community engagement jobs

Children and Young Persons Violence Advocate

Location: Provisionally based in Poundbury and other Dorset Paragon offices

Part Time, Maternity Cover - up to 1 year (30 hours per week)

Salary: £23,935.20 pa (£29,919 FTE)

Due to the nature of the work, this is a Female only position

YOU is a registered charity that has been providing care, support and advice for over 30 years to vulnerable people, working across Hampshire, Portsmouth, Somerset, Dorset, Sussex, Swindon and the Isle of Wight to give them the tools and resources they need to live independent, secure and valued lives.

PARAGON are a specialist team within The YOU Trust and our mission is ‘together empowering change’ for individuals, families, and our communities. We are committed to ending violence against adults and children, and do this through empowering individual and communities to change.

Essential Requirements:

• Hold a full driver’s license

• Ability to work across the county and travel to other Trust locations when necessary

• 1 years minimum in depth experience of working with children affected by domestic violence and abuse

• Experience of safeguarding best practice for children

• NNEB, Diploma/Degree or NVQ 4 in working with children and young people or equivalent work level experience

• Recognised national qualification in working with children affected by domestic violence and abuse or willingness to undertake within 1 year of post

The Role:

As a Children and Young Persons Violence Advocate you will be expected to deliver evidenced based and researched support for children and young people who are experiencing and/or instigating domestic abuse.

You will develop and deliver individual one to one sessions and group work, work in partnership with colleagues to ensure a whole family approach and take a lead role where necessary.

You will co-deliver evidence-based courses to both children and their safe parent.

The role will see you working within a range of settings including our Safe Accommodation provision, schools, colleges and within the community.

You will be expected to attend safeguarding meetings to advocate the voice of the child/young person and contribute to multi-agency professional meetings where necessary.

You will update all information on a case management system, complete reports and work as part of a wider team working across Somerset.

You will also be able to work in partnership with colleagues to ensure whole family approach, taking a lead role where necessary.

About you:

You will be a skilled, motivated and innovative person driven by passion to support children and young people where their psychosocial development has been impacted due to their experiences of domestic abuse.

You will have worked with children and/or young people and will understand their development phases and know how to deliver age appropriate sessions to maximise impact and engagement.

You will enjoy being part of a team and love learning which you will share, just as your colleagues will share theirs.

You will have an understanding and commitment to a wide range of values that underpin this work including being non-judgemental, person centred, trauma informed and gender responsive and be able to demonstrate these values within your work.

You will hold values that inspire a client led approach and be self-motivating, reflective and have a positive response to challenging situations.

YOU has a strong value base, striving to be person-centred, innovative, trustworthy, can-do and excellent at all times, so it is important that you are as passionate about these principles as we are.

Our Benefits

• If you choose to begin a career with our organisation, you are guaranteed:

• Competitive rates of pay and paid travel time, including a higher mileage rate for car sharing.

• Enhanced annual leave entitlements, with the opportunity to buy and sell holiday.

• Matched pension scheme contributions, plus Death in Service Benefit and salary sacrifice options.

• Enhanced sick pay allowances and paid compassionate and emergency dependent leave.

• Excellent and professionally certified training, as well as access to fully-funded apprenticeship programmes.

• Real opportunities to develop in your profession.

• Free health and wellbeing advice via a 24/7, confidential Employee Assistance Programme.

• Everything you need to carry out your role free of charge, which may include a mobile phone, safety equipment and other necessary technology, a uniform where applicable, and of course a nice cup of tea or coffee throughout your day!

• Access to discounts across lots of your favourite stores and online shopping sites, as well as discounted bus travel on the First bus network.

Please note that, in line with the Equality Act 2010 Schedule 9 Part 1, there is a genuine occupational requirement for this post to be filled by a female worker.

The You Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our clients. Applicants must be willing to undergo appropriate Adult and Child protection screening, including employment references and DBS check.

Where a role involves engaging in regulated activity relevant to adults and/or children it is an offence to apply for the role if you have been barred from engaging in such regulated activity.

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