18+ Leaving Care Personal Advisor

Responsibilities

• To act as a full member of the staff team of the Service and to contribute to the development of the Service within the Directorate.
• To fully contribute to the work of the Service and to manage an individual caseload, work with individual and groups of young people and to participate in the duty work, responding to need as it arises.
• To participate in the provision of appropriate programmes for individual service users of the Service, in conjunction with other Directorate staff and other agencies within this field; that will most effectively assist the young people to achieve the transition to adulthood, with particular emphasis upon their transition from being in care, to living independently in the community.
• Within the role of aftercare adviser, to implement and adhere to all relevant Directorate and Service procedures.
• In working with service users, to adopt a holistic approach to meeting their individual needs, and to promote their involvement in the process, in order to develop the self-esteem of service users through a process of positive achievement; to keep in touch with young people to achieve this aim.
• To advise other Directorate and staff regarding the preparation and support needs of care leavers, and to assist in the promotion of services for these groups of service users.
• To assist in liaising with the range of Directorate and other agency initiatives in this field and to assist in the promotion of corporate or inter-agency approaches.
• To assist in working with other agencies active in this field, in order to help maximize the provision of resources by these agencies for the benefit of Directorate service users.
• To be responsible for providing information and support to young people on an individual or group basis as appropriate.
• To be specifically responsible for directly working with young people allocated, and to ensure that all of the necessary assessment, intervention and recording or work undertaken is completed.
• To participate in the provision of a duty/referral service by the service and to advise young people and their referrers as part of this process.

Qualifications

• To keep up to date with new trends and developments in legislation, policy and practice in the areas of aftercare, accommodation, employment, benefits, and child care – in order to appropriately advise other agencies, Directorate staff and service as a whole.
• To undertake any training that is considered appropriate to the duties of the post – resources permitting, thus facilitation in-going development of the post and service as a whole.
• To participate in regular supervision sessions as required.
• To participate in appropriate working parties, as required, which contribute to the further development of 18+ Services.
• To contribute as required in the provision of appropriate training programmes for 18+ Directorate and other agency staff; which will promote more effective services to care leavers.
• To work flexible hours as required in order to meet the needs of the services and service users.
• A willingness to undergo appropriate training courses as directed, including to NVQ level 3
• Substantial experience of working with children and young people up to the age of 21 and 25 if they are in higher education in a voluntary or Professional setting.
• Experience of interagency work with young people who are vulnerable, at risk, homeless or have been in care.
• Experience of being responsible for directly assisting young people (caseload responsibility)
• Have worked successfully in achieving outcomes for Young People under supervision.

If interested, please submit CV and call Varsha on 02036913890 between 9am to 5pmfor more details