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FIELD WORKER

The role of a Field Worker is to:

• Work alongside families to strengthen their capacity to provide care and safety for children and other family members.
• Investigate and evaluate concerns or situations regarding the well being of children and responds in an appropriate manner.
• Perform a counselling role in line with case management policies and practices.
• Provide reports and recommendations to case conferences, reviews, Court and other associated Agencies in relation to the care and management of children.
• Administer the provisions of the Children and Community Services Act 2004.
• Arrange appropriate referrals to other Agencies or professional bodies as necessary.
• Engage, build and maintain relationships with families, children and communities.
• Work with Indigenous and culturally diverse people.

Qualifications
Tertiary qualifications in Social Work, Psychology or other relevant Human Services qualifications.*

* Exemptions to this essential requirement may apply for applicants who are Indigenous Australians or have a culturally diverse background or for some regional and remote positions.

Career opportunities
There are a number of career paths for Field Workers within the Department, including but not restricted to:

• Team Leader
• Senior Field Worker

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SENIOR FIELD WORKER

The role of a Senior Field Worker:
A Senior Field Worker has a responsibility to assist in supervising and supporting Field Workers. The Senior Field Worker provides professional assessment, planning and intervention service to individuals, groups and communities within a service delivery team. Senior Field Workers also offer expertise and experienced advice to field staff and service providers in case work and community development methods. Senior Field Workers can specialise in work areas such as child protection, child interviews or child placements.

Qualifications
Tertiary qualifications in Social Work, Psychology or other relevant Human Services qualifications.*

*Exemptions to this essential requirement may apply for applicants who have proven case work experience in child protection or are Indigenous Australians or have a culturally diverse background or for some regional and remote positions.

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TEAM LEADER

The role of a Team Leader:
Team Leaders are responsible for the day to day functioning of their teams, the allocation of work to team members and the supervision of team members. Their administrative responsibilities include approval of case expenditures, staff leave arrangements and performance management appraisals. They have delegated responsibilities and authority for case practice within their district and for maintaining and overseeing quality assurance mechanisms in relation to case practice.
 
Team Leaders also chair most of the districts Care Plan Meetings, oversee referrals to social work private practitioners and provide expert consultation on all complex casework matters and decisions (e.g. decisions to apply to the court for an order, allegations of abuse in care).

Qualifications
Tertiary qualifications in Social Work, Psychology or other relevant Human Services qualifications.*

* Exemptions to this essential requirement may apply for applicants who have proven case work experience in child protection or are Indigenous Australians or have a culturally diverse background or for some regional and remote positions.

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CLINICAL AND COUSELLING PSYCHOLOGIST

The role of a Clinical and Counselling Psychologist is to:

• Respond to the psychological needs of children in the CEO’s care.
• Assess children’s wellbeing; the impact of their negative experiences; plan for and meet their psychological needs; consult with the other stakeholders in children’s lives including parents, carers, field officers, schools, and other agencies.
• Work with, assess and treat other client groups including parents and other people associated with a child’s experience of being in the CEO’s care or being at risk of entering into the CEO’s care.
• Provide training and education to a range of parties including parent groups, staff, and community groups.

Qualifications
Applicants must have a Masters degree in Clinical or Counselling Psychology from an APS approved course or the approved equivalent (approval from the Psychologists Board of Western Australia). They also need to be eligible for registration with the Psychologists Board of Western Australia as either a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist or as a registrar in either of those specialisations.

Experience
The Department employs specialist title Psychologists (Clinical or Counselling) who may have only recently completed their academic qualifications.

The Masters degree provides opportunities for relevant clinical experience through placement units, but it is not essential that applicants do a placement in a Child Welfare related organisation. The transferability of clinical skills from placement experiences to this organisation is assessed at entrance to the organisation.

Capacity to learn quickly and to appreciate the contextual features of the Department’s environment, role in the community and its client populations is essential.

