Salary £28,142 - £32,061 Per annum | Permanent | Full Time - 37 hours per week
International Sponsorship – this role is not open to international sponsorship
Core Objectives
* Vulnerable children and young people are safe from harm and build resilience.
* Children and young people achieve their full potential in education, learning and future employment.
* Children and young people enjoy healthy lifestyles and know how to help others.
* Children, young people and families have a voice in shaping the support they receive.
* Children and young people live in Lancashire where they can enjoy a good quality of life, be happy and want to stay.
Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Core Duties
Service Delivery
* The post holder will report to a Team Manager as part of an area team and countywide Leaving Care Service.
* As a Leaving Care Personal Advisor you will hold a caseload of Eligible, Relevant, Former Relevant and Qualifying care leavers, aged 15¾–25. You will work alongside the allocated social worker for eligible care leavers and have full case responsibility for relevant, former relevant and qualifying care leavers.
* You will have responsibility for ensuring the statutory role of the Leaving Care Personal Advisor is fulfilled for each young person you have responsibility for.
* You will contribute to Pathway Planning and needs assessments of young people under the age of 18.
* You will undertake and record needs assessments of all Relevant and Former Relevant care leavers you have case responsibility for every 6 months or when a significant change occurs, updating the Pathway Plan accordingly. You will undertake and record needs assessments for all Qualifying care leavers when a service is requested or when a significant change occurs. You will contribute to other assessments such as those undertaken by adult social care, health and assessments completed under the Mental Capacity Act.
* You will arrange, coordinate and record pathway plan reviews for all Relevant and Former Relevant care leavers, every 6 months or when a significant change occurs. You will arrange, coordinate and record pathway plan reviews for all qualifying care leavers when a service is requested or when a significant change occurs. You will ensure Pathway Plans are coproduced with young people, SMART, meet needs, support joined up planning, access to services and best possible outcomes for the young person.
* You will be required to work collaboratively with partner agencies to achieve the best outcomes for young people.
* You will ensure that the education, training, employment, interests, independence and aspirations of care leavers are promoted and outcomes worked towards through the Pathway Plan.
* You will ensure that care leavers are registered with a dentist, GP, have a bank account, identification and a National Insurance number.
* You may be required to undertake work or hold cases across Lancashire and/or out of Lancashire in response to service need and the needs of children, young people and families.
* You will be able to work independently seeking guidance and support when unsure, and/or to improve the quality of support, direct work and interventions.
* You will operate within a performance framework and to strive to improve personal performance and meet identified development targets.
* You will work within the procedures of Lancashire County Council and Children's Services.
* You will be required to attend training, professional development and Team Meetings as part of your role to ensure you have the skills and knowledge to work effectively with young people, parents, carers and families.
* You will identify opportunities for improving day-to-day procedures and processes within the team or work area, and contribute these to team planning, to support the continuous improvement of services.
* You will present and be accountable for your work with children, young people and parents, carers and families, in relation to quality assurance, audit and inspection processes.
* You will be required to work regular office hours, Monday to Friday, there may be times when flexibility is required to meet the needs of our young people.
* You will be required to understand and promote the role of corporate parenting.
* You may have a role in facilitating and organising events and activities for young people.
* You will ensure that participation and coproduction is at the heart of your work with young people.
* You will be required to maintain timely, accurate and young person focused records. Communication skills and information sharing.
* You will develop effective communication skills to enable you to communicate with young ensuring their involvement as much as possible and that their views are represented in assessments, plans and meetings.
* You will use the Service’s electronic communications system, database, spreadsheets, word processing packages and templates competently and promote the use of IT within the Team. You will be responsible for accurately loading and updating the Service’s database with care leavers parents, carers and families details/status.
* You will respect confidentiality and explain to young people, parents and carers when there is need to share information with others in order to protect children. Advocacy.
* You will ensure care leavers and their parents and carers are aware of financial entitlements and rights as care leavers. You will support care leavers to access their Setting Up Home Allowance and access all relevant benefits.
* You will support and advocate for care leavers to move into suitable accommodation that meets their needs in a timely way.
* You will advocate on behalf of care leavers, supporting access to services. You will challenge lack of access to services.
* You will challenge injustice, discrimination and poor practice.
* You will actively promote anti-discriminatory practice and the celebration of diversity.
* You will advise care leavers (age appropriate in a young person-centred way), parents, carers, families, groups and individuals about independent advocacy that can best meet their needs.
* You will assist care leavers parents, carers, families groups, individuals and partner agencies to represent their views in all meetings affecting them.
* You will coproduce plans with the care leavers you work with. Partnership and Collaborative Working.
* You will work to develop positive working relationships with care leavers, parents, carers, families and multi‑agency professionals to ensure care leavers receive the most effective support at the right time to ensure the best possible outcomes.
* You will ensure the Service’s procedures for managing risk of significant harm to children and young people are followed at all times and seek appropriate advice and authorisation from managers.
* Key tasks and accountabilities are intended to be a guide to the range and level of work expected of the post‑holder. This is not an exhaustive list of all tasks that may fall to the post‑holder and employees will be expected to carry out such other reasonable duties which may be required from time to time.
Equal Opportunities
We are committed to achieving equal opportunities in the way we deliver services to the community and in our employment arrangements. We expect all employees to understand and promote this policy in their work.
Health and Safety
All employees have a responsibility for their own health and safety and that of others when carrying out their duties and must help us to apply our general statement of health and safety policy.
Customer Focused
We put our customers' needs and expectations at the heart of all that we do. We expect our employees to have a full understanding of those needs and expectations so that we can provide high quality, appropriate services at all times.
Our Values
* Supportive: We are supportive of our customers and colleagues, recognising their contributions and making the best of their strengths to enable our communities to flourish.
* Innovative: We deliver the best services we possibly can, always looking for creative ways to do things better, putting the customer at the heart of our thinking, and being ambitious and focused on how we can deliver the best services now and in the future.
* Respectful: We treat colleagues, customers and partners with respect, listening to their views, empathising and valuing their diverse needs and perspectives, to be fair, open and honest in all that we do.
* Collaborative: We listen to, engage with, learn from and work with colleagues, partners and customers to help achieve the best outcomes for everyone.
The post you are applying for is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). If successful, you will be required to apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for a 'disclosure'. Further information can be found on the 'Our Recruitment Process' tab. In return, Lancashire County Council offers a range of benefits, which can be found on the LCC Vacancies website. We reserve the right to close down a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.
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