SENDIASS Case Officer at Family Action - SENDIASS Dorset

Are you a skilled practitioner with experience of supporting children and young people with SEND and their parents/carers? Do you have effective and empathetic communication skills? Are you solution focused and passionate about making a difference? If so, Family Action has an exciting opportunity and would love to hear from you.

As a 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.

Main responsibilities:

With a solution focused, early intervention approach, you will provide both enquiry and casework support for families and young people, including in relation to the Education Health and Care Plan process, as well as providing impartial advice around a wide range of education, health and social care issues, such as resolving disagreements, mediation and SEND appeals.

Main requirements. For details check the job description and person specification:

• you will have a recognised professional qualification in education, health, social work or equivalent (or equivalent experience) and evidence of a commitment to continuing learning and professional development, preferably with at least one year’s experience in a role with children and young people.
• you will demonstrate experience of working with children, young people and families with additional needs and a drive to empower service users to self-advocate, improving holistic life chances.
• you will have the ability to empathise with and assist families of children/young people with additional needs or in crisis.
• you will demonstrate highly developed interpersonal and active listening skills and first-rate verbal and written communication skills to empower service users to self-advocate.
• commitment to equal opportunities, diversity and equality.
• ability to align with and support Family Action’s mission and values.
• appointments are subject to Family Action receiving a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Benefits:

• an annual paid leave entitlement that commences at 25 working days, rising each April by one day, subject to a maximum of 30 working days plus bank holidays
• 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

For an informal conversation about this role, please contact Lucy Holliday on [email protected] Tuesday to Friday

Please note: we reserve the right to close earlier than the advertised date if sufficient, suitable applications are received; therefore, please apply as soon as possible. We are unable to accept CVs alone, so an application form must be completed to be considered for the role.

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.

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 and will reimburse your travel cost if you attend an in person interview.

Family Action is a registered charity, building stronger families since 1869. Today we work with more than 60,000 families in over 150 community based services, as well as supporting thousands more through national programmes and grants. We transform lives by providing practical, emotional and financial support to those who are experiencing poverty, disadvantage and social isolation.