Coordinator: Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children & Young People.

This is an exciting opportunity to be instrumental in developing new services and support for, and with, children and young people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. The post is initially for one year with a view to extending the contract to a permanent position subject to available funding.

We are a well-established and impactful charity working with children, young people and adults of all ages. Our Children and Young People’s Service currently offers a wide range of services and support to children who are vision impaired or have a multi-sensory impairment and their families.

Having identified gaps in services available to children who are Deaf and hard of hearing, we want to work collaboratively with others to help ensure that Deaf & hard of hearing children have the opportunities they need to reach their full potential.

Do you thrive on working in a team that has person-centred and holistic approach?

Would you like to work for a local charity that has the flexibility to work in a variety of different ways to meet the needs of Deaf children, young people and their families?

Are you looking for a role that includes direct work with children, young people and families, as well as service development?

Primary Objectives:

This is a new role and offers an exciting opportunity to be instrumental in the co-design of collaboration, support and services to meet the unmet needs of Deaf children and those that are hard of hearing (HOH). Working with the Head of CYPS, and in collaboration with other Teams.

The role has two parts:

1) Working with the Head of Department to scope and develop a new service that will meet the needs of Deaf children, young people and their families. Working in collaboration with other charities and organisations to enhance the support available, and to discover future opportunities to work collaboratively.

2) Offering direct family support to parents and carers with Deaf or HOH children.

Service Development

· Liaising with appropriate people including parents, colleagues within our organisation, and professionals from other organisations to develop and implement a support service that will meet the needs of families whose children are Deaf or HOH.

· When unmet needs are identified, to seek creative solutions to find the best way forward to address the arising issues.

· To work with the Fundraising Team to support funding applications.

· Attend internal and external meetings as appropriate to highlight identified needs, promote the Charity’s vision with regards to services for children who are Deaf/HOH. Highlighting our aims and objectives in regard to the development of this service.

· To demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunities paying particular attention as to how these principles apply to Deaf and HOH children, and those who have a multi-sensory impairment, as well as highlighting the added impact this can have on those children who have additional complex needs.

· To keep up to date with current legislation, local & national policies and research.

· As appropriate to work with parents, children and young people to enable them to participate and influence this service development.

· To keep records of findings, decisions, meetings, outcomes etc ensuring that the organisation has an accurate record of how the service is being developed alongside the decision-making process throughout the life of the project.

Family Support Worker role

· To support parents and carers whose children are Deaf/HOH assisting them when appropriate.

· To adhere to the standards and legislation for confidentiality, equality, and diversity. Keeping accurate and up to date records.

· To assess and identify when the needs of the children and their families are not being met and work with parents, other professionals, and organisations as appropriate to address the issues, with the aim of ensuring that the children have the opportunities and environments that will enable them to reach their potential and achieve their aspirations.

· To facilitate effective support networks to enable parents and carers to share experiences and provide peer support.

· To run parent-led support groups giving parents the opportunity to meet without their children present enabling them to voice their opinions.

· Ensure the family support element of our service is needs led and inclusive.

· Offer emotional support to parents and young people as appropriate.

· To act as a point of contact for the child or young person and their family to offer support, information and guidance and referral route to appropriate services.

· To advocate for the family/ child’s needs, attend meetings, write supporting letters, attend appointments etc.

Main Duties:

To work with the Head of Department to identify unmet needs, scope out and develop services for Deaf and hard of hearing children and their families to address challenges, ensuring that children and young people have equity in the opportunities available to them.

To identify gaps in services available to children and their families in relation to their backgrounds and lifestyles ensuring access to appropriate support services.

To deliver a range of support services that promotes good practice reflecting the requirements of children and young people and their families.

To provide a positive role model at all times to children, young people, their families and the wider community.

To ensure services provided are of a high quality and enable every child to have the opportunity to achieve their aspirations and reach their full potential.

Where appropriate to work in partnership with outside agencies such as Surrey County Council Physical and Sensory Education, Social Care, Health services, Housing and other relevant charities.

Develop information and resources about the opportunities available to families whose children/ young people are Deaf, or hard of hearing.

To support children and young people through transition from children’s services into adult services, engaging with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) services, and adult services where appropriate.

To support parents, carers and other professionals with Education & Health Care Plans (EHCP’s) to ensure they accurately reflect the needs of the child or young person.

To be proactive in safeguarding all children and adults from abuse, prevent abuse from occurring, and report any suspected incidents of abuse, following our Policies and Procedures which link with Surrey County Council local Multi-Agency Policies and Procedures.

As appropriate attend Team Around the Family (TAF), Child In Need (CIN), Education & Health Care Planning (EHCP), Transition meetings and case conferences etc.

To work with parents, carers and children individually ensuring that each interaction is person centred to meet the needs of the child/ family.

To maintain effective recording of work undertaken, concerns, decisions, actions etc. to respect and uphold the confidential nature of personal information as required by the Data Protection Act and GDPR.

To take responsibility for the reporting on the key performance indicators and outcomes attached to both the developmental element of the service and the family support element of this role, in order to meet the requirements of the funders of the service.

To support the Fundraising Team in developing funding bids and applications based on outcomes.

To work with the admin team to keep accurate statistics and report on the outcomes of the service.

To represent the charity at external forums and as appropriate, attend meetings as a representative.

To co-operate fully as a member of the staff team and to ensure good communication at all times including attending team meetings, supervision and annual appraisal.

To participate in training and development events as appropriate, and to take responsibility for personal development and learning.

Skills and qualities

Essential criteria

1) Competent British Sign Language user (BSL Level 3 as a minimum for non-native BSL users).

2) Knowledge with regards to child developmental milestones, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, safeguarding, health and safety, equality and data protection legislation, that will enable post holder to ensure activities always comply and operate within the law.

3) Ability to work imaginatively, creatively and reflectively, with regards to problem solving and service development.

4) Ability to work as part of a wider team, both within the immediate department and across the wider organisation, and other organisations and charities that we work collaboratively with.

5) Working in partnership, acknowledging what families bring and what practitioners contribute. In all interactions with families, effective communication is key to building real relationships.

6) To work flexibly and be available to support children, young people, and their families. Occasionally families may benefit from appointments outside of normal office hours.

7) To have professional experience and excellent communication skills that enable the post holder to work with very emotional situations and as far as possible meet the needs of parents & their children while remaining professional at all times.

8) Ability to write reports, supporting letters, and to keep accurate and concise records.

Desirable criteria:

Lived experience as someone who is:

• Deaf or hard of hearing themselves
• A parent carer of a Deaf or hard of hearing young person
• A sibling of a Deaf or hard of hearing person
• A child of Deaf parents