Family Support Engagement Officer

Location: West Sussex Northern (Crawley, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Horsham, Petworth, Midhurst)

Hours: Part Time 28 hours per week, must include a Monday and a Thursday, 12-month temporary contract.

Hourly Rate of Pay: £12.63 per hour

Contract Type: Fixed-Term for 12 months

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About the Role:

Working alongside our existing staff team, including family, specialist support and children’s services, the Family Support Engagement Officer will provide a single point of contact for families; pre, during and post assessment.

You’ll provide support to parents/carers and work in partnership with education and other agencies to support a child/young person. You will also work directly with individuals and their families in order to promote, strengthen and empower them with strategies and skills required to navigate a quite often confusion system.

Main Job Tasks and Responsibilities

· Respond to and follow up on email and phone enquiries

· Conduct phone consultations

· Carry out face to face appointments in the home

· Establish and foster good relationships with parents/carers and child/young person

· Support parents/carers with regard to personal difficulties, promote the self-esteem of parents/carers and seek advice (while upholding confidentiality) and signpost as appropriate

· Encourage involvement with Aspens services, join up across service provision, work alongside the behaviour support specialists and intervention advisors with regards needs assessment

· Network and communicate with other professionals and services to ensure an up to date repertoire of services across West Sussex

· Research, collate and share useful resources

· Attend relevant meetings for the organisation, parent/carer and child/young person meetings such as TAF’s and annual reviews

· Promote equality for all individuals, recognising and encouraging anti-discriminatory behaviour, respecting confidentiality (unless there are child protection implications), recognising clients’ rights and choice and respecting personal beliefs and identity

About the Service:

The Family and Specialist Support is a comprehensive, professional, high quality service for children, young people and adults with a diverse range of neurological needs including ASC, ADHD, social communication delays, OCD, Tourette’s, mental health issues and more.

Our staff team deliver excellent services based on the needs of the individual, teaching skills and creating support solutions that enable individuals and their families to manage the impact of their difficulties.

About Aspens:

At Aspens we have over 100 years of experience supporting individuals of all ages with a range of disabilities, those on the autism spectrum, and those with complex needs. Through the provision of highly personalised support across a variety of services, we aspire to enable people to learn new skills, live life to the full and contribute to society however possible.

Here at Aspens we strive to uphold our core values by aspiring to beleaders with Integrity in the social care field, setting the highest possible standards for the care of the people we support.

Our dedication to caring for people applies to our valued workforce as well as to the people our organisation exists to support, and we work to treat all of our employees, external partners and those we support with respect and kindness at all times in inclusive environment we offer here at Aspens.

We empower our staff by equipping them with the skills, knowledge and tools they need to do an excellent job, remain up to date with the latest developments and training in the sector and to achieve their own professional goals.

For more information about Aspens and our services please visit our website: https://www.aspens.org.uk/

You can also take a look at our social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Person Specification

As a charity we are looking for caring, hardworking and understanding people to join us to promote the values that Aspens champions; respect, honesty, empowerment and professionalism.

Ideal candidate is those who are able and willing to work toward their own personal progression, for self-development and to be able to better support the people we work with. We have an incredible internal training team who support staff from day one to not only benefit your career going forwards but to offer you that first step in a new career if this is what you’re looking for.

Essential Availability:

· Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm with some flexibility to work some weekends and or evenings when required (as per contracted hours)

Essential Training and Qualifications:

· GCSE Maths and English at grade C or above

· A-levels or NVQ equivalents in social care

Essential Experience and Knowledge:

· Experience of working with families and in the community

· Experience of contributing to multidisciplinary meetings with professionals

Essential Skills and Attributes:

· Ability to maintain thorough reporting records

· Ability to provide feedback/ advice to families on an ongoing basis, either verbally or through written reports

· Ability to implement parental specific strategies

· Ability to demonstrate an understanding and personal commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people

· Good organisational and planning skills

· Excellent communication both verbal and written

· Good data collection and analytical skills

· Ability to communicate effectively with adults, young people and children

· Able to build good relationships and work effectively as a team

· Positive, motivated, dedicated and creative

· Able to work alone

· Able to stay calm in a crisis

Additional Essential Criteria:

· Full driving license with access to own vehicle

What you can expect from us:

• Fantastic paid training and career progression opportunities (including recognised qualifications in health and social care)
• Paid DBS (we will recover the cost should your employment terminate for any reason, other than redundancy, before passing your probation)
• Flexible work arrangements with opportunities to take on additional bank shifts too
• 30 Days Annual Leave (including Bank Holidays) / Pro rata dependent on hours. Annual leave entitlement increases with length of service
• Nest Pension and Death in Service Benefit (Includes unlimited access to a suite of six services: a 24/7 UK-based GP, Best Doctors, mental health support, a health check, access to nutrition consultations and an online fitness programme [Smart Health])
• Dedicated Employee Assistance Programme and Access to Mental Health First Aiders
• Hardship loans and advance (subject to conditions)
• Enhanced family leave pay
• Travel season tickets (interest free loans for those wishing to purchase a travel season ticket)
• Aspens High Street Stores - 20% discount on all items for Aspens’ staff
• Blue Light Card and access to high-street discounts
• Refer a Friend scheme, so you can earn up to £250 for every person you refer to work for Aspens
• Recognition schemes, including ‘Employee of the Month’

Equal Opportunity Statement

At Aspens Charities, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals, including those with disabilities and those who are likely to be underrepresented in Aspens’ workforce, such as sex/gender, minority ethnic group, religion, belief, sexual orientation, age, as well as abilities. We believe that a diverse team leads to better outcomes and a more enjoyable work environment where everyone feels valued, heard, and has an equal opportunity to thrive.

As a Disability Confident employer, Aspens Charities is dedicated to supporting and promoting the recruitment, retention, and career development of people with disabilities. We recognise the value and contributions that individuals with disabilities bring to our organisation. Applicants who declare they have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for the role will be offered an interview, where practicable and appropriate.

Accessibility and Accommodations

We are committed to providing an accessible recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any accommodations during the application or interview process, please let us know by contacting [email protected].

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