Leaving Care Personal Advisor in Surrey

Starting Salary: £34,434 progressing to £37,280 per annum

Hours: 37

Location: Stevenage

Contract Type: Fixed Term until 31st March 2026

Directorate: Children's Services

About The Team

We have an exciting opportunity within the Care Leavers Team as Leaving Care Personal Advisors, to support young people transitioning from being Children Looked After to Care Leavers. Leaving Care Personal Advisors provide fundamental support, advice and guidance in a range of areas to ensure young people access a smooth transition into adulthood and to have the skills and knowledge to thrive throughout their future.

About The Role

As a Leaving Care Personal Advisor, you will work with young adults who are Care Leavers alongside a range of statutory and community services to ensure the best outcomes for those we work with. This includes:

• Working in line with statutory responsibilities set out in the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the guidance supporting the Children and Social Work Act 2017.
• Holding responsibility for a caseload of Care Leavers from the age of 18 to 25.
• Assessing young people’s needs and acting as lead professional, developing clear pathway plans and risk assessments, involving other agencies where appropriate.
• Engaging in effective multi-agency working, developing collaborative relationships with agencies, and coordinating support (e.g., mental health, substance use, homelessness).
• Engaging with and providing support for young people, including those with significant additional needs, to identify and address barriers to personal development, learning and work, particularly during periods of transition.
• Providing direct support to young people preparing to leave care, in order to ensure a smooth and positive transition to independent living.
• Working with young people and their significant others, including family members/carers and others, to enable them to contribute to maximising the young person’s potential.
• Working to agreed targets, monitoring the progress of young people on caseload through regular review, recording data on relevant management information systems to appropriate timescales and standards, producing reports and correspondence as required.
• Keeping up to date with relevant updates in legislation, guidance, policy and procedures in relation to Care Leavers and issues which impact on them (e.g., housing, cost of living).

The duties and responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present. The post holder is expected to accept any reasonable alterations that may from time to time be necessary.

About You

• Essential Knowledge of child development, adolescence, social, emotional and mental health needs
• Knowledge/experience of working with care leavers, young people and/or families
• Knowledge of current legislation and guidance relating to safeguarding children and adults
• Experience of multi-agency working with various statutory agencies
• Ability to build trust, engage and safeguard young people and families; including those that may be parents
• Ability to use structured assessment tools and plan interventions
• Ability to communicate effectively (in both written and verbal forms) with young people, their families, and other professionals
• Effective skills in organisation, time management and in managing a complex workload
• Competent in using ICT packages relevant to the role to store and present information
• Commitment to own continuous professional development and best practice
• Hold a full driving licence and access to a car.

Desirable Knowledge of working with Care Leavers within a formal working environment. Understanding of transition to adulthood and of Child Looked After processes.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is within the Health and Social care, level 9 job profile.

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Nazneen Arif (Nazneen.Arif@hertfordshire.gov.uk)

Interview Date: 18th May and 20th May

How to Apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Secondment

This position is open to secondments. If you work for HCC or any other Local Authority and would like to be considered as a Secondment contract, please ensure you complete the Secondment Form as part of your application. If you do not, your application will be considered as a Fixed Term Contract only.

Additional Information

Disability Confident

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding

This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure.