Are you passionate about supporting children and young people to achieve positive outcomes?
Do you want to be part of Shropshire Telford & Wrekin Keyworker support service for children and young people in Shropshire Telford and Wrekin?
Can you support and achieve positive change for children, and young people with a learning disability autism or both, helping them to navigate services and support?
Then this could be the opportunity for you.
This is a 1-year maternity cover post.
Service Overview
The Keyworker function in Shropshire Telford and Wrekin has been developed as part of the National Health Service long term plan for all children and young people (CYP) with a learning disability, autism or both to have a designated Keyworker by 2024.
This recruitment is for one fixed term Keyworker to cover 12 months maternity leave. Please note, job share will be considered.
Initial Location of Post
The post covers Shropshire Telford & Wrekin so you will be required to work across all three areas. There is an office base in Telford that is used for an office day once a week.
Keyworker Function/Model
Keyworkers work across the Shropshire Telford and Wrekin system with and for Children and Young People and families, capitalising on cross-system knowledge and experience to help them effectively navigate services. They will support lead professionals, ensuring that they have the knowledge of education, care and health services and processes, and are mandated to work across sectors to facilitate timely and properly integrated assessment, care and support. Staff across the team will be recruited from a range of professional backgrounds within education, social care, health and the third sector to establish a multi-disciplinary team.
The function is a system enhancer and requires development of a strong understanding of the Shropshire Telford and Wrekin system; to be confident in challenging the system when necessary; and forming strong relationships with Children, Young People and families.
There will also be a strong focus on practice development, and a commitment to sharing functions and principles back into all system partners.
The Keyworker will co-ordinate, enable/organise direct support with personalisation and Children and Young people and family-centred planning; provide effective communication, challenge, problem-solve and influence; achieve change and unblock the system.
The Keyworker will work with the Children and young People's expressed views and feelings and work flexibly and responsively to help Children and Young People and families understand and navigate the system.
The Keyworker will ensure co-production is maintained throughout Children and Young People and family journeys, including close working relationships with parent carer representatives who are supporting with the implementation, appraisal and monitoring of the Keyworking function.
The Keyworking function will work closely with the Parent Carer and Young people Forums and parent carer representatives, who have worked as family voice consultants to co-design and co-produce the vision, implementation plans, key opportunities and processes for continuation of co-production during mobilisation and roll-out. The key principles are:
- Improving the experience of Children and Young People.
- Improving the experiences of parents/carers and families.
- Improving access.
- Improving quality of care.
Keyworker Role
Keyworkers will be embedded within local authorities /Health teams across the system but will come together as a team regularly to ensure a team identity is developed and maintained.
Keyworkers will require a holistic understanding of the education, health and social care systems, and the expertise and authority to navigate the system and be the single point of contact for CYP and their families.
Keyworkers will require experience, passion and vision to be effective in this pivotal role. We will recruit professionals from across a range of backgrounds within health, education, social care and the third sector, with a focus on skillsets and values as opposed to specific experiences or qualifications.
Keyworker Values
- Empathy/Understanding: believes in an approach that requires an understanding of needs from the perspective of the child, young person and family.
- Respect: respects the opinions and beliefs of the child, young person and family and works to ensure they are represented, with a commitment to the principles of child-centred, personalised care.
- Positive and Solution-Focused: has a positive, solution-focused approach to ensuring the best outcomes for the child, young person and family.
- Commitment: commitment to ensuring the rights of children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism are protected and enforced and that their views and preferences, and those of their families, are listened and responded to.
- Tenacious: in the pursuit of appropriate support and outcomes.
- Always Learning: commitment to personal learning and helping the system learn and improve.
- Compassionate: to listen and respond to the needs of the child, young person and family with understanding and compassion.
- Collaborative: committed to joined-up, collaborative working.
When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service describe
Job share will be considered, starting salary will be negotiated dependant on experience
Flexibility
Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
