Salary: £25,221 - £27,780 FTE per annum plus £480 home working allowance – (Pro-rata for 22.2 hours - £15,132 - £16,668 plus pro-rata HWA)
Hours: Between 22.2 – 29.6 hours per week across 3-4 days (Part-time) – Negotiable to fit the service needs
Contract type: Fixed term for one year in the first instance, with the potential to be extended depending on budget review.
Location: Home-based in the Wiltshire area, with a requirement for frequent travel
This is not a Wiltshire Council vacancy therefore please contact Wiltshire SENDIASS for further information.
Family Action & the Role’s Impact:
At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we’ve done for over 150 years. We protect children, support young people and adults and offer direct, practical help to families and communities.
We see first-hand the power of family to shape lives, for better or worse, so we speak up for the
importance of family in national and local policymaking, amplify family voices and represent the changing needs of families in the UK today.
As Wiltshire SENDIASS Case Officer, you will provide information and advice on local policy and practice, the Local Offer, Personal Budgets, the law on SEN & Disability, health and social care and support income maximization for families in a service that focuses to meet and comply with the IAS standards, as set out in the Children and Families Act (CFA) 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice.
With a solution focused approach, you will provide casework support for families and young people in relation to the Education and Healthcare Plan (process), including providing advice around resolving disagreements, mediation and SEND appeals.
To join us as a Case Officer you will have a recognised professional qualification in education, health, social work or equivalent, and evidence of a commitment to continuing learning and professional development and at least one year’s experience in a similar role.
You will have experience that enables you to empathise with/advocate for families of children/young people with additional needs, demonstrating highly developed interpersonal and active listening skills and first-rate verbal and written communication skills.
Main Responsibilities:
To respond to enquiries from the telephone helpline, email and website generated enquiries, text service and social media providing accurate and impartial information and advice on matters relating to SEND procedures, with particular regard to the SEND Code of Practice 2014.
To provide information and advice on local policy and practice, the Local Offer, Personal Budgets, the law on SEN & Disability, health and social care and support income maximization for families.
To provide confidential and impartial advice to young people on their own, if requested, and promote the voice of the child/young person throughout the work with families.
To provide individual casework for parents and young people through:
Phone, text and email contact
Home visits
Representation and support in preparing for and attending meetings, either face-to-face or online
Listening to concerns
Signposting to other local or national sources of support
Help with filling in forms, writing letters and reports, tailoring support as far as possible to individual need to ensure equal access to the service
Planning support to ensure the best use of time
Main Requirements (for full details of responsibilities, please check the accompanying job description and person specification below).
Appointments are subject to Family Action receiving a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service – Child and Adult Workforce, including Enhanced with Children’s Barred List.
We will offer you support and funding to undertake the IPSEA Legal training, Levels 1-3, to support your career development and progression.
Benefits:
an annual paid leave entitlement of 25 working days plus bank holidays (pro-rata)
up to 6% matched-pension contributions
flexible working arrangements and new starters have the right to make flexible working requests from day one of employment
enhanced paid sick leave and paid family leave provisions
eye care and winter flu jabs vouchers
cycle to work scheme
investing in your professional development with ongoing quality training and career development opportunities
We are forward looking, ambitious and committed to continuous improvement. We are a people focused, can-do organisation, which strives for excellence in all we do and operates with mutual respect.
To Apply:
Interviews: Date TBC
Please Note: We reserve the right to close this application early should suitable applications be received prior to the advertised closing date.
For any queries, or if you would like to discuss any aspect of the selection process or the potential for flexible working, please email Deanna Wilkins, Wiltshire SENDIASS Project Manager: [email protected]
All appointments with Family Action are subject to satisfactory Safer Recruitment checks.
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:
We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that candidates may need during the recruitment process and you will be asked whether you require any adjustments if shortlisted for interview. We also make reasonable adjustments on the job, where required.
We are committed to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in all that we do and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Intersectionality is important to us and we particularly welcome applications from ethnically diverse communities, LGBTQIA+ candidates and disabled candidates because we are committed to increasing the representation of these groups at Family Action. We know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for families and children and strive for our workforce to be truly representative of the diverse communities we support. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role.
To help remove financial barriers to working with us, we will reimburse travel costs if you are invited to attend an interview in person.
*Ordinarily Family Action appoints new starters at the starting point of the salary scale (with subsequent annual pay progression), unless you have experience that would justify appointment further up the salary scale or there are any other exceptional reasons.
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