Alexandria, Dunbartonshire
Circa Salary - £21,000
Hours - 37 hrs, Full-Time

Giving children and young people the foundations they need to thrive.

The role

The Preparation for Life Project provides supported accommodation to vulnerable young people aged 16-21 years. The project is situated within Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire and is a two-storey building providing accommodation for up to 10 young people all in single rooms with communal cooking, laundry and lounge areas.

At the project we recognise that young people may become homeless for a wide range of reasons, often through no fault of their own. Some of these reasons include family breakdown, escaping abusive situations, overcrowding etc. The service offers a range of practical skills including budgeting, good door keeping and key life skills. Alongside the practical element the service offers a nurturing environment for young people to increase their emotional well-being and experience a positive transition.

The successful applicant will co-ordinate and direct the support to the young people and families by agreeing and providing interventions, which may be specialised, enabling positive and agreed outcomes to be achieved, in accordance with organisational policies, procedures and regulatory requirements.

You will make a difference by:

- Delivering a personalised high-quality support package that is outcome focused for each young person whilst applying Action for Children's organisational procedures to ensure the safe care and management of young people in our care.

- Building and maintaining professional working relationships with young people by providing emotional, social and practical support to young people who can display challenging emotional and social difficulties.

- Supporting young people to develop a range of skills to assist them to live more independently e.g. housework and basic household maintenance, food preparation and safe storage, budget management, managing neighbour disputes.

- Supporting young people applying for college, training, volunteering or work placements, apply for appropriate benefits and entitlements and access other specialist support and health services e.g. doctor, dentist.

- Providing lead case/care planning management, including undertaking assessing, reviewing and managing risks.

- Attending and participating at relevant multi agency meetings, providing a lead role ensuring reflective and analytical practice review

- Reviewing and evaluating service provision with others, ensuring continued improvements are made.

You will need:

- A HNC Health and Social Care, SVQ Level 3 Health and Social Care/Social Services or equivalent qualification preferred but not essential.

- Experience working within a multi-agency social care or health environment and applying safeguarding procedures.

- Experience in carrying out intensive assessments, planning & developing person centred support plans, reviewing plans & collating information to provide reports to managers & partners.

- Skilled in supporting young people who have experienced trauma in their life.

- A knowledge and understanding of housing support, housing legislation and homelessness.

- The ability to keep the young people as the focus and ensure their feelings and wishes are represented in meetings and record keeping.

- Strong organisational and prioritising skills.

- Willingness to work as part of a team on a shift rotation which includes sleepovers, backshifts and weekend working to ensure 24/7 support is provided.

- Confidence and ability to lone work if and when required.

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 Neil Birkett on 07741660390 or email

Interviews will take place on 7th October

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.