Youth Influence & Participation Co-ordinator (Starting Well) Palmela

Youth Influence & Participation Co-ordinator (Starting Well)
Palmela
Palmela, Setubal, Portugal

Youth Influence & Participation Co-ordinator / Grade 6 - £38, 058 - £41, 442pa

Contract: Permanent

Message from the Director

Are you passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of children, young people, and families? Do you have a strong desire to be part of a transformative journey that will shape the future of Havering’s community? If so, we invite you to join us in our mission to elevate our local authority's Children's Social Care Services, situated within our Starting Well Department.

Following our recent inadequate Ofsted inspection, we are embarking on an improvement journey where we aim to
- establish and reinvigorate great practice across all our services delivered in Havering. As part of this journey, we are seeking dedicated and enthusiastic social care practitioners ready to make a meaningful difference, driven by a genuine desire to advocate for children, promote their
- being, and who are not afraid to take on the challenge of working for a local authority who have been inspected by Ofsted as inadequate.

In return, we want to offer you the opportunity to develop your skills through our dedicated 10 days of learning a year offer and access to our very own Social Care Academy and Systemic offer. We are committed to creating an environment where every child receives the best possible support and care, and all staff are supported to thrive and excel in safe, supported, and nurturing environments.

Our Senior leaders have worked on an improvement plan, and if you are ready to embrace this challenge and play a pivotal role in shaping our journey, we encourage you to apply.

About the Job

The purpose of the role is to be responsible for supporting young people to develop their confidence and capacity to have a voice within the borough, engaging in formal democratic processes,
- production of services, and being involved in their communities. This includes young people being involved in recruitment and sharing their views as part of statutory processes.

A key aspect of the role is to be the lead for “voice of the child”, including but not limited to:

• Supporting the use of web/app based communication tools (Mind of My Own) for Children and Young People to share their views on their statutory care plans and communicate with Social Workers and IROs.
• To be the local authority's lead for Mind Of My Own, ensuring the increased usage across the Starting Well Directorate.
• Leading the Havering Youth Council to provide opportunities for young people to be involved in democratic processes.
• Facilitating the local elections for Members of Youth Parliament through collaboration with Havering secondary schools.
• Engaging all Children and Young People in shaping services and participating in activities and consultations that enable them to scrutinise, contribute to and influence the services offered across Havering.
• Promoting the views and positive images of young people through effective delivery of the Youth Parliament and promotion of their voice in the strategic and business planning across Starting Well and other directorates within the local authority.

You will be a good fit for this role if you:

• Have experience of leading children and young people in engagement and participation activities.
• Are a champion of
  - production and participation.
• Have experience of developing and delivering engaging activities, impactful initiatives, and workshops to enable Children and Young People to influence decision makers.
• Have the ability to develop relationships with staff from other teams, departments, and external agencies including schools/alternative provisions.
• Have experience of working in partnership with Children’s Services, Education, and the Voluntary Sector.
• Are prepared to undertake some evening and weekend work as needed.

Please view Job Profile here

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Palmela. Witter@havering. gov. uk

The closing date for the receipt of applications is 2nd March 2025, however, interest in this job may be high and we therefore reserve the right to close the vacancy early.

You will be notified if your application has been successful. Interview date to be confirmed.

Should you require any help or advice with your online application, please contact the Recruitment Helpdesk on 01708 432770.

Additional Information

We want everyone to choose Havering. When you apply for a job with us, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Our residents and service users come from all walks of life, and so do our employees.

The London Borough of Havering has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults. If you are appointed to a job that involves working with these groups, you may be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Please attach your supporting statement, explaining in no more than x2 A4 sides why and how you meet the criteria for this role.

We practice anonymised recruitment. Please ensure that you remove all personal information from any documents that you upload.