Senior Placement Practitioner (Foster Care Program)

at  Centacare Catholic Family Services

ABOUT THE ROLE

Centacare has an opening for a Senior Placement Practitioner for our Foster Care program in a full-time permanent position, with the possibility of negotiating a 0.8 FTE arrangement to meet service delivery needs. Based at our Seaton site, this Monday to Friday role from 9 am to 5:06 pm involves travel to homes within the community and occasional work outside of regular hours.
As a Senior Placement Practitioner, you will oversee placements for children aged 0-17, including immediate, short-term, long-term, and respite care. You will promote a culturally safe environment, support foster carers and staff, and drive program development and innovation. Working closely with the Placement Manager, you will enhance the professional development of the team and collaborate to achieve program goals. Additionally, you will maintain quality assurance by contributing to program policies, ensuring accurate data on referrals and placements, and effectively matching carer households with placements in compliance with legislation.

Responsibilities include:

• Provide expert advice, support, and guidance to support practitioners.
• Collaborate on complex cases with support practitioners to ensure comprehensive care.
• Chair multi-disciplinary Care Team Meetings, managing participants diplomatically to address both the child’s and carer’s needs holistically.
• Liaise with the Respite Support Practitioner, Carer Support Practitioners, Department of Child Protection staff, and carers to facilitate various placements within the program, tracking and maintaining placement data.
• Advocate for carers, ensuring their needs and voices are heard.
• Participate in the on-call duty roster and escalate placement issues of risk to the Manager as needed.

Prior to receiving a formal offer of employment with Centacare, the following documents must be provided for this role:

• Driver’s licence
• Valid Working with Children Check (WWCC)
• Evidence of right to work in Australia
• 100 points of identificatio