Professional development

• Registration supervision, usually internally, is provided by the Department.
• Internal group supervision and professional development activities through the selection of recognised subject matter experts from within the community (Mostly highly regarded Psychologists) to facilitate group learning processes.
• External training activities. Funds to attend are granted on the basis of perceived relevance to the work environment, perceived benefit to the clinician and the organisation, and on the basis of procedural fairness with regard to the training and developmental needs of other staff.
• Staff from within the teams also provide developmental opportunities through their own areas of interest or expertise. For example, parenting capacity assessment, sex offender risk assessment, cross cultural psychology.
• Regular whole of service professional development days.

Other benefits of being a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist:

• Varied work experience, one which will prepare you well for any future clinical work scenarios.
• Clinicians adhere to evidence based and empirical frameworks in delivering their services which are inclusive of emerging trends in service provision and the trend to practice based evidence.
• A challenging work environment.
• Clinicians who have worked at Department successfully are often well regarded by recruiters from other organisations.

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RESIDENTIAL CARE OFFICER

The role of a Residential Care Officer:

• To work as a member of a team to achieve best outcomes for children and young people.
• Provide group and individual residential care to children and young people.
• Plan, develop and implement activities with children and young people.

Residential Care Officers work in the Accommodation and Care Services (ACS) division. ACS offers a range of services for children under the care of the CEO, such as, residential units, adoption, one-to-one programs and professional foster care services. ACS seeks to match the needs of young people with services and programs that maximise a young person’s chance of achieving a stable home life.

Qualifications
A Certificate 3 and 4 in Community Services (Protective/Residential Care) or approved equivalent or equivalent experience in working with or caring for troubled children and youth.

Professional development
On the job training is provided to all new employees. Training including Induction, Therapeutic Crisis Intervention and Gatekeeper suicide prevention training along with a range of other training options managed by our Community Skills Training Centre are offered to all Residential Care Officers.

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FAMILY RESOURCE WORKER

The role of a Family Resource Worker:

• Provides supervision and transport services for families, children and young people.
• Provides information and support to families, children and young people about how to access the Department and community resources.
• Provides support to offices in the Metropolitan area.

Currently this position is part time and offers a great opportunity for those seeking flexible working arrangements or looking for additional industry experience whilst completing studies. 

Qualifications
A formal qualification is not essential for this position. 

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EDUCATION OFFICER

The role of an Education Officer is to:

• Liaise between the schools and the homes of children in the care of the CEO of the Department.
• Advocate on the behalf of children and work with other staff and the carers to improve their academic achievements so that they are more able to reach their potential.
• Work with staff in schools, arrange new school placements, organise tutoring and provide information about post school options.
• Act as consultants about all educational issues in the offices in which they work.
• Get involved in local committees that meet to address issues around the educational needs of children at educational risk, educational needs and post school options for Indigenous children and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds as well as those affected by the raising of the school leaving age. 

This role is unique and all new staff members are trained in the role when they are appointed. It is an advantage to have worked in either primary or secondary schools, preferably in WA, as knowledge around standards, curriculum and assessments is needed in order to make the best possible decisions for children and young people.  Experience or qualifications in educational special needs or with children at educational risk is a real advantage.

Qualifications
Diploma of Teaching is the minimal qualification and at least three years teaching experience in either primary or secondary schools is desirable.

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CASE SUPPORT OFFICER

The Case Support Officer is responsible for:

• Contributing to the effective management of case work in the District by providing direct case support and administrative assistance to designated Child Protection/Care for Children case management teams.
•  Providing quality customer service to all clients relating to casework matters that is accurate, efficient and professionally helpful consistent with legislative and procedural requirements.
• Liaising with and providing information to government and non-government agencies in relation to client needs as directed by case manager or Team Leader.
• Providing quality administrative support for the designated casework team and district.

Qualifications
Experience in an administrative support role is essential; however there are no formal qualification requirements for this position.

