Young Person's Advocate

About the role
This is your opportunity to join our fantastic, child-centred advocacy service. We have 2 posts available which will offer you the opportunity to work with all children in receipt of services from Northamptonshire Children's Trust - from early help services, through to care experienced young people. One of these posts will be specifically to provide advocacy support to children with additional needs.

Distinct and independent of case-holding, you will complete direct work with children and young people, making sure their views and wishes are represented, and their voice is heard; this includes attending Child Protection Conferences for / with them and making sure that every child who makes a complaint has the opportunity to be supported throughout its duration.

You will be working within a small team, hours are generally Monday - Friday 09.00-17.30 although hours can be flexible. In addition due to the nature of the role you may be required to work an evening on occasion.

What will you be doing?
You will provide individual advice to children and young people to ensure good practice, that their rights are recognised and that they are not being treated unfairly.

Supporting young people with preparing for Child in Care reviews, Child Protection Conferences Review or other meetings they may need to attend, ensuring they are well informed and prepared.

We are developing advocacy support to all young people with additional needs who are living away from home, in residential schools.

You will involve children and young people in consultation processes, activities, training and development.

Delivering workshops, conferences and taking part in recruitment selection panels.

Collaborating with colleagues from the Independent Visitors Service on recruitment, training and supervision of volunteers and the matching of Independent Visitors with young people.

About you
- You hold a relevant qualification in Youth Work, Diploma in Social Work or significant experience of working in the wider children’s workforce.
- You are experienced in working with young people one to one or in small groups.
- You understand the issues facing young people in society and the boundaries of confidentiality
- You find creative ways to empower young people to express their views and have their say.
- You communicate effectively and are able to mediate with openness and honesty with both professionals and the children represented.
- For one post, we are looking for an Advocate with skills in engaging young people with additional needs, including use of non-instructed advocacy.
- You will need to have access to transport as this role requires travel both in and out of county.

About us
Northamptonshire Children’s Trust was established in November 2020 to deliver Children’s Services to the newly established North and West Northants County Councils. The Trust is wholly owned and funded but operationally independent from the Councils; this provides the organisation with unique opportunities to explore new ways of working and to be more agile and adaptable in its approach to service delivery. We are developing a culture that allows the very highest quality of professional practice to flourish and evolve, delivering at the cutting edge of new innovation.

Our benefits
We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do.

We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:

- 2 Day Induction Programme
- Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities
- Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits
- A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions
- Local government Pension Scheme
- Heavily subsidised town centre car parking scheme
- Employee Discount Scheme
- 28 days’ annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years’ service
- Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Monthly quality supervision