Support Worker

Being a Support Worker with Protective Care Group is a meaningful and extremely important job. We specialise in providing a level of support that local authorities are often unable to; support that makes a real difference to young people’s quality of life and prospects.

You will be working directly with some of the most vulnerable, at risk young people in the UK and as part of a team, you’ll help deliver a bespoke and tailor-made support plan.

Our young people have complex needs, including extremely challenging behaviour. Some can also be violent which is caused by very negative and traumatic childhoods.

Due to this, the job role can be very volatile. You must be comfortable working in an environment which can change suddenly and unexpectedly. Strong physical and emotional resilience, excellent communication skills, and the capacity to de-escalate potentially volatile situations is key. Prior experience in a similar role or relevant training in physical restraint techniques is highly desirable.

Like the sound of this? Here’s a little more about us and what we do:

• We were founded because of a personal connection to what we do.
• We support our young people through various challenges they experience, without giving up.
• We operate a caring and supportive culture.
• A rapidly growing group with lots of opportunities for progression – no better time to join us if you’re ambitious!
• Support is provided in solo residential placements only, giving you the opportunity to focus your efforts on one young person and hopefully see for yourself the difference you are making.

We are looking for empathic and accepting Support Workers to work as part of small teams to deliver effective person-centred care for our young people. You’ll do this by:

• Providing unwavering day-to-day support.
• Coaching and mentoring positive behaviour changes and life skills.
• Supporting development and progression of young people.
• Dealing with incidents in a way that aligns with our values and internal procedures.
• Record keeping and report writing that meets relevant regulatory requirements and legislation.
• Communicating effectively with the young person’s key stakeholders.

Things for you to consider before applying:

• Although we advertise our roles in specific areas, you could be asked to work anywhere in the Northeast. Due to this, you must be comfortable with travelling and often staying away from home during your shift pattern.
• A full UK manual driving license is required for all our Support Workers.
• To ensure consistency, our shift patterns revolve around rolling 4 shifts on and 4 shifts off. These include a combination of 12-hour day and waking night shifts, of which the day shifts are regularly followed by sleeping nights, for which you are awarded an enhanced shift allowance. Rotas are designed to meet the needs of our young people, so we all apply a flexible approach to ensure we can provide the very best care possible.
• If successful after telephone call and teams interview, candidates are required to attend an assessment day in Gloucestershire on 11th July 2024.

Requirements

Our Support Workers will have:

• Ideally at least 12 months employed experience working with vulnerable young people, but open to considering other relevant and transferable employed or lived experience.
• The ability to remain calm and non-judgemental whilst working with behaviours and needs such as absconding, self-harm, sexualised behaviour, attachment disorder, trauma and criminalisation.
• A genuine passion for delivering the highest standard of care to vulnerable individuals.
• Sound knowledge of safeguarding policies.
• Understanding of CQC and OFSTED regulations and their importance.
• A full UK manual driving license and are happy and comfortable travelling for work.
• Full right to work in the UK.
• Ideally NVQ Level 3 in Residential Childcare, however for the right candidate we would be happy to support them obtaining this qualification.

Benefits

What we can offer our Support Workers:

• A competitive basic salary of £32,000 plus uplifts for each shift you work with a young person and for sleeping nights.
• Company pension scheme to which you can increase contributions and transfer other pensions
• Personalised onboarding support; we’ll stick with you all the way as you join us
• 2 weeks’ induction and training followed by clear on-the-job inductions
• On-line training and annual refresher training
• Paid level 3 and level 5 diplomas to help you advance your career
• Paid holiday allowance
• Long service enhanced holiday allowance
• We’ll honour unpaid leave for you if you run out of holiday allowance
• Paid compassionate leave
• Active and generous refer a friend bonus scheme
• Have your birthday off
• Company sick pay
• Paid Maternity and Paternity leave
• Employee Assistance Programme – for work and personal support
• Internal confidential Welfare & Wellbeing support
• Voucher reward scheme for improvement suggestions that we action

At a glance

• Location: Durham, County Durham
• Job type: Full Time
• Job sector: Hospital & Health Care
• Working arrangement: on_site
• Salary: 32000 - 39000
• Published: June 18, 2024