Education Mental Health Practitioner/Children's Wellbeing Practitioner

Job description

Job responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Delivering evidence-based intervention for children and young people in education setting with mild to moderate mental health problems.
• Helping children and young people within these settings who present with more severe problems to rapidly access more specialist services.
• Supporting and facilitating staff in education settings to identify and where appropriate manage issues related to mental health and wellbeing.
• Working with and within education environments to afford better access to specialist mental health services.
• To use acquired skills, knowledge and abilities to deliver a service based within education settings that builds on and reinforces but does not replace those initiatives that already exist within these environments.

Main duties and responsibilities

Therapeutic assessment and intervention

Key duties

1. Assess and deliver outcome focused, evidence-based interventions in educational settings for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties, working at all times in collaboration with and giving respect to the education function of the setting in which the post-holder is deployed.
2. Work in partnership to support children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties and their parents/carers, families and educators in the self-management of presenting difficulties.
3. Work in effective, evidence-based partnership with children, young people, their families and their educators in the development of plans for the intervention and agreed outcomes.
4. Support and empower children, young people, their parents/carers and families and their educators to make informed choices about the interventions being offered.
5. Operate at all times from an inclusive values base, which recognises and respects diversity.
6. Accept referrals within educational settings according to agreed local and national and local protocols.
7. Undertake and record accurate assessments of risk and operate clear risk management processes in line with locally agreed procedures including the safeguarding protocols of the educational setting and Local Safeguarding Board guidance.
8. Adhere to all regulations, processes and procedures within the educational service to which the post holder is attached within the educational setting where the post-holder working including (but not limited to) HR policies, training requirements, referral protocols, and emergency procedures. Signpost referrals of children with more complex needs to a locally identified appropriate relevant service.
9. Through case management, supervision and any other relevant local pathway, escalate cases where the level of need or risk is beyond the scope of practice of the post holder.
10. Provide a range of information and support for evidence based psychological treatments, primarily guided self-help.
11. Practice, evidence and demonstrate an ability to manage ones own caseload in conjunction with the requirements of the team.
12. Attend multi-disciplinary and multi-agency meetings relating to referrals or children and young people in treatment, where appropriate.
13. Keep clear, professionally coherent records of all activity in line with both health and education service protocols and use these records and outcome data to inform decision making.
14. Complete all requirements relating to data collection.
15. Assess and integrate issues relating to transitions, education and training/employment into the overall therapeutic process.
16. Work within a collaborative approach involving a range of relevant others when indicated.
17. Contribute to the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials, and in addition to develop such materials independently as falls within own degree of competence, and under direction of the wider team.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Successful completion of the HEE commissioned 1yr 'Education Mental Health Practitioner' course.

Desirable

• A further relevant degree qualification. Teaching qualification. Youth Mental Health First Aid trained.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working with children and young people, their families and others. Experience of working and liaising with a wide variety of agencies and stakeholders. Experience of working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Experience of working with anxiety disorders. Experience of working with affective (mood) disorders. Experience of the delivery of specific therapeutic interventions to children, young people or their families (e.g. CBT, solution focused brief therapy).

Desirable

• Experience of working with children and their families in a healthcare setting. Experience of working with children and their families in an education setting. Experience of monitoring and recording outcome measures for children's emotional wellbeing. Experience of navigating complex social systems and environments, who may have conflicting priorities or agendas. Experience of working with looked after children. Experience of working with other vulnerable groups.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with children. Ability to carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with families. Ability to conduct group parenting programmes. Ability to work within educational settings to increase mental health awareness within the staff group. Ability to conduct mental health assessments of children and young people. Ability to make an assessment of risk and to record and communicate it appropriately. Ability take appropriate action to mitigate or manage risk. Knowledge of educational environments. Knowledge of safeguarding issues. Knowledge of capacity and consent issues including Gillick competence.

Desirable

• Ability to teach others about mental health issues. Ability to conduct other group therapeutic interventions with children and their families. Knowledge of the functional operation of specialist CAMHS teams.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Anglesey House

Wheelhouse Road

Rugeley

WS15 1UL

Employer's website

https://www.mpft.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)