Residential Care Practitioner | Toowoomba

Employment Term: Permanent Part-Time Opportunity (64 hours per fortnight)

Location: Toowoomba

Remuneration: From $43 per hour + Super + Not for Profit Salary Packaging + Penalties & Allowances

Make a meaningful difference with UnitingCare Queensland

At UnitingCare we are leaders in crisis response, the protection of vulnerable people and children, financial resilience and family wellbeing. Our FaDS (Family and Disability Services) team work passionately across Queensland to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

As a Residential Care Practitioner, you’ll be encouraged to grow, develop and feel empowered to make the everyday easier for the people we care so passionately about. Let’s make a meaningful difference, together!

Your part in our UnitingCare team

Working in accordance with the CARE model, you will be able to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children, young people and families by taking a therapeutic centred approach.

As a Residential Care Practitioner, you will support the provision of stable, trauma informed, nurturing non-family-based care arrangements.

The focus of this Program is to provide support to children with to extreme needs, by encouraging them to:

Feel a strong sense of identity and belonging through development of social and interpersonal skills

Build positive and trusting connections with family, friends and community through relationship-based experiences and consistent and caring responses

Have access to opportunities for learning and development to meet their individual needs.

Create healthy lifestyle choices and access to additional external support services for physical, mental and emotional support and promote positive life outcomes.

In addition to the above your role will also include but not be limited to:

Maintaining a Clean and Safe home environment

Managing Day to Day tasks within the context of a Residential Care home environment

Completing verbal and written reports as per Program policies and procedures

Have flexibility to work weekdays, weekends and sleep over shifts

Support the practical application of the CARE model when caring for children in our care

What makes a difference for us?

Have a strong understanding of the child protection system and more specifically previous exposure to a residential or out of home care environment

Have a strong therapeutic background with a well-developed understanding of C.A.R.E principles and/or a trauma informed framework of practice

A minimum Cert IV in Child, Youth & Family Intervention or Cert IV in Human Services, Community Services, Youth Services or related field

Experience incorporating the six CARE Principles when supporting Children and Young People, or reflection on how you would incorporate these into your practice

Completed the Hope and Healing Framework Foundations Training or be willing to undertake this

Current Blue Card - Working with Children

Qld Driver Licence

Current First Aid & CPR Certificate

Willingness to undergo LCS screening check

Please note, that as part of UnitingCare’s commitment to professional development and provision of trauma informed care, successful candidates will be paid to attend training in person for TCI, CARE and Three Pillars of transforming care.

Employee Benefits

NFP Salary Packaging: Save tax and increase your take home pay by salary packaging your everyday living expenses and bills (up to $15,900) and meal entertainment (up to $2,650) per annum. To learn more about this benefit watch the video via the following link: Salary Packaging Explained

A recognition and rewards platform, providing employee discounts at hundreds of retailers, including everyday expenses, holidays, health insurance, annual awards celebration, wellbeing and employee assistance programs

12 weeks paid parental leave and 2 weeks paid partner leave, available after 6 months service, in addition to the government scheme

Diversity and inclusive leave, offering paid gender affirmation leave and cultural leave options (paid and unpaid) for those who may celebrate Lunar New Year, Diwali, Ramadan, NAIDOC weeks and other significant cultural events

Career development opportunities to challenge yourself, grow and make a meaningful difference

A positive and inclusive team based on respect, shared standards, strong values and a commitment to serving others

We’d love you to be part of our UnitingCare family

Joining our FaDS, team, you’ll also be welcomed as part of the UnitingCare family. The second-largest Queensland employer, we’re a proud not-for-profit with more than 16,500 staff and 9,000 volunteers across our brands of BlueCare, Lifeline, ARRCS, The Wesley Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital, St Stephen’s Hospital, and St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, and have been leading by example for more than 100 years.

Child safe, Child friendly

UnitingCare is committed to being a Child Safe, Child Friendly organisation and will:

provide welcoming, safe and nurturing services for children

implement measures to prevent child abuse and neglect within our services

appropriately and immediately address child abuse and neglect if it does occur

Diversity & Inclusion

Our approach is simple – everybody is welcome here. At UnitingCare, diversity is at the core of our who we are, our mission and our values. We are committed to providing equal opportunities to all employees no matter their sex, race, culture, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. Demonstrating our commitment to reconciliation and building long-term employment opportunities for First Nations peoples, UnitingCare strongly encourages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants for this position.

Safe workplace

We work hard to make our services welcoming and safe for every person. We are united in keeping children, young people and the elderly safe from harm, within our services, workplaces and the communities we support. We are committed to speaking up loudly for their safety.