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SPECIALIST CHILD INTERVIEWING UNIT

The purpose of Specialist Child Interviewing is to interview children who have experienced sexual abuse and physical abuse. The safety and wellbeing of the child is the paramount concern of the Specialist Child Interviewers (SCIs). The purpose of the SCIs is to interview all children in an anti-discriminatory, culturally aware, developmentally sensitive, objective and legally defensible manner. The interview techniques used are child centred with the purpose of determining truth and where offences are disclosed the SCIs will strive to maximise the attainment of admissible evidence.

Specialist Child Interviewing in WA

Specialist Child Interviewers follow the guidelines of the WA Four Phase Forensic Interview, which are similar to the UK’s Achieving Best Evidence and models adopted throughout Australia and New Zealand. This model of interviewing is generally accepted internationally as the most effective way to elicit a free narrative disclose from a child and allows for the information to be obtained in a way that obtains the truth, considers a child’s developmental age and challenges inconsistencies in information given. Any electronically recorded interview serves three primary purposes:

• Obtaining the truth about what has happened
• Gathering evidence for use in criminal proceedings
• the examination in chief of the child witness

In addition, any relevant information gained during the interview can also be used to promote the child’s welfare and in some cases the welfare of other children.  The electronically recorded interview may additionally serve the purpose of informing any subsequent Children’s Court, Family Court or disciplinary proceedings against adult carers (eg. in residential institutions).

The Child Interview Unit makes no distinction between Intra and Extra familial abuse and 66% of all interviews result in sufficient particularisation and corroboration for criminal charges to be laid.

Expansion of the Metro Child Interview Unit to a State-wide Service
The Child Interview Unit had previously served the needs of children in the Perth metro area, whilst child protection staff in country or regional areas (who were also trained as Specialist Childs Interviewers), conducted Forensic Interviews along side their general child protection duties. Following a reorganisation of the unit, the CIU will now provide a centralised State-wide response to investigating physical or sexual assaults of young children and vulnerable adults. 

Staff will visit towns and communities through a fly in fly out response, working alongside the WA Police, local staff from DCP, Health, Education and NGOs to provide a multi-agency response to child abuse.  Staff as part of the Regional Response Team will provide a variety of services to rural communities including planning for responses, child assessment interviews, specialist child interviews and support to local districts to provide ongoing services to these children and families.

As part of their job description interviewers will be required to travel, sometimes at short notice. A Regional Response may take 1/2 a day, requiring a drive of 100Kms to beyond the metro boundary, or a flight from Perth to Broome, in the tropical north, to work in the Kimberley region for up to 7 days.

When working away staff will be paid a travel allowance and over-time beyond a 7.5 hour day.
 
The Unit operates an on call roster for interviews required out of hours, for which staff are paid an on call allowance and any over time incurred due to call-out.
 
Staff at the CIU receive regular supervision, monthly independent psychological support and ongoing professional development.

Specialist Child Interview Training and Professional Development

The field of child forensic interviewing is a dynamic and growing one. Developments in this field are driven by both the judiciary and academic research and the CIU critically evaluate and incorporate changes that enable our model to remain at the leading edge in this field.

The Child Interview Unit maintains and facilitates training around the forensic interviewing of children in WA. All CIU Team members are encouraged and supported in obtaining nationally recognised training and assessing qualifications (cert 4 Training and Assessment).

To hold the job title of Specialist Child Interviewer, staff must complete the Specialist Child Interviewer Training, or have completed equivalent training either nationally or internationally.  The two week course is undertaken with candidates from both DCP and WAPOL. The course consists of assessable components in Child Development, Legislation, Indigenous Studies, and the practical application of the model. During the training candidates have access to a wealth of practical experience with current Specialist Child Interviewers both facilitating the training and assisting/assessing candidates. The training also draws on external expertise in the fields of working with sex offenders, legislation and child development. The entire second week is devoted to skills rehearsals. Professional adult actors are used to play the roles of children with ages from 4 to 15. The scenarios developed cover a broad range of interviews the candidates, upon successful completion of the course, are likely to experience in the field. Upon successful completion candidates hold prescribed interviewer status under the Criminal Law Amendment (Sexual Assault and Other Matters) Act 2004.

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