Trainee Multidisciplinary Advocate

Vacancy Salary £22,004 per annum (£25,004 inclusive of London Allowance)

Vacancy Location Wandsworth and Richmond

This is a Permanent, 35 Hours vacancy that will close in 20 days at 23:59 GMT.

Your role

We are looking for an experienced and passionate Trainee Multidisciplinary Advocate to work as part of our Wandsworth and Richmond Advocacy Team.

Imagine being part of an organisation whose common purpose is to help those who are severely impacted by mental illness. We believe that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity – and that’s why equity is one of our core values. We draw on the expertise, unique perspectives and lived experience of our people – regardless of who they are or their background – to help us become inclusive and anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider that reflect the diverse communities we support as a mental health charity.

Advocacy is having someone by your side, and on your side, when you want to be more involved in decisions about your care, treatment and living arrangements. An advocate can talk through the situation you’re currently in and the options open to you. They can help you decide what you want and then communicate it to people. This is particularly useful if it’s difficult to understand things or to speak up and be heard.

Our Wandsworth and Richmond service provides a range of specialist advocacy services to Adults (and children) as appropriate across a range of disciplines. We provide a range of statutory (instructed or non-instructed) and non-statutory advocacy support in secure units, hospitals, care settings or in the community, working with a range of health and social care partners.

How You Will Make a Difference

As an unqualified, inexperienced independent multi-disciplinary advocate, you will be required to enrol on the Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice qualification and complete the course within a set timescale, using protected study time to focus on this. You will shadow experienced team members and then be observed providing advocacy to those who are eligible for our services until you are able to pick up a caseload of your own. You will receive training in the different remits of advocacy, instructed and non-instructed advocacy and safeguarding and be supported to develop a thorough understanding of the role and boundaries of advocacy. The role involves acting on the instruction of the people you support, empowering them to have a say in their situation, to understand their rights and any options open to them and supporting them towards self-advocacy. When providing non-instructed advocacy, you will ensure that the unique preferences and views of the person are taken into consideration in any decisions made by care providers.

You will provide statutory and/or non-statutory independent advocacy within the community or care settings. This may include secure facilities, hospitals, care homes, supported living facilities and people within their own homes or temporary accommodation.

As a field worker, you will be based at home and will manage your own calendar, planning in client visits effectively as well as all administrative tasks.

You will work across Wandsworth and Richmond and therefore will need to have the ability to travel between multiple client appointment locations across the day, as well as travel to team meetings and training sessions as required.

The role provides multiple remits of advocacy which may include:

1. IMHA
2. IMCA
3. ICAA
4. IHCA
5. CYP
6. Community
7. Paid RPR

As a trainee, you will be supported to manage your own caseload, using a person-led, issue-based advocacy approach, closing cases efficiently when the work has concluded and identifying when the person you are supporting has additional advocacy needs, ensuring an appropriate referral is raised, signposting is considered, and any unmet needs are recorded.

Learning how to deliver both instructed and non-instructed advocacy, or a blend of both, you will become confident in identifying, providing and recording the advocacy approaches used and your rationale for this. You will develop an awareness and understanding of the various legal frameworks which the people we support may be subject to and will become confident in communicating on the least restrictive option which will meet the person’s needs. You will be supported to provide advocacy in a way that promotes inclusion and empowerment and will work towards self-advocacy whenever this is possible.

Where it is of benefit to the person being supported, you will meet all of their advocacy needs, across multiple remits where eligibility criteria is met and/or will work collaboratively with other advocates when that is necessary.

You will need to create and maintain accurate client records, to a high standard, within five working days of the interaction, using the organisation’s case records management system, and will be capable of identifying any safeguarding concerns, confidently raising alerts and creating appropriate records, referring to Rethink Mental Illnesses Policy and the local Safeguarding protocols.

You will participate in case discussions and reflective practice sessions and will be supported via case supervision and 1:1 supervision and you will be required to attend training as and when necessary.

As part of a team, you will deliver regular promotion sessions and educational talks to professionals and service user groups to raise awareness of the service and the remits of advocacy. You may participate in facilitating self-advocacy groups and the support of volunteers.

On completion of the Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice qualification, you will transfer from the Trainee Multi-Disciplinary Advocate role to the Multi-Disciplinary Advocate role.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Diversity is important to us and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing this is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.

We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.

Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation

We have an ambition of becoming a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider -and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in ouranti-racist statement. We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in ourRace Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation. You can read more about our progress here.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact - recruitment@rethink.org

Our Charity

Our work to achieve this is guided by seven core values:

• Commitment
• Equity
• Expertise
• Hope
• Openness
• Passion
• Understanding

What do we value?

Passion

We are passionate about leading the way to a better quality of life for everyone severely affected by mental illness.

Commitment

We work tirelessly to provide support for everyone severely affected by mental illness.

Openness

We are open and transparent in all our work with beneficiaries, supporters, partners and the public to achieve change for people severely affected by mental illness.

Hope

We offer hope of a better quality of life for all those severely affected by mental illness.

Expertise

We constantly use our expertise to provide practical and personal support for people who are severely affected by mental illness.

Understanding

People who are severely affected by mental illness are at the heart of everything we do in our organisation – our membership, our governance and our workforce.

Equity

We believe that in a world where discrimination and disadvantage exist, treating people with equity is critical to ensure justice and fairness for all.

What will you receive?

You will have plenty of opportunities to enhance your abilities with the opportunity to make a real difference every day. In addition, you will have excellent development opportunities including funded training, career development, and a range of e-learning courses. You will also receive:

• Employer funded pension
• Flexible working
• Life assurance
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Eyecare vouchers up to £55 towards the cost of new glasses or lenses
• Training opportunities, e-learning courses & much more
• Annual leave 25 days rising to 30, plus bank holidays
• Rethink day 1 day’s additional leave (pro rata) on your Birthday
• PULSE Reward, Benefits and Recognition Platform

Our colleagues say

“From the very start I was made to feel welcome and respected in my new team. In the short time I have been working with Rethink Mental Illness as a service administrator I have been able to contribute ideas and make meaningful change, and I appreciate that Rethink allows me to direct my own role development and help me build on the skills I want to work on.”

“Working for Rethink Mental Illness is the most rewarding job I could ask for. As a Peer and Volunteer Co-ordinator I get to work with a huge variety of people, with a range of skills and support them to incorporate those skills into their volunteering roles. I am always looking for gaps that need filling and creating new and exciting opportunities that will benefit our service, mental health in the community, but most importantly the people giving up their time to help.”

“I’ve previously worked in a large corporate environment, in the criminal justice sector and other charities. Without a shadow of a doubt, Rethink Mental Illness has been the best employer I’ve ever had. They care about their staff. Its great working with like-minded people and knowing that you are making a real difference to people’s lives.”

“It feels very rewarding to be part of such a meaningful organisation where everyone is valued and has the opportunity to make a difference.”

Please be mindful that we may need to close adverts early if we receive a high volume of applications, we therefore encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Documents

DBS Handling and Storage Policy Statement - Download
Employee Benefits - Download
Policy statement on the Recruitment of Ex-offenders - Download
Job Description - Download