Are you passionate about providing guidance and practical assistance, and advocating for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people? Do you want to be involved in empowering them to achieve their goals, navigating the challenges of adulthood, while supporting them with Triple Planning options for them in relation to their immigration?

We’re looking for Personal Advisors to join us in our new Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) team!

Working alongside Social Workers, you’ll be leading on all aspects of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people’s experiences from the point that they come to Cambridgeshire. Recognising the trauma, challenges, and loss our children and young people have been through, whilst being able to undertake holistic assessments of their needs (including age assessments where necessary) and support them through the immigration system, whilst also being ambitious for their future.

If you’re committed to making a positive difference in the lives of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people, and have the skills and experience to support them on their journey to independence, we encourage you to apply for this rewarding opportunity.

Based in Scott House, Huntingdon, no two days are the same and we have fantastic ambitions for this new team within the Children in Care service.

Now is a great time to join Cambridgeshire County Council as we develop a new model of practice focussed on relationships and being aspirational for children in our care in terms of their homes, relationships with their families and educational opportunities. We commit to embedding the Council ambitions for a greener, fairer and more caring Cambridgeshire.

If this sounds like a role that suits your skill set, we would love to hear from you! For more information, please contact Catherine Isaacs on catherine.isaacs@cambridgeshire.gov.uk or Louisa Kay on louisa.kay@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

We expect interviews to be held at New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald, week commencing the 10th of June. 

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits:

• Flexible and creative working arrangements
• Flexible Bank Holidays
• A comprehensive wellbeing package
• Our Cambs Rewards employee discounts
• A comprehensive pension scheme
• IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
• CamWeb - our staff intranet helping keep you informed
• An employee recognition scheme
• We offer a generous mileage allowance

For our Senior Practitioners, we offer more specific benefits like:

• Generous annual leave provision (28 days, plus bank holidays)
• A supportive management team that will champion your learning and development
• Employee Assistance Programme – access to free support 24 hours a day
• A relocation package of up to £8000 for eligible candidates
• Plus, 6 days of protected time each year to enable our Social Workers to maintain their Continuous Professional Development. 

Please read our benefits brochure attached for more information.

As a Personal Advisor, your day to day tasks will include…

Undertaking comprehensive assessments of needs, strengths and goals, and developing personalised Pathway Plans in collaboration with the young person and their network. Including a focus on housing, education and employment and emotional well-being, that include, where appropriate Triple Planning. As well as monitoring progress towards goals, undertaking reviews, and adjusting Pathway Plans as needed to reflect changing circumstances.

Providing one-to-one support and advocacy to ensure young people have access to the right support at the right time, and enabling young people to access opportunities including recreational, developing hobbies and creating friendships.

Offering practical assistance including budgeting, accessing benefits and helping with applications for example housing applications, and assisting young people in developing essential life skills from cooking, time management and communication.

Facilitating group workshops and activities to promote social inclusion and personal development, and supporting young people through the immigration system, their rights and entitlements and options that they have as immigration decisions are made.

You’ll also need to maintain accurate records and documentation, and provide duty support on a rota basis.

We're looking for confident and dynamic individuals who enjoy making a difference in their local community, are curious and spot things that others might not see, enjoys building relationships and likes to explore possibilities.

You must:

• Have an NVQ Level 3 or equivalent relevant A-Level qualifications

• Be able to demonstrate a good understanding of the specific issues faced by unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people who have experienced care, as well as the specific needs related to them

• Have strong communication skills, interpersonal and advocacy skills and be able to present information in different formats, as is suitable for the audience

• Have the ability to work collaboratively to achieve improved outcomes

• Have knowledge of the relevant legislation and policies that relate to care leavers

• Have the ability to work from a variety of locations and travel countywide, and out of county, independently

We would welcome applications from a diverse range of workers who are willing to work flexibly to enhance our existing workforce.

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off.   We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered.  We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Some examples of adjustments could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers