Exciting new opportunity for a Mental Health Specialist Support Worker join our Young Peoples service in Milton Keynes!

GBP 23,543 per annum, 40 hours per week, plus 25 days Annual Leave, Pension Scheme, staff discounts, healthcare and more.

Milton Keynes Young Peoples Service is for people aged 16 – 21 with the capacity to support 52 Young People at any one time. The service provides a high level of support to Young People that may be care leavers, looked after children and unaccompanied asylum seeking children. They are supported with a variety of complex support needs such as child sexual exploitation, gangs and offending, substance misuse and mental health.
You will be working alongside other specialists and supports workers to support Young People to meet their aspirations, stay safe and live independently. The service is compiled of 5 properties, the largest capacity at one site being 16 units with 24hr support.

Job Overview:

Specialist Support Workers within Look Ahead are required to have either an extra dimension of experience or a higher qualification level as determined relevant for the particular post.
The Young People in Milton Keynes services will have complex and multifaceted needs. This could include emotional and mental health issues, drug and alcohol misuse, partaking in criminal activity and anti-social behaviours or being at risk of sexual exploitation.
Whilst the majority of young people referred will not yet be ready to live fully independently, they will be ready to begin the transition to adulthood and develop their independent living skills. The young people will require a supportive, structured and stable environment with clear boundaries in which to do this.
Specialist support workers are expected to work with the young people that have the most complex needs. They should be the lead in their team regarding their specialism, form partnerships with external agencies and lead on co production and customer engagement. You would work as part of a team of support workers and other specialists, providing support to the rest of the team as needed.
The Mental Health Specialist should have experience of working with young people that have experienced trauma and the complex issues that arise due to this. You will support Young People that work with CAMHS or to get them working with CAMHS and the transition into adult mental health services. Many YP do not meet the threshold for a service like CAMHS but still require support around their mental health whether that be linking in with other services, working on harm minimisation and reduction or supporting them to work on their strengths and improving positive self image and esteem.

Key Responsibilities:

– Building supportive, trusting relationships with customers and creating a positive atmosphere
– Carrying out holistic assessments of new customers which incorporate relevant statutory referral information
– Conducting regular key work sessions that are innovative and engaging in order to achieve Support Plan goals
– Create support plans for young people that are strength based and support them to achieve their goals.
– Ensuring ongoing assessment and management of risks associated with customers within an attitude of 'positive risk taking
– Provide support and access to relevant services to enable customers to continue their support independently
– Undertake support work in partnership with external stakeholders to compliment their interventions
– Developing productive relationships with partner organisations to improve service outcomes
– Demonstrate strong commitment to the functioning of the staff team and to support colleagues in providing a high level of service and safety to customers
– Involving customers in the design, development and delivery of the service
– Lead on group workshops for customers
– Share best practice and knowledge with the team.
– Adhering to lone working protocols and maintaining high levels of awareness in relation to the health and safety of yourself and colleagues
– Ensuring Look Ahead Health and Safety policies and local protocols are adhered to at all times e.g. fire risk assessments, fire alarm checks etc.
– Being responsible for the handover of key information between shifts
– Provide structured support and guidance to other front line staff in their area of expertise
– Adhering to all other Look Ahead's policies and procedures. Engaging in learning and development activity to increase knowledge and skills
– Undertaking any other duties consistent with the grade and nature of the post as assigned by the Team Leader/ Manager