Multisystemic CAN Therapist

At Sandwell Children’s Trust we strive for excellence to improve the lives of children. Our ‘Sandwell Deal’, brings together our new improved offering that make Sandwell Children’s Trust a great place to work; it also sets out our expectations of you as a member of staff.

What we can offer you:

• Generous annual leave of up to 31 days, plus 5 additional days for long service recognition.
• Your birthday off paid in addition to annual leave entitlement and 8 Bank Holidays, plus a concessionary day at Christmas.
• You will receive a generous local government career average pension scheme with employer contributions of 21.6%.
• We recognise individual loyalty with service awards from 2, 5, 10 and every 5 years onwards.
• Flexible working patterns that suit you and all of our roles have well-defined career progression.
• We provide competitive expenses for both mileage (55p per mile) and subsistence, plus access to a comprehensive employee benefits scheme.

Hybrid Working

Hours - 37 per week

Fixed term contract until September 2026 (Secondments will be considered)

Salary – Band F SCP 26 - 31 (£36,124 - £40,476 per annum) dependent on experience plus excellent benefits.

Additional on call payments provided (expectation would be for each therapist to cover around 7 on call days a month – with payment equating to around an additional £4000 a year before tax)

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a MST-CAN Therapist to join the newly developed MST-CAN Team in Sandwell. This is a funded pilot programme from the Youth Endowment Fund and supported by MST-UK & Ireland running until September 26. This pilot will have an external evaluation led by Universities of Kent and Teesside.

MST-CAN is a home-based intensive treatment for families with children and young people subject to a Child Protection Plan under the category of neglect or physical harm. It is an evidenced based treatment that has been developed to work with families with complex needs, in order to increase safety and keep children at home.

MST-CAN works to address specific problems and risk factors that brought the family to the attention of Children’s Social Care. The major goals are to keep families together, assure that children are safe, prevent abuse and neglect and reduce mental health difficulties experienced by adults and children, including addressing the impact of past trauma and increase natural support networks.

MST-CAN adopts an intensive approach (numerous sessions per week) and works with families in their natural ecology (their home, school and wider community) rather than in a clinical setting. Appointments are made to meet the family’s needs and an MST CAN practitioner is available 24/7 to all families in treatment through an on-call rota.

The role:

• To deliver MST-CAN interventions with young people, their families and networks under the guidance, specifications and requirements of the MST-CAN Team Supervisor and MST-CAN Consultant.
• The postholder will manage a caseload of 3-4 families, delivering evidence based systemic interventions in family homes under the guidance of the MST-CAN model and provide 24-hour coverage to families on a rota basis within the team.
• To deliver to targeted families an intensive, specialised, community based therapeutic programme of Multisystemic therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) including the treatment and management of the children’s and carers mental health and behavioural problems.
• To practice in accordance with the MST-CAN clinical model and principals, associated licence specifications, including drug testing and treatment.

About you:

• Related degree or professional qualification in social work, youth offending, mental health, psychology, counselling, nursing or related professional field.
• Experience working in a statutory agency that provides experience of working with children and families with complex needs.
• Experience of making appropriate use of supervision/training/consultation to inform and improve practice.
• Experience of Risk management frameworks and procedures.
• Knowledge of Family systems theory / Social Ecological theory / behavioural theory and their application.
• Experience of Evaluating effectiveness of interventions and systemic approaches.
• Managing complex situations and carrying professional responsibility for decision making and risk management within a framework of delegation.
• To work flexible hours, including weekends and evenings when on call in order to answer calls from families.

For more information discussion please contact: Andrea Underhill MST-CAN supervisor andrea_underhill@sandwellchildrenstrust.org

When people join the team at Sandwell they say it feels like they become part of the family…they have #ComeHomeToSandwell. With the work that we have done so far and with the ambitions we have for the future, it’s a really exciting time to join Sandwell Children’s Trust and to become part of our Family.

So, if you think your future could lie with Sandwell Children’s Trust, then we’d love to hear from you.

Sandwell Children's Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable groups including children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. An Enhanced DBS is required for this position.

If you require further information on the role or working for us please email recruitment_childrenstrust@sandwell.gov.uk and a member of our Recruitment Team will be happy to give you a call.

To apply please click on the apply button below

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