Central Dorset, Dorchester
Circa £10.73 Per Hour
Casual/Bank
Giving children and young people the foundations they need to thrive.
The role
Action for Children's Dorset Advocacy Service provides one to one support to children and young people between the ages of 0 and 25 who are in the care of the local authority social care services, or on the threshold of being taken into care. This includes those placed outside of Dorset.
As the Advocacy Practitioner you will support the children and young people during child protection processes, or those who have a Care Plan or Leaving Care Plan and assist any young person who is making a complaint to ensure the young person's voice is heard and they are represented through the proceedings.
(Due to the Covid-19 Virus Pandemic advocates are currently working remotely, using telephone or video calling.)
How will you make a difference?
- Ensuring that eligible children and young people are aware of the service, understand what it can provide and how it can be accessed.
- Identifying and acting upon issues and concerns affecting individual children and young people, so that their voices are heard and their wishes and feelings expressed and enhancing their contribution to service planning and improvement.
- Ensuring that children and young people receiving services from the purchasers are informed of their rights, and also their responsibilities, as embodied in policy and legislation such as The Children Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
What will you need?
- NVQ Level 3/Diploma in Health and Social Care or equivalent.
- Experience of working with children and families.
- Experience of establishing a rapport with children and young people in a one to one situation.
- An ability to engage effectively with a wide range of individuals (e.g. social workers, foster carers, young people).
- Car driver essential due to travel across the county of Dorset and occasionally further afield.
- An understanding of Advocacy and Children's Rights is desirable.
The way we work
We work to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team. Have a look at our behaviours and values to understand more about the way we work here.
Rewards
We want our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, a comprehensive employer-matched pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts on our dedicated benefits portal. Find out more about our exclusive Action for Children benefits here.
For safe and happy childhoods
At Action for Children, we protect and support children and young people, providing practical and emotional care and support, ensuring their voices are heard, and campaigning to bring lasting improvements to their lives. Last year, we helped more than 387,000 children and families across the UK.
For more information, please contact Machaela Huggins on 07776 659 803 or email
Interviews will be held W/C 2nd November 2020
We are committed to safer recruitment practices to protect our service users; therefore, all applicants are expected to have an understanding of and commitment to safeguarding best-practice.
Action for Children is passionate about promoting equality, valuing diversity and working inclusively. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons particularly people with Disabilities and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic applicants, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.
