Children and Young People’s Outreach Team Leader

JOB DESCRIPTION

Accountable to: / Outreach Team Manager
Main Objective: / To ensure high quality responsive outreach services; providing support for children and young people with varying learning needs and complex communication and physical disabilities some of who may have challenging needs
Ensuring that the service delivers support and activitieswhich are inclusive and reflect individual, family and cultural needs
Deliver effective outreach support and opportunities for children and young people on a 1:1 basis or as part of a group activity accessing community resources and working within the family home

Responsible for:

  1. Supporting the Outreach Team Manager to deliver flexible responsive Outreach Services in partnership with Harrow Council, Parents, Harrow schools and KCA’s Services for children and young people with disabilities (up to 25 years)
  1. Developing, delivering and managing high quality outreach support for children and young people with special educational needs; including severe and complex disabilities and communication difficulties such as autism.
  1. Providingeffective operational management and supervisionto a diverse team of core and sessional children and young people’sworkers; providing supervision and support to the sessional teams in their delivery of community and structured activities.
  1. Working in close partnership with the Outreach Team Manager to co ordinate the delivery of our expanding domiciliary care in Harrow and to be one of the registered managers with the Care Quality Commission
  1. Working closely with community and volunteer organisations and forging and maintaining positive relationships with parents and partnerships with local community resources to facilitate and increase community opportunities.
  1. Leading and planning the outreach support so that all children and young people have equal opportunity to participate in meaningful activities, make choices, have friends and have access to services that are planned and adapted to meet their specific educational and learning needs by implementing use of appropriate tools such as PECS and visual timetables.
  1. Delivering high quality support which enable the children and young people to reach their full potential through partnership with their families and schools / colleges, providing consistency between school, home and our services;
  1. Support the children and young people team’s to follow school targets and extend the children and young people’s learning and development and that support is tailored to meet individual and specific needs.
  1. Work in partnership with the Outreach Team Manager to ensure that the service meets local and national standards
  1. Maintaining a warm, friendly and welcoming environment at all times for children, young people their families and local partners.

Managing Diversity:

  1. All KCA employees are expected to work individually and collectively to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to working with others from a variety of cultures and backgrounds where the work of others are valued and respected
  1. The post holder is expected therefore to carry out their tasks within the terms and intention of the KCA’s mission statement and core values, equal opportunities policy and confidentiality statement, the employees’ code of conduct and in accordance with meeting Ofsted standards.

Key Areas of Work:

  1. Manage, lead and support provision of direct face to face work with children and young people modeling good quality skills for the team; facilitating team work, inclusion and partnership with families and schools.
  1. Implement effective planning that enables structure, routine, consistency and target setting for children and young people and supports them to engage, play and learn.
  1. Work closely with the Outreach Team Manager to manage the referral process for accessing outreach services.
  1. Provide supervision as required.
  1. Work in partnership with all KCA services to systematically consult with and involve all children and young people and their families in ensuring that the development of the service meets their needs and aspirations.
  1. Liaise, by providing reports or attending meetings as necessary, with statutory and other providers in order to better support children, young people and families. In particular in areas of transition.
  1. Develop close working relationships with families and statutory and voluntary agencies, promoting effective working partnerships.

Administration and Finance

  1. Assist in ensuring a high standard of administrative efficiency which includes ensuring financial controls are observed in line with budget limits.
  1. Develop and maintain necessary records in line with the KCA’s standards, maintaining appropriate levels of confidentiality.
  1. Work with the Outreach Team Manager and the outreach team to identify quality standards of support and performance and keep up to date with relevant legislation / national contexts for service developments.
  1. Implement review and evaluate processes to produce evidence of outcomes of children and young people’s achievements in order to be able to monitor the effectiveness of the service.
  1. Ensure personal information records are kept up to date and all required monitoring is completed

Health & Safety:

  1. Ensure Health and Safety policies and all other policies, procedures and guidelines are adhered to.
  1. Ensure the general well being, safety and security of everyone who uses the service and maintain high standards of health, safety and hygiene.
  1. Participate in the development and implementation of health and safety policies and procedures.
  1. To have a well informed and up to date knowledge of the London Safeguarding Children’s Board Child Protection Procedures and all issues and guidance relating to Every Child Matters, Children’s ACT, Aiming High and Ofsted Standards.

Supervision and Training

  1. Participate in individual supervisions and appraisals in line with KCA’s standards.
  1. Assess and identify own training in order to plan and implement training strategies to address areas of need.
  1. Work closely with the Outreach Team Managerand to ensure that the training, learning and development needs of the outreach workers are met and enhanced.

In order to deliver services effectively a degree of flexibility is needed and the post holder may be required to perform work not specifically referred to the above. Such duties, however, will fall within the scope of the post.

Outreach Team Leader

Person Specification

Qualities / Essential Criteria / Assessment Criteria
Education / Qualifications
1 / A recognizedhealth / social care or play / youth qualification to NVQ Level 3 with significant experience of planning structured group and individual activities for children and young people with disabilities accessing community resources and ability to act as a registered manager under the Care Quality Commission / Application form, qualifications evidence
Experience
2 / Leadership and management of outreach services and supporting a team in delivering care, support and meaningful activities on an individual and group basis both within family homes and in the community. / Application form, interview questions, references
3 / Experience of partnership working with familiesand ability to be effective in developing and maintaining positive partnership approaches with community services / Application form, interview questions, references
Skills
4 / Ability to model positive practice for the team; supporting them to be motivated and engaged in varied activities while ensuring that all children and young people’s individual identity is respected, maintained and enhanced / Application form, interview questions,
5 / Time management; ability to plan and organise own workload and able to work on own initiative. Good attention to detail / Application form, test, references
6 / Ability to communicate effectively to a variety of different groups such as children, parents, and other professionals and the ability to respond to deadlines and meet targets as require / Application form, assessed exercise, interview questions presentation, references
7 / Ability to support, enable and skill the team in recording and producing evidence of outcomes of children and young people’s achievements so that monitoring and evaluation of the service is effective. / Application form, test
Knowledge
8 / Knowledge of the Every Child Matters Framework, Children’s Act, Ofsted Standards, Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, Youth Matters, Care Quality Commission and all relevant legislation regarding children and young people / Application form, interview questions, references
9 / An understanding of health and safety requirements and an ability to ensure implementation of all relevant health and safety policies, procedures and guidelines / Application form, interview questions, references
10 / Can demonstrate understanding of the London Safeguarding Children’s Board Child Protection Procedures and a knowledge of how to apply. / Application form, interview questions,
Motivation and Disposition
11 / Commitment to and understanding of equal opportunities, diversity and social inclusion and how to apply / Application form, interview questions, presentation
12 / Flexible, positive, supportive can-do approach and responsive in a crisis. / Application form, interview questions

October 2014

Children and Young People’s Outreach Team Leader JD / PS Page 1 of 5 October 2014