Young Peoples Practitioner

We have an exciting opportunity for an existing Young People’s Practitioner (Grade 8) to join the Missing Team on a permanent basis, working alongside our two current Young People’s Practitioners.

About the role

The Missing Team plays an important role in supporting children and young people who are reported missing across Children’s Services. The team supports activity while a child is missing and completes Return Home Interviews once they have returned. These interviews help us better understand what happened, identify any worries or risks, and consider whether further support is needed from Children’s Services or external partners.

Many of our young people experience challenges linked to family conflict, exploitation, peer relationships, violence, education, social exclusion and wider contextual safeguarding risks. They need practitioners who are confident, compassionate and able to respond quickly and thoughtfully to changing situations.

About you

We are looking for someone who can balance competing demands, remain calm under pressure and work in a solution-focused way. The successful practitioner will be empathetic, resilient, organised and able to build positive relationships with young people, families, colleagues and partner agencies. This is a role where you can make a real difference by helping young people feel listened to, understood and supported.

The Young People’s Practitioner will be involved in:

• Supporting police and partner agencies when children are missing, including unallocated children where required.
• Completing Return Home Interviews to understand the reasons for missing episodes, identify risks, and consider whether additional support is needed.
• Sharing concerns and key information with relevant professionals to support safeguarding planning.
• Supporting teams where children are missing regularly, including attending strategy discussions and professional meetings.
• Acting as a central point of knowledge across teams in relation to missing children and emerging themes.
• Working collaboratively with local transport networks and partner agencies to respond to missing children.
• Offering short-term support to unallocated children, where capacity allows, with the aim of reducing risk and preventing escalation into Children’s Services.
• Supporting peer mapping exercises for children of concern.
• Attending events organised by police and external agencies to raise awareness of missing children and contextual safeguarding.
• Working with other local authorities when children are missing outside of Southampton.
• Providing cover for management tasks when required.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a developed and proactive team that is raising the profile of missing children across the city. The role offers the chance to contribute to innovative practice, strengthen partnership working and support meaningful change for children and young people.

What we can offer you:

Here at SCC we have a range of different benefits, a few examples can be found below.

• Excellent local government pension with 15.2% employer contribution
• Death in service benefit of x3 salary, and optional salary sacrifice shared cost AVC (additional voluntary contribution)
• Generous holiday 25–31 days, based on role and service
• Flexible working options (role-dependent)
• Family-friendly policies - Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared/Unpaid Parental Leave, Time off for Dependents
• Training and development, including coaching and mentoring
• Health and wellbeing support - Employee Assistance Programme, Menopause Pledge, Mental Health First Aiders and access to a variety of staff networks
• Veteran-friendly employer with the Armed Forces Covenant
• Retail discounts and savings through the Southampton City Council benefits platform
• Discounted memberships at local sports and fitness centres
• Sustainable travel benefits - low emission car scheme, cycle to work, season ticket loans
• Employee volunteering scheme with 2 paid days leave to volunteer

For further information on our benefits package please visit: Employee benefits (southampton.gov.uk)

Contact details for informal discussion:

For further information and details regarding the role, please contact Shelley Arthur, Missing and YFPP Coordinator at Shelley.Arthur@southampton.gov.uk

Recruitment contact details:

Email: recruitment@southampton.gov.uk
Tel: 023 8083 4033

For more information about SCC please visit Southampton City Council

Attachments

• Young Peoples Practitioner - Job Description.pdf