Children's Rights Advocate

Children's Rights Advocate (17641)

Location: Oakhill STC (Secure Training Centre)

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: 37

Salary: £27,300 - £36,029

Closing Date: 10 December 2023

Interview Date: 18/12/2023

Children's Rights Advocate Oakhill.

Barnardo's is seeking an empathetic and child led individual (1 x full time post 37 hours), who can work within a dynamic and fast-paced environment using their strong organisational, communication and time management skills to support children in the secure estate.

The position is based within Oakhill STC, which accommodates children aged between 12-18 years, who are in custody, either sentenced or on remand.  Barnardo's refers to Young Offender Institutions (YOI) and Secure Training Centres (STC) as the ‘Secure Estate'.

Barnardo's Your Rights Your Voice (BYRYV) hold ‘voice' at the heart of all we do. This role involves helping vulnerable children to build confidence in line with relevant legislation within the advocacy discipline.

We feel the advocacy role is best described by someone who is currently working in this service:

“The role is a Children's Rights and Advocacy role, which means it is our job to empower the children we work with and help them to understand that what they think, what they feel and what they want, really matters. We can speak on behalf of children to ensure their voice is heard and we also have the opportunity to help them to find the tools and confidence to raise their voices for themselves. Advocacy and Children's Rights support is particularly crucial in the secure estate because children are away from home, family and champions, and also because children in secure estate are some of the most vulnerable children in society; they have often faced considerable adversity, disadvantage and discrimination prior to arriving into custody and they might not, therefore, be equipped with the skills needed to articulate their concerns. Through the work you do with a child from simply helping them make contact with friends or family on the outside, to helping them with concerns they may have for example; discrimination, resettlement or safeguarding, you may be the one person telling them they matter for the very first time.”

The post holder will need to be able to work autonomously, working to the requirements of the contract and the regime of the STC. The secure estate is a highly structured environment; as a Barnardo's service working within this environment, we are delivering support, whilst still having to follow and adhere to this structure. There are a considerable number of both STC and Barnardo's regulations which have to be followed and can at times make the function of the job challenging.

This role includes lone working in this challenging environment. It is therefore critical that the successful candidate in this respect is able to follow guidance and policy, and able to take proactive and individual responsibility to understand and access the support mechanisms in place and encouraged by the service as required.

When completing your application, please refer to your skills, knowledge and experience, in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document.

Interviews for this role will take place on the 18^th December 2023 at Oakhill Secure Training Centre, Chalgrove Field, Oakhill, Milton Keynes, MK5 6AJ.

For an informal discussion about the role or environment please contact Rebecca Franklin at rebecca.franklin@barnardos.org.uk

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's

At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is reflected in our values and our practice, and we have invested in this area of our work to ensure that we can deliver on our commitments to be an inclusive employer. EDI is a key enabler of our purpose as a charity and we want to ensure that the diversity of our teams is reflective of the communities we serve and that we continue to learn and develop our work with a focus on inclusion. We particularly encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian and  Minoritised Ethnic Communities, candidates who are LGBT+ and Disabled candidates. 

Our basis and values