ST. DAVID'S CHILDREN SOCIETY
28,142 - 30,024 per year (pro rata)
Lambourne House, Cardiff
Full-time
JOB DESCRIPTION: Children and Young People Support Worker POST SERVICE TERM OF POST SALARY SCALE POINT HOURS BASE TRAVEL Children and Young People Support Worker St David’s Adoption and St David’s Fostering Service Fixed - term (3 years) £28,142 - £30,024 FTE (pro-rata for part time) 11-15 18 Hours Lambourne House, Cardiff Essential Car User Allowance – travel across Wales ST DAVID’S VALUES St David’s Children Society is a registered and approved Voluntary Adoption and Fostering Agency covering the geographical region of Wales. The person who holds this position is expected to have full regard to the values of the organisation and be prepared to operate within its ethos and its services’ vision and mission statements. CORE STATEMENT OF POST To provide emotional and practical support to children and young people who have been adopted from care or are looked-after in foster care. While working directly with the child or young person this role includes working closely with adoptive parents, foster carers, and other professionals to ensure that children and young people feel safe, heard, and empowered. The role supports improved emotional wellbeing, placement stability, and long-term positive outcomes for children and young people. THE ROLE To fulfil the objectives of St David’s Children Society, which relate to the provision of adoption and fostering services for children. The post holder will be part of a team that aims to provide creative and forward-thinking services to meet the needs of children requiring adoption or fostering placements and support those children and their families post placement and post adoption order. The role will involve providing direct support to children, young people and their families to develop and improve wellbeing, sense of self and support relations within the home. The post holder will deliver one to one support and group activities with adopted and foster children and their families as part of our universal offer and specialist support. The principal responsibilities of the person performing this job are: • To work for the long-term well-being of children referred to St David’s Children Society in accordance with the agency’s aims and objectives. • To respect and preserve the confidentiality, both within and outside the organisation of all who use the services of St David’s. KEY TASKS Direct Work with Children and Young People • To undertake 1-1 work with children / young people delivering structured and informal sessions, using a trauma-informed and attachment-aware approaches. • Build trusting, consistent relationships with children and young people to support their emotional wellbeing and development. • Visiting children, young people and their families in their own home or taking children / young people out into the community • To participate in ongoing assessment of needs to prevent breakdown of placement. • Support children to explore and express feelings around identity, contact, loss, trauma, and life story work. • To deliver age-appropriate peer support activities through group sessions. Family and Carer Support • Establish and maintain relationships with parents and foster carers. • Work alongside adoptive and foster families to offer practical strategies that support placement stability. • Offer guidance to parents / carers around managing challenging behaviours or emotional responses rooted in early experiences. • To provide advice and support to foster carers and looked after and adopted children as required. Multi-agency Working • Work in partnership with colleagues from a range of different agencies to provide high quality support to children, young people and their parents/carers. • Liaise with St David’s social workers and Local Authority Social Workers, and where requested schools, health professionals, and other services. • Attend and contribute to professional meetings, reviews, and safeguarding discussions. • Where required support the child or young person is advocating for their needs and rights at professional meetings. • Under the direction of St David’s management team, liaise with colleagues, partner agencies and other professionals to access services, share information and keep all relevant parties updated regarding wellbeing, needs and plans for the child / young person. Safeguarding and Risk Management • To assist St David’s Social Workers to ensure the safeguarding of vulnerable children/young people. • Recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns in line with local and national safeguarding procedures. • Maintain accurate and confidential records of all work, including support plans, assessments, and evaluations. Monitoring and Evaluation • Contribute to monitoring outcomes and the impact of support provided. • Use feedback from children, families, and professionals to adapt and improve services. Administrative Tasks • To undertake administrative/routine tasks appropriate to the post. • To maintain case files and to provide verbal and written reports as required. KEY EXPECTATIONS • To work flexibly, including evenings and weekends to meet the needs of children, young people and their families. • Have a willingness to engage in training and development opportunities. • To maintain effective working relationships and thereby contribute to a working • environment which is safe, considerate and supportive to all. In accordance with relevant legislation, to take reasonable care of your health, safety and welfare and that of other persons who may be affected by the performance of your duties. • To work in a manner which is in keeping with the equal opportunities and anti- oppressive practice standards of St David’s Children Society. • To adhere to Health and Safety regulations and maintain a safe working environment. • To work accountably within all the organisation’s policies and procedures, including acceptable usage of IT, Confidentiality, Data Protection and Equal Opportunities. CONFIDENTIALITY It is expected that all staff employed by St David’s Children Society will understand that our work is confidential and that personal details must not be divulged to members of the public. This obligation will continue indefinitely even after termination of employment. PERSON SPECIFICATION (To be read in conjunction with the Job Description) POST Children and Young People Support Worker. 1 2 QUALIFICATIONS (E = Essential D = Desirable) • 4 x GCSEs including English and Maths at grade C or above or equivalent qualifications. • Qualification in social work, youth work, childcare, counselling, psychology, or a related field (Level 3 or above). EXPERIENCE (E = Essential D = Desirable) • Experience of working directly with children and young people, ideally those who are care- experienced or experience of working with children who have experienced trauma. E ✓ E ✓ • Experience of working with children and families ✓ in varied and complex circumstances • Experience of partnership work with children and families, and external organisations. of working with • Experience caseload/workload demands. to manage a varied timelines and • Experience of delivering trauma-informed support with children and families. • Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary way to achieve positive outcomes for children and families. • Experience of working in a team. • Experience of managing challenging behaviour, challenging situations, or conflict 3 KNOWLEDGE / SKILLS (E = Essential D = Desirable) • Demonstrable knowledge of child development and the effect of early trauma, attachment disorders, abuse, loss and separation has on a child’s behaviour ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ E ✓ D ✓ D ✓ ✓ Evidence to be derived from Application Application Evidence to be derived from Application / Interview Application / Interview Application / Interview Application / Interview Application / Interview Application / Interview Application / Interview Application / Interview D Evidence to be derived from • Knowledge of the needs of Children and Young People with a range of physical and emotional complex needs • Skills in developing appropriate packages of support for children, young people and their families. • Excellent communication and active listening skills, with the ability to engage children of various ages and backgrounds. • Knowledge of the adoption and fostering system in legal and safeguarding including Wales/UK, frameworks. • Ability to work independently, as well as part of a multi-agency team. • Knowledge of safeguarding and the ability to follow statutory safeguarding policy and procedures. • To respond positively to training and development learn and opportunities with an ability understand theoretical concepts, legal frameworks and to work within policy and procedures. to • Experience of Microsoft Office 365 including all applications and use of database systems. • Ability to value diversity, treating people as individuals, working across cultures and valuing individual inputs/contributions. 4 ATTITUDES & VALUES (E = Essential D = Desirable) Resilience and emotional maturity to manage complex and emotionally demanding situations. Strong interpersonal skills and ability to sustain appropriate working relationships with a range of people including children, young people, parents and carers, colleagues and other professionals and managers. Ability to work on own initiative, to prioritise, plan organise work to deadlines. Personal or professional experience of adoption or fostering. 5 MISCELLANEOUS (E = Essential D = Desirable) Flexibility to work evenings/weekends as needed to meet the needs of families. Must be prepared to undertake an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ E ✓ ✓ ✓ E ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ D Evidence to be derived from ✓ D Evidence to be derived from Must have full driving licence and use of own car, with business insurance. Ability to communicate through the medium of Welsh ✓ ✓