Do you have relevant experience of working with children and young people with a disability/and or autism or relevant experience in a similar sector or work environment?

About Aberlour Options Fife - Respite and Outreach

Options Fife Respite and Outreach provides a range of flexible support through outreach and overnight short breaks at weekends, evenings and school holidays to children and young people with complex learning disabilities and autism. We offer a high-quality child centred service providing positive and enabling experiences for the young people, supporting them through the challenges and complexities that enable them to work towards their individual outcomes and personal goals. We work closely with families and other professionals in providing support tailored around the child’s plan.

What we are looking for....

We are looking to recruit two Young People’s Worker Nights, working four nights on (10 hours per night) every second week. You will play a fundamental role in ensuring that the young people you work with have the best possible experience in working towards their objectives in line with their care plan, supporting children to progress within their individual outcomes. Whilst not without its challenges and demands, this is a highly rewarding role, where the work we do has a demonstrable impact on each young person's progress. Using a person-centred approach, you will provide enabling support ensuring the highest level of physical, personal, and emotional care. We support young people who have epilepsy, need personal care and need gastrostomy feeding. Aberlour, in conjunction with NHS, provides all staff with training.

We are looking for candidates who have a passion for working with young people with disabilities. It is desired but not essential that candidates hold a relevant qualification at an SCQF level 7 or above. Due to SSSC requirements you may be required to gain qualifications after starting with Aberlour.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers. Find out more about our Employee Benefits and our commitment to Equality and Diversity on our website.

About Sustain Clackmannanshire

Aberlour Child Care Trust has recently launched a new family outreach service, Aberlour Sustain Clackmannanshire. This service works alongside families, communities and partners to offer caring and responsive support to young people and families. Aberlour Sustain Clackmannanshire delivers the support families need, when they need it, every day of the year. The aim of the service is to ensure that children and young people can continue to flourish at home, at school and in their local community.

Working with Social Work Services, this innovative and creative new service focuses on supporting young people aged 0 – 18 years, who may be on the ‘edge of care’ so that they remain living with their family in their local communities.

Our Service works with young people and their families to enhance relationships, build on existing strengths and interests, help build confidence and encourage new community connections. Our aim is to help all families feel safe, confident, capable, and included. Our approach has been developed through consultation with families and partners.

This post is to provide cover for maternity leave. We expect the post to last for 11 months.

What we are looking for....

We are looking for candidates who are passionate about supporting young people, families and communities, who are flexible and share our vision that collaborative working and relationship based early intervention is the best option for young people and families who are feeling overwhelmed or excluded. This post is being offered on a temporary basis until February 2025 to cover Maternity.

Not afraid to test new ways of working, you will bring a fresh, caring, compassionate and collaborative approach which responds empathically to the needs of young people and their families. The work will include early mornings, evenings and weekends. You will have experience of direct practice within this field of work, including child/adult protection issues as well as having experience of working with children and young people.

You will work within a variety of locations in the Clackmannanshire area, including the office base in Alloa, family homes, schools and community settings.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers.

“I lost my kids a few times they went to foster care and I would have gone to a place like this if I had the chance. This is badly needed. I hid my drug use and people only found out about it when I had my baby and she was in withdrawal. I loved my daughter and would have welcomed something like this.”

About our new Mother and Child Recovery House- Falkirk

Aberlour is proud to be working in partnership with the Scottish Government and we are excited to be opening a new dedicated Mother and Child Recovery House based in central Falkirk. Building on the success of our house in Dundee, also funded by the Scottish Government, which opened just over a year ago, our service is designed to enable children of women with problem alcohol and other drug use to stay with their mothers during recovery. Aberlour’s approach to rehabilitation aims to deliver positive outcomes for women and their children. The house will accommodate up to 4 women and their children under 5 years old.

We will be using the Parents Under Pressure (PuP) programme which combines psychological principles relating to parenting, child behaviour and parental emotion regulation within a case management model. The programme is highly individualised to suit each family. Mothers are given their own Workbook and for many of them this becomes a personal journal of their treatment experience. The overarching aim of the PuP programme is to help parents facing adversity to develop positive and secure relationships with their children. Within this strength-based approach, the family environment becomes more nurturing and less conflictual. Full training on the PuP Programme will be provided to the whole team.

“Too many women with problem drug and alcohol issues are having their young children taken into care and many other women won’t engage with support agencies for fear of their children being removed. The new houses will improve outcomes for these women and children; reduce deaths of mothers with problem drug use; avoid family breakdown and increase the likelihood of children being cared for by their parents.”

Aberlour Chief Executive SallyAnn Kelly

What we are looking for....

We are looking for Lead Practitioners who share our vision and values and with the passion and ability to support managers in guiding and developing this new team. Your hours of work (37.5 per week) will be based around the needs of the families we work with which will include mornings, evenings, nights, weekends, and public holidays. This role will be working within both our outreach part of the service and in the residential house so that we can ensure that our families have continued support on their journey to recovery.

Your role will be to support the assessment, intervention and planning for women and their children; initially when women are referred to the service, during their stay in the residential house and supporting them when they return to their communities, working in partnership with other agencies.

