Social Care Link Practitioner - EYPDAS

Social Care Link Worker Substance Misuse Practitioner

Permanent contract but funding for this role ends on 31st March 2026 with potential for extension in line with the EYPDAS contract which ends 31st March 2030.

Hours: 37 hours per week

Salary: £29,855.00 per annum

Location: Essex - Countywide role primarily covering 2 quadrants

The Children's Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 140 years. We run local services that support young people when they are at their most vulnerable and in desperate need of help. We're there for young people, every step of the way.

This role sits within our children and families directorate, which works to provide immediate one-to-one and group support for young people who urgently need support. Your role will be to help us maintain and develop innovative practice to support our work in our services within the Essex area.

We wish to recruit a Social Care Link Practitioner to join our established Essex Young Peoples Drug and Alcohol Team (EYPDAS) supporting young people aged 8-25 who are using or misusing substances and their families as well as being a point of contact for Essex Social Care. You will provide direct therapeutic support to vulnerable young people, vulnerable young adults and families who are affected by substance use; engaging parents and carers into the drug treatment system, where required. You will support Essex Children's Social Care to be a point of contact and information.

Support offered will include one to one face to face interventions, targeted group work & online support across the County as well as consultation with professionals. You will also facilitate training around substances for statutory and voluntary agencies across the County. The young people will require a skilled practitioner who is experienced in working with hard to reach, vulnerable young people at risk through the use of therapeutic approaches. You should have experience of facilitating groups or delivering training with knowledge of the issues and legislation affecting young people who are using or misusing substances.

What we are looking for...

• You will have substantial experience in working with vulnerable young people either in a paid or unpaid capacity. To be able to evidence your ability to build positive relationships with groups of young people to raise awareness about substance use and the associated risks and impact.
• You will have experience of carrying out individual and group work interventions with young people and/or adults, either in an intervention or educative capacity.
• You will have experience in using Microsoft Office Applications and other relevant data systems.
• You can demonstrate the ability to work on your own initiative as well as be able to contribute to a multi-agency approach so as to enable effective interventions with young people, including delivering training to a range of professionals.
• You hold a full UK drivers license and have access to your own transport.

As well as a strong commitment to your development, we offer a generous holiday entitlement, a contributory stakeholder pension, childcare vouchers and flexible working.

The Children's Society runs over 100 local services that help thousands of young people who desperately need our support, and we campaign to get laws and policies changed to make young people's lives happier and safer.

The Children's Society is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and young people that we work with. As such, all posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We ensure that we have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across our services.

Therefore, candidates applying for work in our Youth Impact Domain will be required to complete an “Employment history_template” document prior to interview. The fully completed document should be loaded by the candidate at the point of uploading your CV.

The closing date for applications is midnight on 31st March 2025. If after 14 days, we have received enough applications we can close this vacancy from the 24th March onwards. Interviews will be held on 8th April. Please note that interviews will be held in person at our Chelmsford office.