Young Carers Practitioner

**Job title: Young Carers Practitioner**

**Service**: The Bridge Young Carers Service, County Durham

**Hours**: 22.2 hours per week

**Location**: Butterwick Hospice, Bishop Auckland, DL14 6JU - office based and home working with arrangements to be agreed

**Contract**: Temporary - Fixed-term for 12 months

**Responsible to**: Service Manager

**Key tasks and responsibilities**:
1. To work with Young Carers aged 5-24 years old and their families where there is a child, young person or young adult caring for a family member with an illness or disability.

2. To plan, deliver and assess outcome focussed work with the aim of reducing harmful levels of caring, increasing opportunities and supporting families to build strength.

3. To carry out a Young Carers/Young Adult Carers Assessment with the Young Carer and their family, using this to create plan of bespoke support.

4. To work together with other organisations and agencies in order to promote safe working practices for children, young people and young adults in line with the strategic priorities identified in the relevant government legislation and guidance.

5. As appropriate work collaboratively in a multiagency setting with Health, Social Care, Education and other statutory and voluntary and specialist agencies, attending multi agency meetings including Team Around the Family meetings.

6. To promote and enable children, young people, young adults and adults to access universal, targeted or specialist services according to need.

8. To ensure you have an understanding (appropriate to your role), and to comply with, Family Action’s procedures for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.

9. To maintain accurate case records and up-to-date case files in line with Family Action’s policies and procedures.

10. To promote the Young Carers Charter to organisations and agencies to strengthen early help for young carers and their families.

11. To attend team meetings on a regular basis, to make a commitment to regular supervision, to be responsive to critical challenge, advice, feedback and direction, and to demonstrate a commitment to training and development

12. Comply with Family Action’s Health and Safety Policy, Data Protection Policy and to protect the health and safety and welfare of themselves and others.

13. To comply with Family Action’s Diversity & Equality Policy and our Ethical Policy in every aspect of your work and positively promote the principles of these policies amongst colleagues, service users and other members of the community.

14. To be able to evidence Family Action’s values at all times, which underpin Family Action’s mission of ‘building stronger families’ by:
a) Being people focused

b) Reflecting a ‘can do’ approach

c) Striving for excellence in everything we do

d) Having mutual respect for everyone we work with, work for and support through our services.

15. To work flexibly as may be required by the needs of the service and carry out any other reasonable duties as required.

**Person Specification**

1. Educated to level three or above with a recognised professional qualification in social work, health, education or equivalent, and evidence of a commitment to continuing learning and professional development.

2. Skills, knowledge and experience of using a range of different methods and models of working with children, young people, parents, carers and/or families.

3. Experience of previously completing assessments would be preferable.

4. A good understanding of the kinds of problems young people, young adults and families encounter, including those that are overlooked or seldom heard’.

5. A good understanding of Young Carers and Young Adult Carers and their needs

6. Awareness and understanding of safeguarding issues and an understanding of the importance of working within agency policy and procedures.

7. Awareness and understanding of diversity and equal opportunities and a genuine commitment to anti-oppressive practice.

8. Evidence of the ability to collate and analyse information and to produce actions plans based on that information.

9. Evidence of the ability to communicate, negotiate, engage and manage conflict and disagreement with children, young people, parents, carers and/or families.

10. Evidence of the ability to write clearly and in a way that is easy for children, young people, parents, carers and other professionals to understand.

12. Access to a vehicle for work purposes that will enable the post holder to transport self, children, parents and carers quickly and safely in across County Durham.

13. The ability to work flexibly as required with an expectation of some occasional out of hours work and travel.

14. Able to evidence Family Action’s values at all times, which underpin Family Action’s mission of ‘building stronger families’ by:
a) Being people focused

b) Reflecting a ‘can do’ approach

c) Striving for excellence in everyt