March 2015
Re:

Contact a Family

Regional Parent Carer Participation Advisor- Parent Carer ParticipationProgramme x 2 0.8 fte posts

Background paper

About Contact a Family

Contact a Family is a UK-wide registered charity, established in 1979 to support families whose children have a disability.

Contact a Family improves the lives of all families with disabled children. With them, we transform their lives, break down barriers and tackle disadvantage through ambitious, collaborative and innovative work. We make a real and lasting impact and are a force for positive change.

Our current strategy will work to deliver the following differences:

•Families with disabled children will know how to get the right support.

•Families with disabled children will be more confident to deal with the challenges they face.

•Reducing the financial disadvantage that families with disabled children face.

•Making sure families with disabled children are understood, valued and included as equals in their communities and society as a whole.

Contact a Family has a head office in Central London; with offices and home based staff and volunteers working across the UK.

Contact a Family provides a free national helpline for parents offering advice and information on the issues affecting their daily lives. We produce a range of information resources, factsheets and disseminate information through local newsletters and bulletins for parents. We give developmental advice and support to parent groups and maintain a national database of support groups. Our A-Z of medical conditions is an essential guide to medical conditions, disabilities and support organizations. We work extensively with parents to ensure our services and support are geared to the needs of families with disabled children.

The organisation continues to grow and develop the services we provide to support parents and families. Alongside this we have exciting new projects to build on our work on Transition and strengthening family relationships. Contact a Family have also supports the further development of parent participation work across England embedding parent involvement in service planning and decision making across the country.

Parent Carer Participation Programme

This is a high profile fast-paced programme, tasked with the aim of strengthening parent carer participation activity England-wide. The programme works with parent carer forums in every local authority area in England and with their respective local authorities and health commissioners and providers. The Regional Advisor will report to the OperationsManager within the Parent Participation team and be expected to work closely with all members ofthe team and wider organisational colleagues and regional cluster teams, and with their National Network of Parent Carer Forum representatives.

Contact a Family

Job Description

Job Title: / Regional Parent Carer Participation Advisor
Responsible To: / Operations Manager Parent Carer Participation team.
Team Membership: / Parent Carer Participation team
Operations Directorate
Location: / Office or Home basedas appropriate.
Salary: / £21,035 - £23,647 pro rata (NJC 30-34)
Plus London Weighting if applicable0
Hours of work: / 28 hours a week (0.8 fte) (This is a fixed term contract until March 2016)
Annual leave entitlement: / 25 days a year plus one extra day for each completed year of service up to a maximum of 30 days after five year service pro-rata for part time employees. Holiday year runs January – December
Job Purpose: / To provide ongoing guidance and advice and ensure access to a range of support opportunities for local parent carer forums across specified regions.
To support the development and sustainability of parent carer participation in England.
To work closely with the Contact a Family Regional Cluster team that operates in the region covered by this post.
The post reports to the Operations Manager within the Parent Participation team.
Main Duties: /
  • To provide an initial point of contact via telephone or online for local parent carer forums to offer advice, information and support. To proactively offer support to forums who are not accessing the “core offer” of support.
  • To help local parent carer forums to overcome challenges and manage difficult situations through providing relevant advice and information and by signposting to other support opportunities.
  • To identify parent carer forums which require more intensive support and to be able to work with forums in a solution focused manner to identify what support will be most helpful. To procure this support through the agreed process.
  • To support parent carer forums to identify learning and development needs and to link them in to national offers for learning and development.
  • To work with the NNPCF regional representative to ensure that regular regional network meetings are available for local parent carer forums.
  • To support the co-ordination and planning of regional events working with the NNPCF regional representative, parent carer forums, local authorities, health partners and voluntary sector partners, ensuring that these events keep parent carer forums and their partners up to date with national developments (e.g. SEND Reforms.)
  • To support parent carer forums to spend their annual parent participation grant appropriately and to monitor half-year and year end spend.
  • To advise local parent carer forums, enabling them to complete and return their grant monitoring and evaluation forms and make applications for future grants.
  • To work closely with the Contact a Family Regional cluster team that will also be operating in the area covered by this post. This will involve attending regional cluster team meetings and supporting and promoting the activities of that team.
  • To support and facilitate the development of national support for local parent carer forums, including online support and learning and development opportunities.
  • To work with local authorities, health providers and other service providers to support and develop parent carer participation.
  • To work with National Delivery Partners to embed Parent Carer Participation across allocated regions.
  • To contribute to the collection and dissemination of good practice by identifying areas and supporting or taking a lead role on documenting and sharing this.
  • To identify gaps in support for parent carer forums.
  • To contribute to the assessment and monitoring of the progress of parent carer participation.
  • To work in partnership with the NNPCF representatives for the allocated regions.
  • Complying with a range of reporting requirements as determined and within designated timescales.
  • To undertake any other duties as required.

General: /
  • In common with all Contact a Family staff, the post holder will be expected to work in accordance with the aims of Contact a Family, and to observe the policy and procedures set out by the Directors of the Charity.
  • The post holder will be expected to act in accordance with Contact a Family's Equal Opportunity and Safeguarding Policies. The post holder will be expected to assist with any reasonable duty at the request of the line manager for the post.
  • Contact a Family’s aims and objectives are set out in our Strategic Plan. Operating policies such as Equal Opportunities, Health & Safety and other professional matters are laid out in the Staff Handbook. The post holder will be expected to work within these aims, policies and procedures and to ensure that they are followed by all staff for whom line management responsibility is held.
  • The post-holder will be expected to assist with any reasonable duty at the request of the line manager for the post.
  • All members of staff are expected to participate in appropriate team meetings held to discuss particular topics. Staff are also expected to attend training events relevant to their specific responsibilities.
  • All staff are offered supervision, support and annual appraisal incorporating their training needs

Contact a Family

Person Specification

The person appointed will be expected to have the key essential skills, knowledge and experience listed below. The items under the heading ‘desirable attributes’ will also be useful for Contact a Family and the post holder. However, candidates who do not have these desirable attributes should not be deterred from submitting an application.

