Senior Support Worker

Overview

The Children and Young People Mental Health Crisis and Intensive Support Team is recruiting a Senior Support Worker based in Lichfield. You will work with young people who present in mental health crisis and, where appropriate, their families or care providers. You will provide ongoing support, therapeutic interventions when agreed, practical assistance and problem resolution under supervision. You will support with supervising young people and families to implement and review risk planning and engage with relevant support services.

This role requires travel across a wide geographical area and you must have access to a car with a valid driving licence and business insurance.

• Contribute to a range of mental health, physical health and behavioural assessments and intervention strategies as delegated by other team members.
• Implement and support detailed care plans, outcome measures documentation, risk assessments, and treatment programmes (including intervention Support Plans, mental health and multi-disciplinary care plans).
• Work in partnership with advocates where appropriate on behalf of service users and carers to ensure complex care needs are met and that concerns are escalated appropriately.
• Form professional relationships with families and carers of referred individuals to promote effective and timely positive outcomes.

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is an award-winning trust focused on improving life for local communities. We offer career development and ongoing training to help you learn and grow within clinical and non-clinical roles.

Essential

• Foundation degree in a relevant subject or Diploma/NVQ 3 in Health and Social Care, or accredited prior learning with competency-based evidence supplemented by short courses

Desirable

• Training in working with children with severe learning disabilities and/or challenging behaviour, and/or other behavioural work

Essential

• Significant experience of working with children with mental health needs as part of a multidisciplinary community team; experience within a multi-agency framework
• Experience of formulating a child's difficulties and developing a care plan
• Experience of employing evidence-based interventions with children
• Experience of supporting other workers and role modelling recommended approaches/interventions in practice
• Experience of working with families
• Able to work independently, without direct supervision

Desirable

• Previous work with people with complex/high-risk presentations
• Experience in health or social care settings (statutory or non-statutory)
• Lived experience of mental health needs or use of mental health services
• Experience of supporting service users in home-based/community settings

Essential

• Knowledge of child and adolescent mental health needs and vulnerable populations
• Good practical knowledge of child development
• Commitment to high-quality care and service provision
• Ability to liaise and network effectively
• Ability to use evidence-based interventions to support child mental health difficulties
• Ability to de-escalate emotionally volatile situations
• Use of evidence-based clinical outcome measures
• Empathy, compassion and patience; ability to form positive therapeutic relationships with children and families
• Calm and professional in emergencies and challenging situations
• Knowledge of legal guidance and frameworks when working with children and families
• Ability to problem solve using a solution-focused approach and recognise own limitations
• Proficiency in IT to update service user records and present outcomes of assessments and interventions

This post is subject to safeguarding and employment checks in line with statutory requirements. The organisation reserves the right to close vacancies early if there is high volume of applications.