Supervisor – Mana Whānau
Skilled and Experienced Social Worker – Full time, Porirua
Supporting whānau and their tamariki to stay together
We’re looking for a skilled and experienced social worker to lead Mana Whānau, an innovative service developed as an alternative to foster care.
As supervisor, you’ll champion a whānau-led approach and support the Mana Whānau team to develop their competency with this initiative.
Our skilled kaimahi support parents and whānau to build their capability and provide safe, nurturing care for their children. The service is designed to support:
- whānau with children who are at risk of being removed from their care (by agreements or orders in favour of Oranga Tamariki or others)
- whānau with children already in care who are struggling to meet Oranga Tamariki requirements for safe return home.
Mana Whānau differs from other approaches in that kaimahi work intensively with whānau in their homes for six months, supporting them to identify and address the toxic stressors that impact upon their capability and capacity.
Salary band: Between $77,107 and $90,713 depending on skill and experience.
Lead Practitioner – Family Start, full time, Porirua
Social worker or related equivalent qualification
Help whānau be the parents they want to be
We’re looking for a social worker or someone with a related equivalent qualification to work as Lead Practitioner in our Family Start team.
Family Start makes available a space to support tamariki. Our team works with whānau and parents across the greater Wellington region who feel their circumstances may place them at risk of not achieving positive and healthy outcomes for their children,.
We offer a safe process for whānau to work through goals to reach their own solutions and be leaders in their home.
As Lead Practitioner with the Family Start team you will hold a small caseload and, when delegated by the Team Manager, provide casework oversight and other leadership functions.
You’ll help access the unique strengths and capabilities of colleagues to achieve best outcomes for whānau and you’ll also support the innovative and leading-edge social change initiatives of Wesley Community Action.
Salary band: Between $69,500 and $81,624 depending on skill and experience.
House parents, live-in, fulltime
We are seeking a special couple to become house parents to provide supportive care for up to three young people in our Wellington-based group home, Te Whare Whakapakiri.
The young people being cared for have experiences of trauma that has made life very difficult for them and it can make it hard for those who care for them too.
Our house parents provide day-to-day nurturing and structure in the home that makes it safe and supportive for them.
Your partner can work elsewhere while you will receive a salary for your full-time house-parent role. You’ll have 24-hour on-call crisis support and regular respite weekends where you can step away and stay elsewhere. Accommodation and utilities are part of the package, as is regular training and supervision.
You should have no dependent children living with you as our young people need your full attention. You will need a current full and clear driver’s license, exceptional good health, and solid experience of parenting, working with or caring for youth.
Download an application pack or contact Isabel Macdonald for more information: 04 805 0875, imacdonald@wesleyca.org.nz.
Youth Mentors – Porirua
Do you have the energy to spend one-on-one time with an individual young person and provide a positive influence? We’re looking for committed, passionate, energetic, and grounded people to support the young people in our specialist foster care programme, Te Waka Kotahi, during and after school, and on weekends. The number of hours varies.
Our young people have had many challenges in life (not of their doing) and they struggle to find their place in the world. Our youth mentors work with their foster parents to support these young people as they find their way. You’ll need to be able to set boundaries and stick to them, and provide outstanding role modelling to young people. It’s important to be highly self-motivated.
As a Youth Mentor you will need:
- A full driver’s license.
- Your own car/car insurance.
- To pass police and Oranga Tamariki checks
- Knowledge of supporting youth who have challenges.
Download an application pack or contact Isobel Macdonald for more information: 04 805 0875, imacdonald@wesleyca.org.nz.
Foster Parents needed (Full and part-time)
Wellington wide (singles/couples)
We need foster parents who are open to caring for an individual rangatahi between the age of 9 and 16 years in their own home either full time or part time on the weekends for up to a year, sometimes longer.
This is rewarding and very demanding work. Our incredible team of foster parents and social workers support rangatahi who do best in one-on-one intensive foster care. Our rangatahi have had extensive histories of being in care and bring with them experiences of trauma that means life has been very difficult for them,. This can make it hard for those who care for them. Our team is passionate about the care and protection of rangatahi and passionate about the support of our foster parents who welcome those children and youth into their home. You must genuinely have a heart for this work, as it will be your heart for it that keeps you sustained.
You will receive:
- Salary, training and professional supervision
- 24-hour support
- Regular time off
You will currently be residing in the Wellington region and have stable accommodation and a spare room. You will also:
- Be free of dependent children living with you.
- Have a full NZ driver’s license, own car and be a confident driver
- Have a comfortable, clean, and safe home environment
- Have a high standard of personal health and wellbeing.
- Have excellent communication skills.
- Be open minded and non judgemental to the differences you might experience.
- Always be open to learning new ways of supporting rangatahi
Download an application pack or contact Isabel Macdonald for more information:
04 805 0875, imacdonald@wesleyca.org.nz
Find out more about Te Waka Kotahi, our one-to-one foster care programme