Job Title: / Parent Participation Regional Advisor.
Essential skills, knowledge and experience / EXPERIENCE
  • Experience of working with diverse groups of parent carers and individuals and groups across the voluntary and statutory sector, including local authorities and health services.
  • Experience of user led practices and ways of working
SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
  • Knowledge of the parent carer participation agenda and commitment to the continuing development and sustainability of parent carer forums.
  • Commitment to ensuring user led developments and peer support developments across the agenda.
  • Knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting disabled children and young people and their parent carers and the current reforms in Special Educational Needs and Disability
  • Ability to manage challenging and difficult situations, constructively challenge where necessary and problem solve using solution focused approaches.
  • Ability to prioritise to ensure required outcomes and targets are met.
  • ICT skills to enable effective use of Word, Powerpoint and Excel, Outlook, internet and database use.
  • Ability and experience in co-ordinating managing and facilitating events
  • Excellent communication skills and presentations skills and ability or willingness to be involved in training.
  • Planning skills and ability to meet tight timescales.
  • Ability to meet organisational standards on reporting and recording, involvement and activity.
  • Ability to travel across the country as required; to ensure attendance at team meetings, regional and national events.
  • Ability to work occasional weekends and evenings
  • Commitment to ensuring best practice in relation to equality and diversity and safeguarding children and young people is implemented at all times and the organisations policies and procedures are upheld.
  • Experience of work using a database
  • Ability to work as part of a remote team using online communication tools.

Desirable /
  • Experience of working in / and or across local authorities and health services to shape service provision, change management and manage complex areas of work
  • Strong influencing and negotiating skills
  • Experience of working in a charitable, financial or grant-giving environment
  • Knowledge of charitable/ voluntary group legislation and governance
  • Experience of conflict resolution or mediation

March 2015

Guidance Notes for Applicants

Filling in the application form

  • Please complete all parts of the application form. (CV’s may be attached but will not be accepted in place of an application form).
  • Show clearly how your experience, knowledge, skills and abilities are relevant to the requirements of the person specification.
  • Give full details of your duties in your present or most recent job. This may be a voluntary role. Do not miss out experience gained in previous jobs, but select the most relevant points. Also include details of any skills or experience gained from voluntary, committee or community work, etc.
  • Use extra sheets if necessary, noting your name and the post you have applied for at the top of each sheet.
  • Check the closing date to allow time for your application to reach us.
  • We suggest you keep a copy of your completed application.
  • Contact a Family does not usually acknowledge receipt of application forms unless specifically requested and a stamped, self-addressed envelope is enclosed. Please note that if you have not been contacted by the advertised interview date then unfortunately you have not been successful in your application.

Short-listing

When short-listing we will be looking for evidence that you have the knowledge, experience, skills and abilities to do the job as detailed in the job description and person specification. These provide the essential criteria against which your application will be assessed. The short-listing panel will not have access to the monitoring details you provide.

Disabled candidates

Contact a Family welcomes applications from disabled candidates. Please make us aware of any reasonable adjustments we may need to make for you as a disabled person and particularly address any special requirements you may have if you are invited for interview.

Equal Opportunities Monitoring

For statistical purposes please complete and return the monitoring form. As stated above the form will be detached from your application form before the short-listing exercise.

Criminal Record Declaration and the Criminal Records Bureau & Central Registered Body in Scotland Disclosure Service

The declaration must be completed. Contact a Family is an organisation that provides services for families of children with disability. You will appreciate therefore, that Contact a Family must be particularly careful to enquire into the character and background of applicants for appointments to posts that (a) involve contact with children or supervise those who have contact with children, (b) who are in positions of trust and influence and (c) who, by virtue of the authority and responsibility inherent in the post they hold, might be expected to be positively suitable to work with children. Seeking this information is not, in anyway, to reflect upon applicants integrity but is necessary to protect the vulnerable and to assist us in making safe recruitment decisions.

If you wish to check any aspect of this, further details are available on the CRB website or their CRB information line 0870 909 0811. The declaration form is not part of the short-listing process

We aim to make the application process as straightforward as possible. If you have any further questions regarding your application, the Disclosure or monitoring processes, or require any further general guidance or information about Contact a Family please contact a member of our Human Resources Department 020 7608 8766 or email

Thank you for applying to Contact a Family.

Staff Benefits

Regional Parent Carer Participation Advisor

Salary

  • Salary: Scale 30 - 34 £21,035 - £23,647The pay range is drawn from the NJC scales appropriate to the not-for-profit sector. Incremental progress where appropriate occurs on the yearly anniversary of the start date.

Annual Leave

  • 20 days a year plus one extra day for each completed year of service up to a maximum of 30 days after five year service. Holiday year runs January – December.

Concession Leave

  • 3 days a year for the period of office closure between Christmas and New Year. Pro rata for part time employees.

Probationary Period

  • 6 months

Hours of Work

  • 28 hours (full time = 35 hours a week). Normal office hours are observed but flexibility can be arranged in most areas of work. Family Friendly and Work Life Balance policies are observed.

Pension Scheme

  • Private pension scheme available through Friends Life. Contribution rate for employee and employer.

Employee Assistance Programme

  • Covering employees and their families, a full EAP free counselling service is provided through Health Assured.

Season Ticket Loan

  • Yearly season ticket purchase available after six months satisfactory service, repayable over a ten month period.