Senior Mental Health Practitioner (12 month FTC) in Birmingham

Work as part of the Outreach Navigation service and Young People’s Transition Hub to have a positive impact on rough sleeping numbers, serial exclusion and on the entire homelessness pathway.

Work collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation, including Outreach and Transition Hub staff, and key partners such as Forward Thinking Birmingham and Aquarius to address the mental health needs of young people who are rough sleeping, at risk of, or serially excluded.

Work with vulnerable young people facing complex health and social care needs including drug and alcohol dependency and mental health problems.

Act as a resource for the young people, St Basils colleagues, the wider health community and other agencies on issues relating to health and homelessness.

Empower and equip St Basils colleagues to build their understanding and confidence relating to Mental Health.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in street outreach to engage with young people who may be rough sleeping or at risk of.
• Assess the needs of young people and formulate a plan of care in collaboration with colleagues with a view to delegating to other St Basils colleagues and referring to statutory services and other third‑sector providers including mental health teams, GPs, and primary care nurses.
• Manage a caseload and act as the young person’s advocate by providing information and support, facilitating the young person’s own choices about their care, promoting independence and self‑care where appropriate.
• Adopt a proactive, flexible, and opportunistic approach to promote continuity of care.
• Undertake a comprehensive range of activities and have key delegated responsibilities for defined areas of care.
• Autonomously assess and provide brief crisis interventions and referral to other sources of support for young people presenting with significant mental health issues.
• Support young people to understand mental health processes and pathways so they can make informed decisions about their consent for relevant assessment and associated interventions where appropriate.
• Utilise best evidence to undertake a core mental health assessment to triage, assess, formulate, plan, implement and evaluate care for young people.
• Be responsible for the delivery of targeted interventions and, where appropriate, specialist interventions.
• Ensure therapeutic interventions provided are appropriate to meet the specific needs of the young person based on their diagnosis and abilities.
• Ensure that young people on their caseload have up‑to‑date safety plans in place, completed in collaboration and shared where appropriate.
• Be responsible for ensuring that young people on their caseload have a personalised plan of care that is collaboratively formulated, with agreed outcomes.
• Ensure that the physical health needs of young people are screened, monitored and appropriately responded to.
• Support and advocate for young people, for example when a specialist placement is required.
• Provide interventions to young people experiencing a wide variety of mental health problems (the interventions provided will be within the practitioner’s sphere of competency and within their major skill set; the practitioner is expected to liaise with colleagues who may be more experienced in a particular field, as and when required).
• Act as a resource for the young people, St Basils colleagues, the wider health community and other agencies on issues relating to health and homelessness.
• Ensure that a multi‑professional/agency approach to care is maintained, valuing the interface of role and responsibilities and through multi‑disciplinary team working.
• Liaise with general practitioners, other health services (including mental health and drug and alcohol services), housing services including St Basils Youth Hub, and social services to ensure a coordination of services for young people.
• Utilise evidence‑based practice and NICE guidance to demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to support a young person’s mental, social and physical wellbeing in a community setting.
• Support young people who use the service with promoting effective change to positively impact individual outcomes.
• Create a positive and motivational environment which allows young people we support to thrive.
• Provide support to the wider RSI team and Transition Hub colleagues to think about the impact of the work on their wellbeing.