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Shared Lives Officer

Job introduction

Do you have experience of working in care?

Are you passionate about making a real difference to peoples lives?

This is an opportunity to join the Brighton and Hove City Council Shared Lives Scheme. At our last CQC inspection the Scheme was rated good overall with outstanding in ‘responsive’.

The position is 18.5 hours ( permanent contract) with the option of an additional 10 hours (temporary until April 2024). This will be both office based and working from home with home visits across the City. Hours are week-days to be agreed with manager.

For an informal discussion, please contact Carolyn Fisher 07557744662

About the role

We work with our Shared Lives carers to provide person centred support and positive outcomes for people with a learning disability or mental health needs in the community.

Shared Lives carers welcome people into their homes to provide short breaks, day share or full time support.

About us:

We are a small supportive team, looking to continue to grow and develop our service.

The Shared Lives Scheme recruits and assesses Shared Lives carers, who are self-employed.

We currently have over 25 Shared Lives households across the city.

We support carers to ensure that they are trained and are matched with someone whose needs they can meet and who will fit within their lifestyle.

As a service we value enabling people to have the opportunity to live a meaningful life as part of family life and the local community and to have support to make their own choices and decisions.

We work closely with social care and health colleagues to ensure that carers and service users have access to support, advice and information as they need it.

We oversee placements from the start and Shared Lives Officers work closely with Shared Lives Carers to ensure everyone is able to provide good quality care

About the role

See detailed job description.

We are looking to recruit a Shared Lives Officer who has experience of working with people who have learning disabilities and/ or mental health needs.

Your role will involve recruiting, assessing and supporting carers and working with the manager, the team, Shared Lives carers and the people they support to ensure high quality support and to develop the service.

You will need to work closely with other professionals and liaise with families.

About you

You will have:

• extensive experience of working with vulnerable people with an enthusiasm for inclusion and equalities.
• a relevant qualification in Social Care or Care management (at least NVQ3, or equivalent relevant experience)

• knowledge of Care Quality Commission regulations and experience of working in a regulated / inspected service
• experience of assessing, support planning and risk assessment
• clear written communication skills, there will be significant report writing and computer based work.
• good verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate well with the Shared Lives carers, people supported and with other professionals
• be able to work well on your own and within a team.

Working for us, we can offer you:

• a generous salary

• a career average pension scheme

• generous holiday

• Good training opportunities and regular supervision

• Varied and interesting work

Please read our Apply for a job at the council (brighton-hove.gov.uk) pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview

As part of your application, you will need to complete your education and work history and provide answers to some shortlisting questions. Your answers to the shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our guidance here (Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk)) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is part-time or term-time only.

Work Permits: This role does not meet the requirement for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Points-based Immigration System. Successful candidates will need to evidence that they have the Right to Work in the UK.

Company information

Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).