Leaving Care Asylum Personal Advisor

Job Title: Leaving Care Asylum Personal Advisor
Starting Salary: £34,434 progressing to £37,280 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Hours: 37.0
Location: Countywide

Hybrid Working- Office base is Stevenage.

Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Childrens Services

About the team

An exciting opportunity has arisen, which means we are recruiting to a Leaving Care Personal Adviser role within one of our Separated Migrant Children and Care Leaver Teams. This role offers support to young people transitioning to adulthood after previously being children looked after. The young people that we work with have all entered the UK with no parent or guardian to care for them, therefore become Children Looked After by the Local Authority to act as their corporate parent.

Leaving Care Personal Advisers complete co-produced pathway plans and offer support, advice, and guidance holistically to support our Care Leavers into adulthood and beyond. We advocate for our Care Leavers needs and empower them to live happy and fulfilled lives, full of ambition.

Acting as a corporate parent to our care leavers is central to our work and this is something you would fulfil in your role.

You will be working within a team that comprises of Social Workers and Leaving Care Personal Advisors. As a team we work together to ensure that the young people we work with have a smooth transition of support.

About the role

As a Leaving Care Personal Advisor, within the Separated Migrant Children and Care Leavers Team, you will work with Social Workers and Children’s Practitioners 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.
• Being responsible for a case load of former Separated Migrant Children as Care Leavers from the age of 18 to 25.
• Assessing young people’s needs and acting as lead professional, developing clear pathway plans and involving other agencies where appropriate.
• Engaging in effective multi agency working, developing collaborative relationships with agencies and coordinating support i.e. 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 endure 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.
• Keep up to date with relevant updates in legislation, guidance, policy and procedures in relation to Separated Migrant Children and Care Leavers and issues which impact on them i.e. housing.

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.
• Holding a full driving licence and access to your own vehicle.

Desirable:

• Knowledge/experience of working with Separated Migrant Children or Care Leavers.
• 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 Services, level HSC9 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Health and social care

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Rosa.straker@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Interview Date(s): 12th September and / or 15th September

Benefits of working for us

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.

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 & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.