Children & Family Service Assistant

Job Description

Role Title: / Children & Family Service Assistant
Responsible to: / Children & Family Support Worker
Area of Service: / The Haven, Blantyre
Hours: / 6 Hours per week, Tuesday & Thursday 3.30pm – 6.30pm
Salary:
Contract Term: / £17,360 per annum (pro-rata) Band 3
Initial 9 month temporary contract (subject to review and continuation funding)
Organisational Position: / Service Manager
Haven Nurse
Children & Family Support Worker
Children & Family Support Assistant
Organisational Profile / The Haven is a registered charity providing support to individuals, their families and carers affected by a range of life limiting illnesses, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
The aim of The Haven is to empower people to cope with the complex emotional, physical and practical impacts of illness; to enable them to better understand their or a loved one’s illness, treatment and care; and to reduce stress and relieve anxiety. Above all we aim to help improve the quality of life or our clients and support them to live on positively and with hope.
Children and Family Service Profile / The Haven’s Children and Family Service supports children and young people who are experiencing emotional distress as a result of the illness or death of a family member or someone that they are close to.
The aim is for children to feel resilient and strong, understand their own emotions and become confident to share the natural feelings of loss when someone they care about is seriously ill or has died. A combination of individual support and structured group workshops are designed to reduce stress, teach coping strategies, encourage sharing of experiences and enable childrem to talk about their worries and build peer support networks.
We also work alongside parents and carers, to provde them with the skills and confidence to manage the effects of illness or bereavement on the children in their care.
Role Description: / To assist the Children & Family Support worker in the smooth running of the weekly acitivity based programme; to assist in supporting children and young people to cope with the emotional challenges they faceas a result of the illness or death of a family member or someone that they are close to.
Main Duties: / Work closely with the Haven Multi-disciplinary team to ensure effective delivery of the Children & Family Service
Assist in planning, organising and facilitating a weekly after school activity/therapeutic based, peer support programme within the Haven Blantyre and also at external venues
Assist in monitoring and evaluation all aspects of projects to record the impact of the service.
Maintain up to date files to record support needs and progress
Assist with support and supervision of volunteers for the Children & Family Service
Deliver any other duties as required for the project as directed by the Children & Family Support Worker and Haven Nurse
Assist in maintaining accurate and up to date data for reports
Attend occasional Haven team meetings, training, reflective practice for personal development and to maintain emotional wellbeing
Comply with all Haven policies & procedures with an emphasis on Child Protection & Health & Safety
Undertake training & development if required to meet the needs of the service
Person Specification: / The ideal candidate should be able to demonstrate the following:
Experience of working with children and young people
A strong interest in the wellbeing of children and young people
Friendly and caring manner
Good listening and communication skills
Ability to work independently, seeking guidance where needed
Ability to work as part of team as well as using own initiative.
Ability to maintain client confidentiality
Have an awareness of boundaries between clients, volunteers & staff
Awareness of equality & diversity
Support: / The successful candidate will be line managed by the Children and Family support worker and Haven Nurse and will be given a comprehensive induction
Development programme, with regular reviews.
Support from the wider Haven multi-disciplinary team
Opportunity to attend reflective practice sessions if required
Any other requirements: / Able to be flexible with hours
Car driver preferred, but not essential
General: / The Haven operates a no smoking policy to which the post holder will be expected to adhere to, when on Haven business
This job description is not exhaustive, and is subject to change in conjunction with the needs of the needs of the business.
Recruitment process: / Applications should be made in the form of a skill based C.V. with a covering letter demonstrating your suitability for the role and submitted to Catherine McLaughlin, Administration & Finance Co-ordinator by email to or by post to The Haven, Blantyre Health Centre, Victoria Street, Blantyre, G72 0BS
Applications will be reviewed after closing date and suitable applications will be short listed for interview. Candidates will then be invited for an interview and on the day copies of relevant ID documentation for enhanced PVG disclosure checkshould be made available. The successful candidate would then be notified and offer would be made subject to two satisfactory references and PVG disclosure.
Closing Date for applications: / Monday 12th September by 12noon.

Issued August 2016 JASPage 1