Vibes Autism Youth Group Co-ordinator

Are you passionate about making a difference to the lives of young people and their families? 

Do you believe that the child’s voice should be at the heart of the work you do? 

Would you like to be part of an inclusive, enabling, honest and effective organisation? 

Our vision is of a society that promotes good mental health for all and that values, as equals, people who experience mental health problems. 

Come and join our creative, dynamic and motivated team supporting children and young people across Coventry and Warwickshire! We look forward to receiving your application. 

About The Role

To be responsible for the day-to-day co-ordination of the Vibes ASC Youth Groups, delivering social based group support for 7-18 year olds (up to their 19th birthday), for young people who have a diagnosis of autism.    

Key Responsibilities include:

• To provide social based group support to children and young people to support; positive risk taking, coping strategies and mental health support. 
• To be involved in the delivery of social based group support, providing safe environments where autistic young people can socialise, seek information and access support. 
• To induct new children and young people wishing to access the service.  
• To triage referrals to assess suitability for the service.
• To be responsible for the management of all behaviour during sessions.
• To hold a caseload of service users (those accessing groups), and to effectively manage all service user contact. This includes but is not limited to; communication regarding social support; group opening times and activities; referral progress; signposting.  
• To help children and young people make decisions and choices regarding possible ways forward including, referring to other services, providing information on sources of help as appropriate, school engagement.
• To regularly review children and young people’s needs and signpost service users and their families to other support systems across Coventry where appropriate.
• To ensure the child/young person’s voice is heard and they are put at the heart of interventions, to enable CYP have appropriate and individual aspirational goals.
• To co-develop with CYP a half-termly timetable targeted, interactive and creative activities, which enable children/young people to explore factors impacting on their mental health & emotional health.
• To provide children/young people, parents/carers and professionals with an awareness of mental health, along with the skills and knowledge to manage their mental health and emotional wellbeing effectively.   
• To ensure all elements of data collection are appropriate for CYP, including assessment and evaluation tools/scales (e.g. WEMWBS/SRS/ROMs). 

Essential Criteria includes:

• Experience of working with autistic children and young people and their families. 
• An ability to effectively engage with autistic young people and their families. 
• Up to date knowledge of mental health, specifically in relation to autistic children and young people. 
• NVQ level 2 or equivalent. 
• A commitment to working within a framework that recognises the diversity of service users and encourages equality and opportunity for all.   
• A commitment to hearing the young person’s voice and the participation of children and young people and parents/carers in decision-making processes, the design and delivery of the services they access.   
• Excellent communication skills, verbal, non-verbal and written.
• An ability to travel across Coventry and Warwickshire. 

Mandatory Questions:

If you are submitting a CV, you MUST include answers to the following questions, these can also be found on our application form:

• Do you have any unspent convictions or conditional cautions?
  If yes please give details of date(s) of offence(s), nature of offence(s) and sentence(s) passed.
• Are there any restrictions regarding your employment in the UK? E.g. do you require a work permit? If yes please provide details.
• Are you the partner or relative of anyone currently connected with Coventry and Warwickshire Mind? (either as a volunteer, service user or employee If yes please confirm their name and which project they are connected with if known.
• Do you hold a UK driving license?

What We Can Offer You:

The following are just some of the benefits that Coventry and Warwickshire Mind offer its employees:

• Working Culture – based on core values of trust, honesty, inclusivity, enabling, effective and an unapologetic drive for excellence for children and young people.
• Annual Leave – 25 days plus bank holidays plus an extra day for every two completed holiday years.
• Wellbeing Day – 1 day, per holiday year, to be used to take care of your own mental health and wellbeing.
• Life Insurance Policy – Coventry and Warwickshire Mind are covered by a Life Insurance policy. The death in service payment is 2 x gross salary (tax free).
• Employee Development – Active encouragement not only to assist performance in the current role but also for the benefit of personal development via various means. Access to CW Mind CPD training and opportunities to access external CPD training.
• Flexible Working – A range of options available for all employee’s dependant on role and responsibilities.
• Pension – Minimum 5% employee contribution and 3% employer contribution, with an ethical investment policy option.
• Sick Pay – On completion of a 6-month probationary period, Coventry and Warwickshire Mind employees will be eligible to a period of paid sick leave.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Closing date:  Tuesday 14th November 2023 at 12pm

Interview Date:  Thursday 23rd November 2023

Please note: Only successful applicants will be notified.

Previous applicants need not apply. 

We reserve the right to close the application window early and without notice should a suitable number of applications be received.

For an application form and full job description, please visit: Vibes Autism Youth Group Co-ordinator - CWMind