Young Persons Practitioner in Stoke-on-Trent

This role is focused within the Southern and Eastern districts of Staffordshire (Cannock, Lichfield, Tamworth, South Staffordshire and East Staffordshire).

Contract/Hours: Permanent Full Time 37 hours a week.

Benefits:

• Over 7 weeks inclusive paid leave and the option to buy or sell leave
• Excellent training and the opportunity to undertake professional training for some roles
• Flexible maternity, paternity and adoption packages
• Up to 5% employer contribution and life assurance cover
• Blue Light Card eligibility with discounts at 15,000 national retailers

At Action for Children, we offer more than just a job. Join us and you’ll be part of a team dedicated to giving children safe and happy childhoods. See how your skills can make a real difference, helping solve the problems children and young people face every day.

A bit about the role:

The CCE Prevention Service works across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire with a strong preventative focus, and aims to identify, and provide targeted support to children who are vulnerable to being criminally exploited (low risk). Referrals are received from Primary Schools and Secondary schools, Special Schools, Alternative Provisions and those Electively Home Educated, and our work will focus on targeted group work. We will signpost referrals that do not fit our criteria and will work collaboratively with other agencies to maximise capacity, resources and reach.

We are looking for a Young Persons Practitioner to deliver group-based interventions in schools to these young people. The service supports children aged between 9-16 (up to 25 for children and young people with special educational needs/disabilities) who are identified as vulnerable to being criminally exploited. Referrals are received directly from education provisions, however partner agencies such as Police and Social Care can request that schools refer identified groups of children, therefore strong partnership working is a key element of this role.

You will help by:

• Delivering group work interventions to young people.
• Giving young people skills to identify associated risk factors and seek support.
• Working in partnership with education providers and additional statutory and third sector organisations.

Let's talk about you. In the role of Young Persons Practitioner, we're ideally looking for someone who has:

• Ability to plan sessions tailored to specific needs using a variety of organisational and national resources
• Ability to be agile and responsive to groups in terms of session content, introducing new topics and differentiating approaches where required.
• Confident and experienced in delivering sessions to groups of children to maintain interest and engagement, differentiating topics where needs change.
• Ability to create an inclusive and nurturing classroom based environment where children’s voices can be captured and feed into service development
• Skilled in case recording to reflect session content, individual needs, presenting risk, engagement and understanding.
• Ability to assess, capture and report levels of engagement and understanding to promote positive outcomes and gather feedback.
• Understanding of a range of complex needs and safeguarding indicators to enable appropriate responses and manage escalations where required.
• Understanding of local processes and national guidance related to safeguarding children at risk of exploitation.
• Ability to work autonomously using one’s own initiative
• Ability to create and maintain effective and meaningful relationships with children, families and partner agencies while upholding the reputation of Action for Children.
• Commitment to professional development opportunities
• Access to a vehicle for travel across the locality.

Why Action for Children? Every child should have a loving home, food, warmth, the chance to grow and learn - the support to cope with life’s challenges. But too many children don’t. By bringing your passion and unique skills and experience, you’ll help us change that where it really matters. We’ve been driven by love to take action for children for over 150 years, giving them the protection and practical help they need.

Please note, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. If you require any support with the application process, please contact Sarah Manderfield at recruitmentservice@actionforchildren.org.uk quoting reference 13565.

Diversity, equality and inclusion: At Action for Children, we’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued, and able to thrive. We know that racism and discrimination create barriers, and we’re taking active steps to challenge these inequalities in our organisation and in the communities we serve. We strongly welcome applications from people who are Black, Asian, or from other racialised and ethnically marginalised communities, as well as disabled people, who are currently under‑represented in our workforce. We are committed to removing barriers in our recruitment processes and ensuring fair access to opportunities. We also encourage applications from men, who are under‑represented in our Children’s Services roles. We recognise that people hold multiple identities, and we value the richness this brings to our team.