Child Rights Adviser - London, United Kingdom - Office of the Children's Commissioner

Office of the Children's Commissioner

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Details:

Reference number:

Salary:

- £34,031 - £37,494
Job grade:

Higher Executive Officer
Contract type:
Fixed Term
Length of employment:
6 months
Type of role:
Other
Working pattern:
Parttime
Number of jobs available:
1Contents

Location

About the job

Benefits:

Things you need to know

Location

London, WestminsterAbout the job

Job summary:

Do you want to make a tangible difference to the lives of vulnerable children across England? If so, now is the perfect time to join the Children's Commissioner's Help at Hand Team as a Child Rights Advisor (CRA).

The Help at Hand team provides advice, assistance and representation to children in care, children with social services involved in their lives, children living away from home and care leavers.

You can find out more of what we do and how we do it by looking at our regular blogs and annual report.

Contracts will be for an initial period of 6 months with the possibility to extend.

Job description:

The Children's Commissioner for England sits at the heart of Government, delivering for children, and championing their voices and needs.

This includes a particular responsibility towards children who rely on the state for their safety or protection.

The Children's Commissioner is a unique statutory role with powers to help bring about long-term change and improvements for children.

Her statutory powers include providing assistance to certain groups of vulnerable children and care leavers. She does this through her Help at Hand team staffed by expert child rights advisors.

The CRA will work as part of the Help at Hand team.

The Help at Hand team give advice, assistance and representation to children in care, children working with social service, children living away from home and care leavers.

The CRA's primary responsibility will be to assist these children to realise their rights and have their voices heard.

The CRA may from time to time assist with other parts of the service including promotion and reviewing of the service.

Duties

Respond to calls for advice and assistance:

Make written and oral representations to decisions makers in children's lives
this will include Local Authorities, Clinical Commissioning Groups and Youth Justice.
Be alert to safeguarding concerns and will make immediate referrals, when necessary, in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy.
Log and record cases in accordance with Help at Hand procedures and adhere to the Data Protection Policy.
As directed by Head of Advocacy, assist other teams in the office by providing cases studies and sharing information from Help at Hand.
The CRA may go on visits to seek the views of children and young people.

Person specification:

Essential Skills/Requirements
Knowledge and Experience

Good knowledge of the rights and entitlements of children in care, care leavers and those receiving services from children's social care, including those involved in child protection processes
Experience of providing advice, support and/or advocacy to children and young people.

Skills and Abilities

Very strong personal skills in communicating with children and young people and with relevant adults involved in their lives
Excellent written communication skills to draft and check documents including correspondence, briefings, online content and information for professionals.
Organisational and planning skills that adapt to changing priorities and demands.
High degree of efficiency in prioritising, planning and monitoring of workflows and loads
An ability to monitor, analyse and report on service usage.
T skills including Microsoft Office (Word/Excel/Teams/Powerpoint) and using bespoke localised systems quickly.
Ability to understand and develop a relevant data system for the service, with support.
An ability to build positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders to meet the needs of the service.
A key team player who can also work independently / confidentially with sound judgement.
An ability to promote the service to children and young people with strong levels of empathy and understanding of need.

Personal qualities

Passionate about promoting and protecting children's rights.
Committed to the Children's Commissioner's principles in relation to equality and diversity and to operating with integrity at all times.
Occasional travel to meetings within the UK.
Understanding of and willingness to abide by the 7 Standards of Public Office.

Desirable skills/experience
Knowledge and Experience

Expert knowledge of legal frameworks relating to children in care, children in custody, children in mental health settings, children in need, disabled children and children and care leavers
Experience of and interest in participation activities with children and young people

Skills and Abilities