Job Description

Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Keyworker Service
The Keyworker function across Shropshire Telford and Wrekin has been developed as part of the NHS long term plan for all children and young people (CYP) 0-25 years with a learning disability, autism or both to have a designated Keyworker by 2024.
Keyworkers will work with those CYP who are at most of risk of inpatient admission/ residential placement. They will work across the Shropshire Telford and Wrekin system with and for CYP and families, capitalising on cross-system knowledge and experience to help them effectively navigate services.
Project Workers will sit within this model as an additional direct support to CYP and their families who are at risk but are not allocated a Keyworker or are stepping back from Keyworker support.
This recruitment is for 1 Project Worker. You will have received a project workers job description and person specification. This is a generic role in use throughout the organisation and therefore Barnardo's uses generic job descriptions and person specifications when advertising for such roles. When completing your application form, please refer to the skills, knowledge and experience required as detailed in the Person Specification and also any further information included in the Additional Information Sheet. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.
Travel around Shropshire Telford & Wrekin is necessary and part of the role.
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

Project worker key responsibilities:

• Provide a navigation and signposting role to support children and young people to access services at appropriate points.
• Build and maintain positive, trusting and appropriate relationships with children, young people and families.
• Support timely access to appropriate care and support to enable children and young people to thrive and stay safe and well within the community.
• Ensure all CYP have a clear, personalised care plan to promote their development and wellbeing, and protect them from harm.
• Support practitioners already undertaking assessments and developing plans for vulnerable children, young people with additional needs to develop a holistic support plan.
• Work closely with Parent Carer Forums, particularly their PFA Navigators to support the appraisal and monitoring of the project worker role.
• Work closely with partners across health, social care and education to improve early identification and tracking of children, young people at risk of escalation.
• Advocate for the rights and needs of children, young people and families, including the potential where appropriate to request funding from the personalisation fund for swift, responsive interventions to support immediate blockages/crisis needs.
• Escalate concerns to the Keyworker Team Leader where actions have been agreed but not implemented.

Knowledge and Understanding

• Experience of supporting (or understanding the issues experienced by) CYP with learning disability and/or autism and complex needs, and their families.
• Awareness of safeguarding for children and vulnerable young adults.
• An understanding of the education, health and care system.

Communication and Engagement

• Ability and confidence to represent the views and wishes of CYP and families in an assertive and clear manner.
• Ability to demonstrate active listening to CYP and families and respond with empathy and compassion.
• Communicate effectively using a variety of communication skills, verbal and non-verbal, written and electronic, with a range of individuals at all levels including other professionals across sectors, and CYP and families.
• Ability to produce accessible information as required.

Person-Centred Care

• Ability to manage multiple, competing caseloads through effective time management.
• Ability and commitment to act in a way that promotes and encourages having CYP's expressed views and preferences at the heart of all work.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's . We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band - this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
Benefits
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• 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.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract
About Barnardo's
We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Skills Required