Residential Youth Worker

Youth Worker Position Description  

Position Title: Residential Youth Worker (Full time or Casual) 

Reports To: Registered Manager 

Operating in:South Eastern Area, Northern Ireland 

Benefits: 

• Career pathways towards towards Senior Positions. 
• Flexible working and planned roster. 
• 3 weeks induction training which includes; Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Training (TCI), Health and Safety, Fire Safety, Safeguarding, Medicine Management, Trauma and Attachment Training etc. 
• Ongoing commitment to training and your professional development.  
• Internal reflective supervision, ongoing coaching, professional development plan and supportive team ethos. 
• Access to 24 hour on-call support, 7 days a week with a trained TCI Post Crisis Response staff member. 
• Access to our Triple Tier support, that include external counselling service offered to all employees. 
• Multinational, friendly and supportive workplace. 

Employment Contract:  

The full terms of employment are outlined under an Employment Contract, Human Resources Policy and other employment related documents. 

Full Time Staff Position: 

• Annual Salary: £23,950
• 28 weekday Hours, 10 weekend hours and 2 sleepovers (Hours Bank) 
• 28 days of Paid Annual Leave 

Casual Staff Position: 

• Weekday hourly rate: £10
• Weekend hourly rate: £15
• Various Night time and Day time shifts. 

Shift Patterns: 

• A regular shift is 24 hours. It consist's of 16 hours awake working time and 8 hours paid sleepover period however this can vary depending on the needs of the young person and registered manager. 
• Community-based house 
• Computer, vehicle and phone available on shift for work purposes. 
• Safe Places provides young people with homely environments. 
• Challenging behaviors could include but are not limited to the following: Destroying property; Absconding; Self-harming; Poor hygiene; Physical Attacks, Missing from Home, Verbal Aggression etc. 

Overview 

The children placed generally range from 7 to 13 years of age. They sometimes require one-on one support initially due to their anti-social behaviors towards other children and careers.  

Approach 

Key elements of the “Safe Places approach” include: 

• The value of a small and stable team with a consistently calm and positive framework 
• A short-term goal of small steps including seeing the child engage in the placement and build rapport with their team, contributing to the plans for the home. 
• A medium-term goal of effectively assisting the child to gain increased independence and to explore their behaviors in difficult times and be willing to try some more positive coping strategies – a lengthy and challenging but very rewarding journey 
• A goal is always to see the child make progress that will help prepare them for their future transition into family-based placement, family reunification, group setting or independent living arrangements 
• The importance of understanding that the children’s behaviors are coping skills and our focus is more on what’s lying beneath the behavior. The need to respond to behaviors in a way that role models an ability to remain calm, hopeful, caring, consistent, respectful and understanding of others (as opposed to reacting emotionally) 
• Collaboration is needed to support the child across the various areas of their life (i.e. protective services, health services, counselling services, educational facilities) 

Duties 

• Daily Care 
• Maintain high standard of cleanliness, tidiness, comfort, safety, homeliness 
• Create a dinner routine with nutritious meals 
• Provide transportation 
• Assist with homework 
• Support child to engage in suitable activities with child 
• Support child to learn life skills in a planned and supported way 
• Monitor child’s supply of clothing, footwear, school materials and so on 
• Maintain a safe environment 
• As part of a team, identify areas where child’s needs could be better met Therapeutic care environment, positively managing behaviors 
• Build rapport with the child 
• Provide emotional support 
• Provide child with consistent messages in relation to the desired behaviors 
• Focus on the child’s positive behaviors, providing praise and encouragement 
• Work together with the Registered Manager to develop therapeutic interventions that will assist child with complex issues such as grief and loss, making friends, feelings, keeping safe 
• Encourage child in identifying tools for identifying and managing their emotions (e.g. areas of art, recreation, journaling, music) 
• Monitor own emotional state during escalations, remaining calm 

