Therapeutic Support Worker (Mental Health Practitioner)

About the Borough :
In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.

Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.

All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There's also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.

About the Service and Team :
Willow Rise Residential Services is an in-house residential service for children and young people who are in the care of the Local Authority. This in-house provision supports connection with the child's local area. We want all of Sutton's children and young people to have a safe and nurturing environment where they can thrive, and we are committed to giving them that opportunity to live their best lives, with the best support.

With a welcoming and family feel, the trusted and positive relationships between staff and children are a strength of the homes. Children receive individualised and consistent care as reflected in their care plans, and are well supported to make good progress in all areas.

The team consists of qualified support staff, Lead Care Co-ordinators and Managers who have a passion for supporting children to achieve improved outcomes and is supported by practitioners based within the Therapeutic Hub, a part of the Practice and Support service.

We are an innovative multi-disciplinary team staffed by experienced and qualified practitioners. The team benefits from the expertise of professionals from mental health, speech and language, education and social care. We work together to offer therapeutic support to children and young people open to Children's Services who have emerging or complex mental health or behavioural needs. This includes young people who are accommodated in residential or foster care. The Hub serves as a therapeutic support to Sutton's in-house residential children's homes.

The Therapeutic Hub supports the embedding of Sutton's practice models by promoting a restorative and trauma informed approach in our work, not only with children and families but also the systems surrounding them

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate :

• Experience of direct work with children with significant trauma and complex needs
• Desirable to have experience with children who are care experienced, however full training will be provided
• Strong track record of team working
• Strong track record of evidencing outcomes
• Able to display a depth of understanding regarding various therapeutic models and how this influences intervention

Our Offer to You :
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we're committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We're constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• General Council Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
• Public Health Service Localised Flexi-time Scheme - accrual of up to 5 days per year
• Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Car parking scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process :
Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Additional Information :
We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.