Specialist Clinical Practitioner (Children and Families Service) London, England
Job description
You are invited to join our specialist clinical team in Hackney, working in an innovative and integrated way within Children and Families Services (CFS). In this role, you will be leading on clinical support for young people who are receiving support from CFS. The post holder will be located within the Family Support Service within Hackney Children and Families Services, and will have a specialist clinical role within the Children and Families Clinical Service, part of the City and Hackney CAMHS Alliance.
Hackney Children and Families Services as a whole has a practice framework which comprises Trauma-informed care, Systemic Practice and Anti-racist practice.
The post holder will join the highly specialist Children and Families Clinical Service; undertaking direct work with young people, families with a range of complex presenting difficulties including offending behaviours, emotional and behavioural difficulties, abuse and neglect, developmental trauma, relationship and attachment difficulties, deliberate self harm and substance misuse problems.
The Clinical Service is well-established and has a strong learning culture, as well as ongoing ties to local and national partners in developing best practice. The service operates as an integrated CAMHS – part of the wider City and Hackney CAMHS Alliance – delivering specialist assessments and targeted evidence-based interventions to children and their families in their homes, placements and other community settings.
Our team is part of the City and Hackney CAMHS Alliance, and we provide high quality and evidence-based clinical assessments and interventions to children, young people and their families as well as consultation and training to social care staff, youth workers and foster carers.
Recent developments in the service include pilot projects for
- Children at the Edge of Care using a Solution-focused/ systemic approach
- Surge – stabilisation service for children on the cusp of tier 4 inpatient admission
Clinicians within our service represent a range of disciplines, including Clinical Psychology, Systemic Psychotherapy, Child Psychotherapy, Forensic Psychology, Art Psychotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and Couples Therapy. They deliver high quality assessments and multi-modal, evidence-based interventions to children who have a wide range of presenting needs in relation to their emotional health and wellbeing, family lives and wider systems. We offer assessments within the Public Law Outline and for the Youth Courts. We provide training for foster carers and consultation to professionals from a range of disciplines. Hackney Children and Families Services holds a commitment to Systemic, trauma informed and anti-racist practice (STAR).
Hackney’s clinical service is well-established and has a strong learning culture as well as ongoing ties to local and national partners in developing best practice. Clinicians have the opportunity to work across Children’s Social Care, Youth Justice, Early Help. Clinicians deliver evidence-based assessments to children and their families in their homes, placements and other community settings. This includes individual, family and group work. Clinical supervision and line management is provided within the service in line with professional governance requirements. Specialist supervision and CPD is available for therapeutic approaches including Systemic practice, VIG, Theraplay, EMDR and DDP.
Dynamic, innovative, committed and passionate, you’ll bring a comprehensive knowledge and skill-base to the challenge of working with diverse children and families. Candidates must hold a UK recognised psychology or psychotherapy qualification, with significant relevant experience in delivering specialist therapies to children and families from a range of backgrounds. You will be required to demonstrate continuing professional development including specialist training in relevant areas and have current UK professional registration with the relevant body.
An enhanced DBS check is required.
“Hackney Clinical Service is a friendly and energetic place to work – I love being part of a big and diverse multi-disciplinary team, where we are encouraged to bring and make use of all of ourselves. I value being able to work flexibly in a needs-led way, and using psychological theory and approaches critically to support social care assessment and planning. For me, a primary focus on the contexts in which children and families are living means that we can prioritise an ethical and respectful way of working with people, that allows for intervention at lots of different levels” Current Clinical Supervisor
“What I value is working in a multi disciplinary team. “I love the creativity of those I work with and a willingness to be innovative and to try new things. I always have a sense that we are being given permission to flourish, as we are allowed to be our authentic selves. I am not positioned to be a carbon copy of any one else but I’m able to draw on my culture, heritage and other experiences to come up with unique, idiosyncratic, solutions which is what I think diversity in action is” (Advanced Practitioner).
“It really came to life for me, the way in which our clinical team is creating an innovative offer to families. Made up of individuals from a cross section of life, our team really is a mix of experiences and clinical modalities that still aims higher in terms of how we best utilise this mix in creating interventions that fit with the families and young people we work with” (Systemic Psychotherapist).
There is no better place to work in London than Hackney; we have great pride in our borough, our communities, and our services. Hackney is one of London’s most vibrant and diverse boroughs. It’s one of the most sought after areas to live in London with good schools, parks and local amenities, as well as great transport links and vibrant and diverse communities.
If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.
The recruitment process is anonymous. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CVs.
When applying, there will be a number of questions relating to the post on the application form. It is essential that you complete the application questions, responding to each using examples of your skills, knowledge and experience.
This application process replaces a supporting statement.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2023
Interview and Assessment date: 12 July 2023
We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.
Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, age and marital status. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.
The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: [email protected]
