If you have experience of working with young people, including those leaving care, join Catch22 as a Recruitment and Training Co-ordinator. You will play a vital role in ensuring that children in care and young care leavers are supported with the transition from the care system to adulthood and independent living, including gaining suitable and secure accommodation with trained high quality providers.

Leaving care can be a daunting experience for young people. Our Supported Lodging Service for Older Children in Care, Care Leavers and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in Kent aims to take away this fear and ensure they have a safe and stable placement, are supported to achieve in education, are financially secure; and when the time is right, ready to live on their own.

As a Recruitment and Training Co-ordinator you will:

 •Undertake promotional and marketing activities to attract new accommodators and increase the number and diversity of new providers county-wide that are willing to accommodate young people with a range of needs
 •Undertake comprehensive and detailed assessments of suitability of providers, implementing robust processes and systematic documentation and evidence in relation to the progression and learning of all providers
 •Fully vet all applicants for suitability of working with children and young adults including undertaking Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks and securing references, following safe recruitment procedures
 •Ensure that all new accommodators receive induction training, provide refresher training for existing accommodators and arrange accommodation provider network meetings
 •Provide effective training and support to accommodation providers able to take care-leavers with significantly more challenging behaviours or higher level needs or emergency placements
 •Significantly increase the number of supporting lodging providers and diversify the provision to ensure increased accommodation options for young people with a range of needs in a range of geographical locations
 •To have an up-to-date knowledge of national and local developments in guidance and research relevant to young people in care, care leavers and unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

As a Recruitment and Training Co-ordinator you will need:

• Professional qualification in a relevant discipline such as social work, social care, youth and community work or equivalent
• A proven track record of co-ordinating providers/volunteers/foster carers in the public, private or voluntary sector in the provision of service for children in care/care leavers
• Significant experience of working with young people (16-25 years) and their parents/carers, identified as vulnerable or as having complex needs, including young people leaving care, in supported accommodation, or receiving high level support in residential placements
• Significant experience of training and assessing providers/volunteers/foster carers for young people’s services including in relation to specialist and complex needs such as substance misuse, offending, mental health etc
• Experience of developing and executing marketing and promotional campaigns to recruit volunteers/providers/foster carers into services
• Ability to undertake comprehensive assessments of suitability of providers in relation to meeting the needs of vulnerable young people
• A high level of communication, interpersonal and presentation skills
• Energetic, and highly motivated with strong organisation and prioritisation skills
• A current driving licence and access to a vehicle for work

If you’ve got the skills and experience we’re looking for, this is a great opportunity to make a difference and a really positive impact on young people’s lives.

A forward-looking social business, Catch22 has over two hundred years’ experience of providing services that help people in tough situations to turn their lives around. Our programmes help those we work with to steer clear of crime or substance misuse, do the best they can in school or college and develop skills for work, live independently on leaving care or custody, gain new skills and confidence as parents, and play a full part in their community.

Closing date: 19th September 2014. Interview date: w/c 22nd and 29th September 2014.

For further details about this post and other vacancies visit www.catch-22.org.uk

Please note - when you click “Apply” you will be taken to “Work with us” on our website and then you will be able to click through and search all our current roles and apply via the website as directed.