JOB SUMMARY

The Life Story Worker plays a crucial role in supporting children in care, foster placements, and adoption by helping them make sense of their past and understand their life journey. This position involves working directly with children, foster carers, adoptive families, and social workers to create meaningful life story books and therapeutic narratives. The role is designed to help children process experiences, build a coherent identity, and strengthen attachments within their current and future families.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Previous experience of working with children in care, foster care, or adoption (essential).
• Understanding of trauma, attachment, and loss, and how these impact children’s development.
• Ability to communicate sensitively and effectively with children of different ages and developmental stages.
• Experience in using creative and therapeutic approaches such as play, art, or storytelling.
• Strong collaboration skills, able to work with social workers, carers, and families.
• Excellent written skills for producing life story books and professional reports.
• A recognised qualification in social work, psychology, therapeutic life story work, counselling, or a related field is desirable but not mandatory.
• Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
  Job Type: Freelance
  Pay: From £18.00 per hour
  Work Location: In perso

• Work directly with children in foster care or adoption or residential care to explore and record their personal histories in a sensitive and age-appropriate way.
• Collaborate with social workers, foster carers, and adoptive parents to gather key information, memories, and documents.
• Create life story books or digital narratives that reflect the child’s experiences, birth history, and care journey, presented in a therapeutic, child-centred way.
• Use creative approaches (art, play, therapeutic tools) to engage children and support emotional expression during sessions.
• Provide guidance to carers and adoptive parents on how to use life story materials to strengthen attachment and help children understand their backgrounds.
• Contribute to care and adoption planning by offering insights into the child’s emotional responses and needs during life story work.
• Maintain accurate records and reports in line with safeguarding, data protection, and local authority procedures.
• Participate in reviews and planning meetings where appropriate, providing professional input on the child’s engagement and progress.