NATIONAL FAMILY SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (NEURODIVERSITY AND SUBSTANCE USE)

NATIONAL FAMILY SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (NEURODIVERSITY AND SUBSTANCE USE)

Accountable to: Senior National Family Support Practitioner

Location: National

Contract: Part time: 28 Hours/week (0.8 FTE) – Fixed-term post funded for 3 years

Objective: This post will develop and deliver dedicated support for families affected by a loved one’s substance use and neurodiversity, building their self-management capacity. The post will lead a new national service providing one-to-one support, information, learning opportunities, and pathways into wider Scottish Families supports. Working within the National Services team, the role will establish and grow peer support, collaborate with partners to reach new families, and contribute to sector learning about the needs of neurodiverse families experiencing substance use.

Salary: £35,264.23 (pro rata) plus 4% pension contribution

Conditions:

The is a national post which will involve significant travel across Scotland (main base: Robertson House Glasgow). It is expected that the post holder will be required to work some evenings and occasional weekends. Due to the nature of this post, access to a car is essential. This post will be part of Scottish Families’ staff team and be supervised by the Senior National Family Support Practitioner. The post has responsibility for launching and developing a new service which will support families, provide information and learning for families already supported by Scottish Families, and upskill staff internally. This is a fixed-term post funded for 3 years.

Role:

To lead the development, delivery, support and promotion of a range of family and peer support opportunities for family members affected by someone else's substance use and neurodiversity. This role operates on a national basis and in partnership with our third sector partners, including but not limited to CALMS, Social Work, the Children's Panel and Reporters Office, as well as through engagement with local ADPs. The postholder will promote the service and provide tailored, individualised support to families affected by substance use and neurodiversity.

This is a new project developed in response to an identified need. Through our ongoing work with families, we have found that substance use can create additional challenges for neurodivergent individuals and their families. To better understand this, we launched a Substance Use and Neurodiversity Working Group in 2024. Staff worked with families through conversation cafés, surveys and one-to-one interviews to understand their experiences and the changes they wanted to see.

The evidence gathered from families suggests a strong link between neurodiversity and substance use. "We do what we can to look after them at home but then they go out into the world and the world doesn't understand them. So they self-medicate. They've never had to do that at home."

Families have told us that our usual supports do not always meet the needs of neurodivergent individuals. To address this, we are seeking dedicated staff time to work alongside families and use evidence-based practice to tailor and develop our support offer, ensuring neurodivergent individuals and their unpaid carers can access the right help in a way that works for them.

Responsibilities:

Lead co design work with families with lived experience to shape the service model and support approaches.

Facilitate and support a steering group of volunteers in year one, ensuring their leadership in design, delivery, and evaluation.

Develop new learning materials and neurodiversity informed practice tools for families and partner services.

Build peer support models and contribute to establishing in person and online meet ups across multiple locations.

Hold and manage a caseload of families affected by both substance use and neurodiversity.

Provide one to one support via phone, video, and in person sessions based on family preference and location.

Deliver neurodiversity informed guidance to reduce conflict, improve communication, and strengthen self-management at home.

Offer practical coping strategies for families awaiting formal neurodevelopmental diagnosis.

Provide advocacy support to help families navigate services and treatment pathways.

To actively promote family recovery and family inclusive practice.

Work with third sector partners, recovery services, autism/neurodiversity organisations, ADPs, and statutory bodies to promote the service and build referral pathways.

Share learning with partners and contribute to sector wide understanding of the link between neurodiversity and substance use.

Support development of training for services based on co-produced learning with families.

Upskill Scottish Families staff on supporting neurodiverse families affected by substance use.

Co-design evaluation methods with families, ensuring accessible and meaningful ways to capture feedback.

Track progress through monthly KPIs, one to one supervision, team meetings, and quarterly Board reporting.

Maintain high standards of safeguarding practice in line with Scottish Families procedures for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and adapt procedures for the complexities of neurodiversity and substance use.

Reach new families through partners such as CALMS, social work, children’s panel/reporters, ADPs, and other networks.

Promote the service nationally, ensuring accessibility for families regardless of diagnosis status.

To contribute to fundraising and funding reporting as required.

Operate within an Equal Opportunities Framework and promote equality issues in all aspects of work.

Recruit, support, and retain volunteers involved in steering groups and peer meet ups.

Provide volunteers with training and ongoing support to enable them to lead peer groups in years 2 and 3.

Ensure volunteers can participate by coordinating travel expenses, childcare support, and refreshments.

Any additional duties will normally be to cover unforeseen circumstances or changes in work and will usually be compatible with the regular type of work. If an additional task or responsibility becomes a regular or frequent part of the job, it will be included in the job description in consultation with the post holder.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

POST: NATIONAL FAMILY SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (NEURODIVERSITY AND SUBSTANCE USE)

Qualifications

Essential: Degree in a relevant subject or equivalent professional qualification Evidence of ongoing professional development in neurodiversity, mental health, or family support.

Desirable: CRAFT (Community Reinforcement& Family Training) or equivalent Training or certification in autism, ADHD, or other neurodevelopmental conditions. Training in substance use, recovery, or trauma informed practice. Coaching or counselling skills qualification.

Experience

Essential: Supporting neurodiverse individuals or families. Direct client work, advocacy, or case holding role. Working with statutory and/or third sector partners. Developing resources, tools, or learning materials. Facilitating groups, workshops, or co-design sessions.

Desirable: Supporting people affected by substance use or addiction. Working with volunteers or lived experience groups. Contributions to service development or piloting new approaches. Safeguarding and risk management in complex family situations. Using and delivering web-based support services.

Knowledge

Essential: Values underpinning advocacy Understanding of voluntary sector Strong understanding of neurodiversity (autism, ADHD, etc). Understanding of how neurodiversity impacts substance use, coping, communication, and family dynamics. Knowledge of diagnostic pathways, assessment processes, and barriers to diagnosis. Knowledge of trauma informed, strengths based, and person-centred practice. Awareness of challenges faced by families affected by substance use and neurodiversity.

Desirable: Knowledge of Scotland's substance use landscape (ADPs, recovery services, family support organisations). Understanding of safeguarding frameworks and multi-agency working. Knowledge of evaluation methods, co-production, and participatory approaches.

Skills

Essential: Ability to build trusting, compassionate relationships with families. Strong communication skills, adaptable for neurodiverse audiences.

Additional

Essential: Ability to deliver training to professionals or volunteers. Digital skills for online support delivery and resource creation. Creative problem solving and innovation in service design.

Desirable: Ability to manage a caseload and maintain clear boundaries. Skilled in group facilitation and co-design. Ability to develop accessible, neurodiversity informed resources. Strong organisational and reporting skills. Ability to work collaboratively across teams and partners. Ability to effectively and sensitively advocate for others. Ability to work at a distance from main office. Effective interpersonal and communication skills. Ability to evaluate performance against agreed standards. Team working. IT literate.

Commitment

Essential: Commitment to equality, inclusion, and removing barriers for neurodiverse families. Willingness to travel across Scotland. Flexibility for occasional evening/weekend sessions. Commitment to safeguarding and safe practice. Flexibility in a developing role/task. Empathetic approach. Commitment to cooperative team working and equal opportunities. Due to the nature of this post, access to a car is essential.

Desirable: Experience of promoting service development to the public and media. Lived experience of neurodiversity or supporting someone who is neurodiverse. Lived experience of supporting someone affected by substance use.

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