Young Persons Worker

Do you have a great rapport with young people? Are you passionate about educating and supporting them to navigate their way through the many issues they face today? If so, this job could be exactly what you're looking for....

Our young persons teams offer vital support, training and educating young people in their locality. They work with other agencies and professionals to safeguard their young clients, working with their families too where appropriate.

The work can be challenging but it's always rewarding and at With You, you'll be part of an amazing team making a real difference to people's lives.

YZUP (We Are With You) is the commissioned young person’s substance misuse service for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The service works with children and young people aged 11 to 18 and delivers a range of education and training programmes for both children and young people and professionals, one to one treatment for young people experiencing problematic substance misuse and intervention/support for those children affected by familial substance misuse. All aspects of the service are free at the point of delivery and consists of prevention, treatment and criminal justice interventions.

**About the job**

As a Young Persons Worker, you'll be supporting a caseload of young people who are experiencing difficulties with substance misuse or their mental health. You'll work with them to assess their needs, develop care plans, deliver a variety of treatments and/or refer them to other specialist support when needed.

You'll also be proactively engaging with young people to provide them with the support, training, education, and guidance they need to better understand the implications of the situations they may face and the decision they may take.

Designing, developing, and delivering sessions and/or materials that will resonate with young people and clearly communicate important messages to them is absolutely key to this role. You'll need to understand how to evaluate the effectiveness of these sessions/materials, so you'll know which has the greatest impact and be able to use your time with young people to its best effect.

**REQUIRED SKILLS**:
To be able to do this job successfully, you will have:

- an OCN/NVQ level 3 or equivalent or be willing and able to acheive this within 12 months
- training in Child Protection and Safeguarding
- a successful track record of therapeutic work with young people in groups and 1:1 setting
- experience of assessing risks, devising care plans and delivering evidence based interventions
- knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting young people and experience of supporting them in relation to their mental health or substance misuse
- knowledge and understanding of health & safety, including assessing and managing high risk situations for service users
- up to date, detailed knowledge of child and adolescent development, mental wellbeing and self-harming behaviours
- excellent relationship building skills with a range of people from a wide variety of backgrounds
- the ability to work effectively on your own and as part of a team, sharing your skills knowledge and experience
- good organisational skills to be able to manage your time effectively, prioritising your work and being able to cope with the pressure of competing demands
- excellent written and oral communication skills, including engaging delivery of presentations
- the ability to record and maintain accurate case details and in a timely manner
- effective IT skills, able to use different packages and digital media

**DESIRABLE SKILLS**:

- a qualification in substance misuse, mental health, psychology, nursing or youth work
- experience of working within Children's Social Care
- Knowledge of parenting skills and issues

**ABOUT THE COMPANY**:
Everyone should feel comfortable getting the support they need for issues with drugs, alcohol or mental health.

At We Are With You we work with people on their own goals, whether that’s staying safe and healthy, making small changes or stopping an unwanted habit altogether. We give people support in a way that’s right for them either face to face in their local service, community or online.

We provide a free and confidential service without judgement to more than 100,000 people a year.

We use our expertise to improve the help available and raise awareness around drugs, alcohol and mental health so that more people can get support.

**We Are With You.**

**BENEFITS**:

- Competitive salary
- 28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays (pro rata for part-time staff)
- 2 days paid volunteer leave per year
- Auto-enrollment into We Are With You’s pension scheme
- Access to a Blue Light Card - giving you great savings on big high-street and online brands
- Flexible working opportunities and access to a range of services and resources to support you with your wellbeing

**ADDITIONAL INFORMATION**: Please note this is a part-time fixed-term role working 30 hours per week