Job Introduction
An exciting opportunity to join the Emergency Duty Service (EDS) on a permanent, full-time basis. EDS operates outside of office working hours and the successful applicant will join the current shift rota system working across a combination of evening and weekends (including bank holidays).
This role will enhance the current provision that EDS provide to children and young people who are experiencing a crisis in the home environment. The successful applicant will work alongside the team to offer direct support to children and young people who are risk of their current of their current placement breaking down. This will include direct work with the children and young people and their families to maintain the current placement, where it is possible to do so.
This role will also extend to the supporting children and young people who need to transition to alternative placements. An integral part of the role will be the transfer of the information across to the teams who operate in the day.
Main Responsibility
Key Accountabilities:
- Underpinned by our restorative practice model work with children, young people and families to support them to remain within or return to their families
- To support children and young people where is not possible for them to remain at home through transition into temporary care arrangements
- To provide practical, emotional and coaching support to children and their carers
- To provide specific task focussed direct work to children and young people to support their placements
- To offer direct support to families by spending time with children and young people outside of the home environment to alleviate immediate pressures and challenges
- To follow support across weekends and extended bank holiday weekends with indirect and direct contact to provide a supportive framework and intervention in collaboration with other EDS team members
- To devise strategies, plans and creative responses to families experiencing acute levels of distress
- Recognise where external factors may be influencing and impacting the current situation such as substance use, exploitation, cohesion and abuse
- Understand where the risk of remaining at home presents a significant safeguarding to the child or young person and share the information with the responsible shift lead
- Carry out work outlined within assessment and planning on specific topics with children, families and carers (including but not limited to) staying safe, loss and grief, behaviour management, attachment and criminal exploitation. This may include time limited direct work to enable children to remain with their fostering and connected families.
- To support the completion of documentation, reports and records
- To undertake an informed, robust and concise hand over to the day services detailed decisions, interventions and outcomes
The Ideal Candidate
Qualifications/Professional membership
•Minimum standard of NVQ3 in respect of working with children and their families or equivalent A/I Knowledge and Experience
• Experience of direct work with children, their families and carers in a statutory or voluntary agency which provides services to vulnerable children and their families
• Experience in the use of IT including Microsoft packages
• An understanding of child development and the effect of stress and trauma on child development.
• Knowledge of mental health, substance misuse, domestic abuse, poverty and other vulnerabilities and how these impact on families
• Knowledge of partners, agencies and their role in supporting families • An understanding of the key pieces of policy, guidance and legislation which govern children’s social care.
• Knowledge and ability to undertake assessments and make appropriate decisions, in line with professional accountability. Skills • Ability to effectively communicate with children, their families and carers
• Ability to build relationships and deliver interventions to children,
• Ability to work effectively in conflict situations
• Ability to use IT systems and to write a good standard of records.
• Commitment and ability to demonstrate restorative approaches to working with children and families.
• This post is designated as an Essential car user
About Staffordshire County Council
We are no ordinary county council:
Our Values:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.
Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.
We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.
Our benefits:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to a range of benefits.
Our recruitment process:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities
As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Silver Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.
