Leaving Care Support Worker

Salary: £27,334 to £29,777 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full time - 37 hours per week

Location: Based at Bridge House, Worthing. When not out visiting young people or in the office then home working is available.

Do you have experience in supporting young people with independence skills?

Have you managed caseloads before?

Do you have excellent communication skills and are you great with IT?

Then it might be you we are looking for…

As a Leaving Care Support Worker, you will be engaging with our care leavers to provide practical support and guidance on their journey to independence.

Your focus in this role will be to ensure that the complex needs of our care leavers are supported. This may involve you providing help with accessing and attending meetings with a range of services, including solicitors, housing, mental health services, employment and benefits amongst others.

You will work with personal advisors and our housing Support Worker in offering practical support to gain the skills to live independently, accessing their setting up home allowance, preventing homelessness and facilitating our young people to move to suitable accommodation.

Whilst this work can be very rewarding, it can also be emotionally demanding, for example, involving significant work dealing with vulnerable young people who can have complex needs. The role could also involve exposure to challenging behaviour from our young people who access our services.

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

About You

To be successful in this role you need to:

• Have experience of direct work with young people and the ability to work effectively with care leavers in crisis to provide a solution focussed approach.
• Have the ability to manager casework for the children/young people ensuring that needs are reviewed, objectives are set and measuring progress of these.
• Engage, communicate and work creatively in partnership with the children/young people we support, their support networks and partner organisation.
• Analyse and interpret complex data and information and make informed decisions, recommendations and prioritise on this basis to gain positive outcomes.
• Have experience of using a range of direct work interventions in crisis situations, working with young people and their families and or support networks.
• Have an NVQ level 3 in Health and Social Care, or equivalent qualification/experience, demonstrating a level of ability in working with young people and families and or support networks.
• Be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes are available.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

About Us

At West Sussex County Council, we are ambitious for our children and our workforce. We are committed to improving our services for children and families in West Sussex that we support. You will be joining us at a key time on us improvement journey. The work we have started includes establishing a new and experienced leadership team driving forward our 'Children First' improvement plan. The Care Leavers service is part of the overarching Children We Care For and Care Leavers Service, as we work together to improve how young people transition out of care.

We don't underestimate the work that still needs to be done and the challenge ahead. That's why we need professionals, like you, who really want to be part of the positive change that is happening. Be part of an ambitious improvement plan and make a significant difference to children and families in West Sussex.

There has never been a more rewarding time to join.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE04965.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.