Teamwork 

• Demonstrate an active, dedicated commitment to the Safe Places Values 
• Take on roles under the supervision of the Registered Manager and take initiative with these 
• Report writing as required 
• Communicate professionally with team members and stakeholders 
• Promote a positive image of Safe Places 
• Resolve interpersonal conflicts using the organisations procedures and policies. 
• Attend and contribute to supervision, meetings and training as required annually. 
• Adhere to organisational guidelines and all policies. 
• Contribute to organisational improvement - be part of solution to challenges faced by Safe Places 
• Work collaboratively through challenges or concerns with support from the Senior Management Team. 
• Team members will actively participate in consultation forums to ensure a shared responsibility in workplace health and safety matters. 

Position Requirements 

• A minimum 2 years’ experience working with challenging behaviours such as verbal and physical aggression preferably in a residential setting. 
• Degree level in Social Work, Youth Work or a degree in a relevant subject is desirable, however minimum qualification would be a Level 3 Diploma (Relevant Subject) 
• Ability to do shift work (approx. 5 shifts a fortnight for full time staff), and sleeping sleepovers (All shifts have a sleepover component) 
• Have a full UK Drivers License for 2 years
• Willing to undergo a Northern Ireland Social Care Council Registration and Enhanced Access NI
• Flexibility around roster changes and meeting the needs of the organisation in relation to picking up shifts at short notice. We endeavour to have all rosters completed 2 weeks in advance however due to the nature of the work changes in rosters can sometimes occur. 
• Participation in team meetings, staff meetings, training, supervision as required.  
• At least 21 years of age and 4 years older than our must current young person at placement. This is in line with The Children Home Standards 2014 set by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.  

Skills and Attribute 

• Computer Literate and the ability to complete all reports via the Safe Places web-based systems 
• Ability to work autonomously in an isolated environment 
• Ability to work through work-related challenges 
• Communication skills including negotiation, networking, shift reports 
• Ability to work in a home environment 
• Ability to relate well within the small team and the broader Safe Places team 
• Ability to remain calm in crisis situations 
• Ability to take initiative 
• Resilience, maturity, patience and confidence are attributes necessary to successfully undertake this role 
• Organisational skills 
• An understanding of the intensive nature of the work and the significant time the position requires candidates to spend away from home/family 

Application Process 

• All CV's need to be sent to: [email protected] 
• All posts will be advertising through Community NI, https://www.communityni.org  
• Please ensure you submit your current CV in a word format and provide information about your experience and qualifications on application.  

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL 

Safe Places is an Equal Opportunities Employer.  We aim to provide equality of opportunity to all persons regardless of their religious belief; political opinion; sex; race; age; sexual orientation; whether they are married or are in a civil partnership; whether they are disabled; or whether they have undergone, are undergoing or intend to undergo gender reassignment.  We do not discriminate against our job applicants or employees on any of the grounds listed above.  We aim to select the best person for the job and all recruitment decisions will be made objectively. 

In this questionnaire we will ask you to provide us with some personal information about yourself.  We are doing this for two reasons; firstly, to demonstrate our commitment to promoting equality of opportunity in employment.  The information that you provide us will assist us to measure the effectiveness of our equal opportunity policies and to develop affirmative or positive action policies.  Secondly, we monitor the community background and sex of our job applicants and employees in order to comply with our duties under the Fair Employment & Treatment (NI) Order 1998. 

You are not obliged to answer the questions on this form and you will not suffer any penalty if you choose not to do so. 

Occupational Health & Safety 

Safe Places is committed to the safety and wellbeing of its staff and ensuring a healthy working environment. Safe Places has comprehensive safety policies and procedures and is committed to complying with occupational health and safety legislation.  

Safe Places supports incident prevention and early intervention and firmly believes that accidents can be prevented. Safe Places is committed to a health and safety program focused on consultation and continuous improvement.  

Safe Places believes in shared responsibility in safety matters with all team members playing their role in maintaining a safe working environment. Team members will actively promote a health & safety culture through use of appropriate systems, identification and control of risks and reporting all incidents within 24 hours.