The service is registered with the Care Inspectorate as a Care Home for Adults and so you are required to register with the SSSC as a Support Worker in a Care Home Service for Adults. Ideally, you will have experience of direct work with mothers in recovery, enhancing their skills and capacity for them and their babies. You must also have experience of working collaboratively with other professional agencies and a working knowledge of drug/alcohol use and its effects on women and children.

We strongly encourage people to apply who have lived experience of alcohol or drug use, with a minimum of 2 years living in recovery, free from all drug use and problem drinking. People with lived experience will provide crucial insight into the issues being faced by the women and children.

You will have a relevant professional qualification at SCQF level 7 or above, or equivalent knowledge acquired by other means, with a willingness to complete required qualifications for SSSC registration.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team. Please go to our website to have a look at our values to understand more about what we are looking for from our employees.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers. Find out more about our Employee Benefits and our commitment to Equality and Diversity on our website.

Main Duties

The Employability Advisor will be responsible to Regional Co-Ordinator and will work as a member of OPFS Lanarkshire Employability Service, to provide employability support for single parents and young parents facing additional barriers to engaging with services, entering suitable employment, education, and training opportunities through one-to-one meetings and group work sessions.

Specific Duties

• Case Management: Work with single parents facing additional barriers, to access employability support by using case management methods, to provide a continuum of consistent support through each client’s journey of the Making Employability Works for Single Parents Employability Pathway and progress into suitable and sustainable employment.
• Barriers: Support clients to identify their presenting barriers to enter suitable employment, education and training opportunities and work with single parents to address those barriers.
• Initial Support: Enable single parents to identify their future goals, assess motivation, develop personal action plans, and support client’s access to suitable employability activities.
• Liaison: Build links with agencies, projects, organisations, and groups across the local authority area, to identify eligible young parents who would benefit from participating in a scheduled programme of employability support, that will enable them to access suitable employment, education, and training opportunities.
• Outreach & Engagement: Undertake activities to actively reach out to, and engage with, eligible single parents; supporting clients to build their confidence and develop their knowledge and awareness of the support and services available to them through OPFS’s Making Employability Work for Single Parents Employability Service.
• Work/Vocational Activities & Training: Co-ordinate and deliver a range of employability activities to single parents in 1-2-1 and group settings to enable parents facing additional barriers to employment to develop their knowledge, awareness and understanding of early work preparation, C.V development and core skills, helping to increase participants access to available employment, training, and education opportunities.
• Job Matching: Provide employability support to help single parents to become job ready through the provision of activities that focus on; active job searching, completing application forms, attending interviews and make informed decisions to secure and sustain suitable employment.
• In Work Support: Provide single parents facing additional barriers to sustain their employment role with continued support on entering employment and help single parents to progress within their working role.
• Signposting and Referral: Ensure that young parents gain access to the services and resources that will help to address their needs and support their progression along OPFS Making Employability Work for Single Parents Employability Service.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Ensure effective recording, monitoring and evaluation procedures are collated and produced on a regular monthly basis.
• Reporting, targets, and outcomes: Ensure project outcomes and targets are met in-line with funding application and submit comprehensive reports to the Services Manager on all areas of the work you are responsible for.
• Other relevant duties: Carrying out any other relevant duties related to the above.

The job description is a broad picture of the post at the time of preparation. It is not an exhaustive list of all duties, and it is recognised that jobs change and evolve over time.

Personal Specifications

Essential

1. Qualification: A relevant professional qualification or a good standard of education equivalent to HNC/HND, SVQ3 /4 or equivalent experience related to this area of work.
2. Experience of working in the employability support field.
3. Experience of group work: candidates should preferably have had experience of running groups and understand potential group work issues.
4. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
5. Excellent IT skills.
6. Commitment to professional development.
7. Flexibility to meet the needs of the services.
8. Driving license and use of a vehicle.

Desirable:

1. Experience of working with single parents: Prior experience of work with families headed by a single parent in a voluntary sector or statutory context.

Terms & Conditions

1. Period of appointment: The post is funded until 31st March 2025. Confirmation of appointment will be dependent on completion of a satisfactory three-month probation period, satisfactory reference, and Disclosure checks.
2. Salary: OPFS salary scale points 13-17: £23,915 to £29,230 per annum (Appointments will be made at a point reflective of previous experience).
3. Hours of work: up to 35 hours weekly with flexibility to meet the needs of clients. Part time hours also considered
4. Holidays: Annual leave entitlement is 25 days and 12 Public holidays, pro rata for part time hours
5. Pension: You will be auto enrolled from your start date. OPFS pays 7% of your salary and you pay a minimum of 3%.
6. Training, support, and supervision: OPFS is committed to the development of its staff through internal training and access to external training. We also have an annual staff appraisal system in place and all staff receive regular monthly support and supervision from their manager.
7. Equal Opportunities and Family Friendly Employment: OPFS aims to be an equal opportunity and family friendly employer. We have Investors in People status and Living Wage accreditation.