Mental Health Practitioner

The Opportunity

Salary: NJC Grade 10 £38,626 to £41,511 per annum. Pro rata for 18.5 hours £19,313 to £20,755 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: 37 hours per week (full-time) and 18.5 hours per week (part-time)

Location: You can work from one of the following locations: Horsham, Chichester, and Crawley (plus Crawley Weighting Allowance of £561 per annum)

Please note: You must be able to travel throughout the county including to locations that are not always accessible by public transport. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.

Closing date: 30 November 2024

Interview date: Please do not wait until the closing date to apply, as applications are reviewed each week and interviews are offered on an ad hoc basis.

Do you have experience of working with people with mental health difficulties?

Have you trained in low or high intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

We have exciting opportunities to be part of West Sussex County Council's Mental Health Support Team; we are expanding our Mental Health services to meet the growing needs of our community.

As a Mental Health Practitioner, you will hold cases of children and young people with mild to moderate mental health problems within schools, being responsible for developing packages of care for them.

You will deliver a variety of evidence-based interventions against a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model, working collaboratively with children, young people, their families, schools, and other mental health professionals.

Key areas of responsibility:

• Providing advice to schools and families, and liaising with external specialist services, to get the right support for children and young people.
• Keep clear records, case files, assessments, and data.
• Work in line with safeguarding protocols and follow the Local Safeguarding Board guidance.
• Attend and participate in multi-disciplinary and multi-agency meetings relating to the people you are supporting.

You will need to be able to demonstrate personal resilience as some cases may be sensitive, traumatic, or potentially emotionally distressing.

About Us

Our Mental Health Support Team is made up of over 60 professionals, and we are continuing to increase our service to support the growing needs of our communities.

We currently have opportunities for Mental Health Practitioners to make a real difference in supporting Mental Health in Children. You will be working within our Mental Health Support Team (MHST) on exciting new initiatives and an important strand of the Government's 2017 Green Paper 'Transforming Children and Young People's Mental Health Provision'.

We fulfil 3 core functions:

• Delivering evidence-based interventions in education settings (primary and secondary schools and colleges) for mild to moderate mental health issues.
• Supporting the senior mental health lead in each education setting to introduce or develop their whole school or college approach.
• Giving timely advice to school and college staff, and liaising with external specialist services, to help children and young people to get the right support and stay in education.

About You

We are looking for someone who has carried out Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and has experience of low or high-intensity CBT mental health assessments.

You will need to be able to travel independently to carry out assessments, and there will be periodic physical requirements to the role.

If you are interested in making a difference and working in a friendly and supportive team with a role that offers variety and challenge, then this could be the role for you.

Key Skills:

1. Ability to carry out low-intensity, CBT-informed 1:1 therapeutic mental health assessments and interventions with children and young people, and/or their families.
2. Ability to carry out initial (mental health) assessments which will include thorough assessments of risk and safeguarding or where there may be additional complexities.
3. Ability to work flexibly with a range of professionals and other adults including teachers, parents/carers, social workers, and other mental health professionals in the best interests of the child or young person, communicating complicated or sensitive information effectively.
4. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to quickly build effective therapeutic rapport with a child, young person and / or their parents.
5. Ability to effectively manage an allocated caseload including assessing, recording, and communicating risk appropriately and taking necessary actions.
6. Ability to positively make use of clinical and peer group support supervision.
7. Ability to complete and maintain data recording and paperwork appropriate to the work undertaken.

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05394. We are also recruiting to Education Mental Health Practitioners under CAFHE05396.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Fran Ruocco (Northern Team Manager, Thought-Full).

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter (or visit https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/jobs/jobs-at-wscc).

In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, five years referencing and an occupational health check.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.