Cavdas Lead Counsellor

_**WE DO NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS VIA INDEED, PLEASE APPLY VIA OUR WEBSITE ONLY**:_

**MDT - Lead Counsellor**

**Reports to**:Homelessness and Assertive OutreachTeam Leader / CAVDAS Service Manager

**Locations**: 7 St Andrew's Pl, Cardiff CF10 3BE, 2-10 Holton Rd, Barry CF63 4HD

Outreach, and home visits / co-location with other social care partners will be expected.

**Hours**: Full time, 37.5 hours per week - Monday-Friday 9-5, flexibility as needed
**Salary**: £30,000 - £32,000 per annum

**Background to Service**:
Cardiff and Vale Drug and Alcohol Service (CAVDAS) is an Alliance of Barod, Recovery Cymru and Kaleidoscope Project with strategic partners G4S and Pobl. CAVDAS Alliance has been commissioned by the Cardiff and Vale Substance Misuse Area Planning board.

CAVDAS services will deliver specialist support and interventions across Youth JusticeServices, Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) Cardiff Council Housing Services, Counselling, Recovery and Aftercare, Volunteering and Service User Involvement, Rapid Access Prescribing (RAPS), structured interventions, peer support and mutual aid, Harm Reduction and Work Force Development. CAVDAS will deliver an integrated young person’s, adults and family and carer information, advice, interventions, and support service. CAVDAS will work across Cardiff and Vale Health and Social Care partners, and forums to co-produce services delivering outcomes in the way that people want. We are looking to build a new culture providing one system for Cardiff and Vale and a unified, innovative, and flexible delivery model.

**Purpose of the role**:
This role will establish and deliver robust Trauma Informed structured psychosocial support access throughout the Cardiff and Vale region. They will facilitate and support dedicated student placement initiatives and volunteer counselling schemes to enable expanded provision alongside CAVDAS staff. They will provide clinical supervision and contribute to learning and development strategies across the service liaising with aligned health and social care partners such as C&VUHB psychology team and Public Health Wales practitioners.

They will deliver accredited, and evidence structured psychologically informed practice in line with BACP/ UKCP guidance and Matric Cymru framework.

The role will support service users demonstrating complex and unmet needs via proactive engagement tools to access service and reduce barriers to engaging in treatment. They will work alongside statutory providers of specialist clinical substance use and social care services to contribute to care co-ordination. The role will aim to reduce dependence on specialist services and increase resilience supporting long term recovery goals.

Counselling provision will be embedded in CAVDAS community rehabilitation model and compliment holistic harm reduction and recovery orientated systems.

S/he will have excellent communication skills, be able to work as part of a multidisciplinary team, across agency cultures including those within statutory, private, and voluntary sector partnerships. The post holder must be flexible and efficient, to ensure services are delivered equitably and with the service user at the heart of delivery.

S/he will have a non-judgmental approach to people who have recognised that their use has become problematic and be able to provide a welcoming and accessible service to existing and potential service users.

**Key Duties and Responsibilities**
- To provide trauma informed practice and accredited psychosocial interventions based on Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behaviour, and other recognised structured therapies in line with BACP/UKCP governance, NICE guidance and Matrics Cymru.
- Work with and manage a case load of individuals.
- Develop and maintain strong links with key stakeholders in local services. Liaise with individuals, statutory and voluntary organisations as appropriate and support service users to engage in additional health and social care needs.
- To pro-actively work to increase motivation to access treatment and facilitate referral and entry into appropriate treatment.
- Engage with Peer2Peer delivery and community rehabilitation programmes to support and sustain resilience and long-term recovery goals.
- Work to reduce anti-social behaviour and substance-related offending by liaising and working closely with the criminal justice partners to encourage service users to access treatment and build a positive recovery network
- To work within agreed policies, procedures, and protocols to safeguard children, vulnerable adults and those experiencing domestic abuse.
- Undertake risk assessment and develop and review risk managements plans that seek to mitigate identified risk.
- Support service delivery of harm reduction initiatives including Naloxone training, needle exchange and Dried Blood Spot Testing
- Enter data onto the CAVDAS systems and use the systems effectively to inform work with service users.
- Develop and i