Children s Psychological therapist. Therapeutic Services/Children Services GRADE: 05. Context and Purpose of the Job

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1 JOB TITLE: TEAM: GROUP: LOCATION: REPORTS TO: Children s Psychological therapist Therapeutic Services/Children Services Operations Canterbury - Kent Project Manager My View GRADE: 05 HOURS: 21 hours per week Context and Purpose of the Job The Refugee Council supports separated children across the country from our offices in Kent, London, Birmingham, Luton and Leeds. The post is based in Croydon and will involve regular travel across the south east. The Children s Section is responsible for delivering services to separated children seeking asylum and refugee children. The Section also leads on raising the profile of our clients and advocates on their behalf. Supporting this work, the Section also promotes good practice to statutory and voluntary agencies and seeks to influence government at national level. The Therapeutic Services team provides one to one therapeutic intervention and group therapy through a team of psychological therapists to individual asylum seekers and refugees presenting with mental well being needs. The team has developed and adapted the Therapeutic Care model to respond to the clients needs. The purpose of this post is to provide therapeutic intervention to separated children who have often been through traumatic experiences including being trafficked, witnessing horrific events, and as a result of upheaval in their country of origin and along their journey to survival. Many have experienced overwhelming loss and separation from family and loved ones resulting in mental distress; others display symptoms of PTSD and may become isolated and anxious. This can lead to related behavioural issues and disruption in their education when their mental health needs are not met.

2 The psychological therapist will engage separated children to access specialist services through working within a multidisciplinary approach and within the context of the separated child's life, for example, the foster family or school. They may see a child individually or in a group with other separated children, using skills to respond to what they might be communicating through their verbal or behavioral issues. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act Therefore, all convictions, cautions and bind-overs, including those regarded as spent, must be declared at the application stage. An offer of employment is subject to a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check. Repeat checks are initiated every two years. Main Duties and Responsibilities Key Relationships: Children s Services Manager, Therapeutic Services Manager, The MyView Project Manager and other Refugee Council senior management and operations frontline staff and managers. Social workers, foster parents, and others involved in the lives of children including health workers, educational staff at schools and colleges and other support providers including keyworkers. Other supportive funders for this project. Purpose of the Job: To provide early identification and prevent mental illness through counselling and psychoeducational groups. To provide holistic assessment and psychosocial intervention to promote wellbeing through both one to one counselling and therapeutic groups for separated children. To establish referral pathways and to secure access to specialist interventions for mental illness through direct referrals of separated children to external agencies. Main Responsibilities: 1. To work in the best interest of the child. 2. To offer holistic assessment and psychological treatment of separated children 3. To manage a client caseload of short-term (12 sessions ) interventions with separated children for individual and group therapy using the therapeutic care model. 4. To work alongside other professionals in planning how best to support a separated child for example in schools, hospitals, children's services and child protection agencies. 5. To work effectively with volunteers and interpreters 6. To write clear counselling reports and letters and other documentation to the standard required by the Refugee Council. 7. To maintain professional ethical boundaries, impartiality and confidentiality at all times. 8. To assist separated children access and establish appropriate support networks to enhance their psychosocial wellbeing and create a transitional space for those moving from adolescence to adulthood. 9. To maintain accurate and timely record keeping, case notes, evaluation forms and to update any work undertaken using JCDB, our client database. 10. To manage your own administration, for example in booking interpreters, organising travel, liaising with stakeholders and managing your expenses. Page 2 of 5

3 11. To follow good practice guidelines and procedures including the attendance of and participation in intake/referral meetings, team meetings, regular supervision and clinical supervision sessions. 12. To understand and implement the project objectives and outcomes, ensure regular project monitoring and collating client feedback on a timely way. 13. To deliver training, skills sharing and workshops to other professionals who work with separated children in the community, for example to health visitors, social workers or educational professionals. 14. To observe and work within the Refugee Council s organizational policies and procedures. Additional Information Working hours The post holder will be working directly with young people, many of whom are in school or college. In light of this it is expected that the working hours will be 10.00am to 6.00pm on most working days. The office is open from Monday to Friday. Health & Safety The post holder is responsible for: Cooperating with the Refugee Council in delivering all legal responsibilities in respect of your own and your colleagues, volunteers, clients and others health and safety whilst at work. Becoming familiar with the Refugee Council s Health & Safety Policy and procedures including evacuation procedures at your workplace. Carrying out risk assessments of your own work and especially of your own workstation to ensure that you do not expose yourself or others to unnecessary risk. Flexibility In order to deliver services effectively, a degree of flexibility is needed and the post-holder may be required to perform work not specifically referred to above. Such duties will, however, fall within the scope of the job, at the appropriate grade. The job description will be subject to periodic review with the post-holder to ensure it accurately reflects the duties of the job. This job cannot be carried out working from home. Equal Opportunities Statement As part of its recruitment policy, the Refugee Council intends to ensure that no prospective or actual employee is discriminated against on the basis of race, gender nationality, marital status, sexual orientation, employment status, class, disability, age, religious belief or political persuasion, or is disadvantaged by any condition or requirement which is not demonstrably justifiable. Working at the Refugee Council A commitment to the work of the Refugee Council. Personal Effectiveness With the support of their manager the post-holder will need to effectively manage their own workload and medium and long term plans and objectives. Page 3 of 5

4 JOB TITLE: Children s Psychological therapist Qualifications 1. Diploma in Counselling (Level 4 or above) and Membership to an ethical framework e.g. BACP/UKPC or Degree or Masters in Counselling, Counselling/Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, Art Therapy or Drama Therapy 2. An enhanced DBS Disclosure and Barring Service check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children s and Adults Barred List checks will be required for this role. Experience 1. An awareness of the psychological issues related to child development and the transition from adolescence to adulthood. 2. Experience of working with children through the medium of creative theoretical approaches and embodying a playful and cultural sensitive attitude 3. Capacity to build a therapeutic relationship which takes into an account the needs of separated asylum seeking children. Page 4 of 5

5 Knowledge, skills and abilities 1. Ability and psychological resilience to work with separated children in crisis and acute states of distress or disturbance and maintain a sensitive and professional attitude. 2. Knowledge of a range of therapeutic approaches and theories relevant to loss, separation and attachment styles and how these can be applied to work with separated children to enhance their wellbeing 3. Knowledge and understanding of issues faced by separated young people and the challenges faced in their developmental stages from childhood to adulthood. 4. Ability to carry out holistic psychological and social assessments to gain an understanding of the client s complex needs make and specialist interventions through direct referrals to external agencies. 5. Manage a one to one counselling caseload and support a therapeutic group. 6. Good organisational skills and IT Skills, record keeping and the ability to act on own initiative when appropriate. 7. Ability to write high standard psychological reports as required by the Refugee Council and other professionals. 8. Effective collaboration with professionals in health, Education and Social Services, foster parents, solicitors and other stakeholders. 9. Knowledge of child protection procedures and ability to assess and manage safeguarding issues according to the agencies protocols. 10. Ability to develop and support volunteers on this project. 11. Knowledge of the asylum process for separated children in the UK sufficient to be able to follow a separated child s progress through these systems and to seek specialist help when needed. 12. Knowledge of the duties of local authority social services to children in need sufficient to be able to understand a separated child s care and to seek specialist help when needed. 13. Ability to work effectively with interpreters. 14. Ability to work under pressure and prioritise work effectively. 15. Strong personal commitment to equal opportunities both in terms of policy and practical application. Desirable 16. Spoken competence in one or more priority refugee language. November 2017 Page 5 of 5