Youth Practitioner

**About The Role**:
We are excited to be expanding The Harbour Service to the East of Dorset for children and young people who have experienced significant trauma and neglect. We are going to be opening a new residential home near Ringwood where you will initially train and work, yet this will expand to providing outreach support in the community, where you’ll play a key role providing a range of interventions to prevent children entering care.

The core purpose of this job is to provide proactive support and restorative interventions to families and young people, so that they can achieve the best possible outcomes in life.

We are looking for caring, committed and positive individuals to join our supportive team of Youth Practitioners, working within the homes and local community supporting our children and young people to thrive.

We will provide you with an extensive induction and training including a level 4 certificate in therapeutic care where required. You will also be given regular supervision and access to some great employee benefits and LGPS pension scheme working for Dorset Council.

We encourage applicants to visit us to allow you to get a better sense of who we are, what the job involves and to ask any questions you may have.

**What you will be doing**

The Youth Practitioner role is a rewarding and professional role working in a residential home and the community supporting children and young people aged 8-17 with emotional and behavioural needs. Youth practitioners will be positive role models for our young people and will have working knowledge of PACE and therapeutic approaches. You will be resilient, reflective and curious about our young people's lives and journeys.

You will have the ability to professionally nurture our children and young people and be passionate and aspirational in your support and care.

You will work with children and young people to develop independently, including cooking and personal care skills. You will organise and join in with daily activities, liaise with our wider group of professionals in education and social care.

You will become a member of our close and supportive team, but also develop the ability to work independently.

You will work closely with children and young peoples’ families and other agencies such as education and social workers, and be involved in developing care plans and thinking of creative ways to help children flourish, have fun and develop life skills.

This role is offered on a full time/permanent contract where you will work a shift pattern. Residential shifts will include weekends and bank holidays on a rota basis as we are a 24hr service, however we welcome discussions around rota flexibility.

Additional allowances are payable for sleep in duties and bank holiday work.

**About you**

We are looking for individuals who:

- Are caring, motivated, fun and have a lot of enthusiasm.
- Are passionate and thoughtful about the type of care you provide and the opportunities you create.
- Have the ability to form connections with children and young people and develop positive relationships.
- Can learn and use different approaches to care and follow individual care plans.
- Are curious about what a child might need and finding creative solutions to meet these needs.
- Are willing to achieve the skills and knowledge to develop your practice.
- Want to improve the lives and opportunities of children and young people who are disabled and their families.
- Can demonstrate resilience within your work and work effectively with your team.

**Further Information**:
This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.
- For an informal conversation please call Jan Lindsay, Registered Manager, on 07721353038.

**About Us**:
Dorset Council: A great place to work

We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

- provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
- have ambitious aspirations
- are excited about our future
- care about Dorset and all the people who live here
- know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success You will:

- have access to a range of employee benefits
- be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
- have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.