and tension around the contact.
• Liaise with Service Manager, and other CCC staff, about additional support for families using the Centre, including any special circumstances, and help implement strategies to address issues arising from contact sessions.
• Maintain confidentiality and impartiality at all times.

Education & experience:

• Relevant professional qualification, for example social work, childcare/Early Years, education, mediation, psychology or two or more years’ experience of working with families and children or people in conflict or distress. Ability to work at SCQF Level 7 or above.
• Please note – there are 56 hours of planned training and learning for this post, as set out in the Relationships Scotland Child Contact Centre Services Training Framework. All applicants must be willing to undertake this training and learning.