Youth Practitioner (Bank - Zero hours)

Dorset is committed to creating environments for our children and young people to thrive. This is an exciting opportunity to join our new service as a Youth Practitioner, zero hours contract, based in the Wimborne area providing care and support to children and young people initially in a short break setting working within a small staff team and in the future, additionally providing much needed outreach support to children and families in their own homes.

The priorities for our Dorset children are; that they stay in Dorset, which is the best place for them to live, that they are given the best start in life through good care provision and the best education and training opportunities, which enable them to thrive and be the best they can be.

The role of youth practitioner is to ensure a safe and nurturing environment in which children and young people with disabilities are supported to reach their potential.

We are aspirational for our staff team as well as our children and you will be joining a supportive and inclusive council who will provide nurture and invest in you to enable you to thrive in your job. Dorset has a comprehensive training programme which supports your professional growth and development

What you can expect to be doing

You will be passionate and aspirational in supporting young people, share our core values and celebrate differences.  

You will support young people with their day to day lives, activities and promote community participation and social inclusion, as well as helping children develop life skills.

You will be a naturally caring person who can form and maintain positive relationships with our children, young people and families, as well as partner agencies and allocated social workers who form a team around the child.

You will be ambitious for our children, creative and passion to ensure children and young people who are disabled are supported to achieve the best outcomes and provide them with the opportunities to flourish.

Skills and qualities we appreciate

You will be a kind and caring person with a passion for improving lives, be ambitious for our children and flexible and creative in approach.

You will be able to work independently and as part of a team and are flexible in the approach so we can creatively individually support to each child, as well as work together to find solutions. 

You must also have some experience working with children and families. 

You must be able to work evenings, weekends and bank holidays as part of your role and a minimum of one shift per week.

You must also hold, or be happy to work towards the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare, to be completed within two years of employment.

This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.

See our policy on safeguarding children and young people.

The friends and family referral scheme applies to this post. If an employee recommended this post to you, mention them when asked on your application form.

We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
• have ambitious aspirations
• are excited about our future
• care about Dorset and all the people who live here
• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success

You will:

• have access to a range of employee benefits 
• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation.

We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn.

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

Find out more about how to apply.