Service Co-ordinator - Early Help in Police Custody Service

JOB PURPOSE & CORE DETAILS- To:

1.    Work to the service and organisation’s aims and values and promote the citizenship of the people we support.
2.    Ensure the delivery of a consistent high quality of service to people who use Turning Point Scotland’s services and in so doing contribute to the provision of the highest possible quality of social care support which meets the service specification. 
3.    Work with the Service Manager to lead, direct and manage the day-to-day operations within the service and to provide line management support to the staff team.
4.    Operate at an advanced level of social care practice, which includes taking responsibility for service delivery and development, staff management and a leadership role. 
5.    Work to the company's values - Because People Matter.
6.    Undertake CPD (continuous professional development) including management and leadership training and use appraisals and supervision fully.
7.    Keep your registration and membership to relevant professional bodies up to date and valid.
8.    Undertake any outstanding required qualification for registration, or if not working in a registered service qualify at SVQ level 4 Health and Social Care or SVQ 3 with relevant additional units at SCQF level 7 relating to supervision and management.
9.    Undertake any other duties or responsibilities as may be deemed appropriate to the post by the Service Manager or Operations Manager.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Support to people who use services- To:

•    Ensure the provision of support and assistance in accordance with their support plans and the service aims.

•    Work in line with and promoting the SSSC Codes of Practice and the relevant Care Standards. 

•    Be responsible for both directly undertaking initial and on-going assessments of people we support and of overseeing team members to do so.

•    Manage staff to advise people we support in accordance with the service aims.

•    Deliver or oversee key work for a person or people who have complex or multiple needs.

•    Maintain professional confidentiality and boundaries at all times both with people being supported and with the team.

•    Support and assist people who we support in crisis situations, and/or manage physical risk or behavior likely to cause incidents, in accordance with the support plan or service protocol.

•    Travel within the service area you are contracted for and supporting the travel and transportation of people we support in accordance with their support plan (motability, own car, service vehicles, public transport etc.).

•    Have a good understanding of the causes and effects of social exclusion as is relevant to the service and area in which you work.

•    Promote peer work and the value of lived experience through providing support to peer support workers, TPS Connects and volunteers.

Planning, policies and record keeping- To:

•    Devise, review and update support plans, record events and observations and keep appropriate records as required in the service both directly and managing staff to do so.

•    Ensure that a good standard of paperwork is prepared for service user reviews and attend reviews when appropriate.

•    Plan and co-ordinate elements of support in accordance with the support plan.

•    Prepare and implement risk management plans, and follow and update risk assessments ensuring they are up to date.

•    Work with data in line with the data protection act and support staff to do likewise.

•    Work and comply with standard operation (finance, operational, H&S, HR) and service procedures including service user finances both as an individual and a manager. 

•    Audit and cross check service user’s finances when appropriate.

•    Ensure that staff expenses and service costs are kept to a minimum.

•    Review and audit to ensure team members are keeping records and plans as required.

•    Arrange for rota/supports when required.

Interactions with other people- To:

•    Manage and supervise teams on a day to day basis providing guidance, instruction and direction.

•    Manage and supervise other staff administering or prompting medication if required and ensuring that medication protocols are adhered to.

•    Manage staff and volunteers/those on placement to comply with the SSSC Codes of Practice.

•    Provide informal and formal support, feedback, induction, engagement period reviews, appraisal and supervision to staff.

•    Undertake formal absence management processes and return to work meetings with employees with the support and guidance of your line manager.

•    Undertake fact finding processes and performance management plans with employees with the support and guidance of your line manager.

•    Promote a collegiate approach, team working well within the context of a diverse team.

•    Manage and resolve conflict promptly and raise or report issues appropriately using the correct internal processes and encourage team members to do likewise.

•    Communicate with the families of people we support and provide guidance to team members around this.

•    Liaise with workers from other agencies and provide guidance to team members around this.

•    Manage others to comply with and the service to meet the relevant legislation and National Care Standards. 

•    Liaise with landlords and similar others on behalf of people we support if required and provide guidance to team members around this.

•    Be aware of health and safety and make a management contribution to keeping the work environment, colleagues, community, people who use services and yourself safe. This will include health and safety audits in line with policy.

Leadership- To:

•    Provide leadership to staff to support people in accordance with their support plan, the principals of citizenship and to maintain records correctly.

•    Assist the service manager to prepare information and the service for inspections/ audits or similar and to contribute to these processes.

•    Provide on-the-job and formal training and/or coaching to new staff.

•    Lead on a specific part of the service such as group work or health and safety.

•    Provide leadership and positive role modelling to continuously seek service development, reflect on practice and identify improvements.

•    Contribute to Turning Point Scotland as an organisation through attendance at specialist forums, delivering training or similar.

•    Keep abreast of the sector ‘big picture’, operational environment and changes.

•    Appropriately challenge oppressive or potentially abusive behaviors or practices.

•    Undertake positive change management.

MISCELLANEOUS- applies only in certain services

•    To undertake sleepovers, on-call, overnight and weekend working and occasionally participate in people we support’s holidays, as required.

•    To ensure there is a system in place at your service/location stock or goods are in place and replenish/order as required.

•    To undertake training that may be technical or specialised that will benefit the service.

•    To provide technical testing services (BBV/swab and similar) and/or to train others in emergency, risk reduction action and medications. 

•    To be responsible for the dispensing of medication, in particular, when supervising dispensing. 

•    To be the most senior graded worker in charge of the service for most of the time when at work

•    To undertake tasks that require a high level of independence and initiative.

•    To provide reports, witness testimony, recommendations for criminal justice or social work decisions/situations.

•    To have a good understanding of welfare reform in relation to how it will impact on your service user group.

The Early Help in Custody Team provides a peer support approach of early help to people being held in police custody in Greenock police station. The Early Help Team works closely with police colleagues, while being completely independent of the justice system. Although based in Inverclyde the service will be available to people living in other local authorities who are in Greenock police custody.

The service provides short term support to people who have self-identified a need(s) in a ‘reachable and teachable’ moment to seek the help they need through a wide network of partner agencies within local communities. This 2-year test of change is funded by the Drugs Death Task Force and will prioritising people who are not receiving treatment and who may be experiencing a range of complex needs as evidence suggests they may be at highest risk of a drug related death. The service will link closely to existing treatment pathways and other tests of change including early intervention, recovery, harm reduction and non-fatal overdose.

As the Service Coordinator you will have overall responsibility for driving the aims of the service whilst supporting the service manager in a local and national coordination role as part of roll-out programme. You will be the single point of contact for partners and stakeholders and will be responsible for the line management, support and development of the Practitioners and Navigators. You will lead on the implementation, coordinating and evaluating the Early Help model. This will include setting up a recording system and developing action learning and collating evidence of learning. 

Essential Criteria 

Qualifications:
•    Has completed a qualification in Social Service and Health Care at least to level 7 (SCQF) or HNC in Health and Social Care (or other speciality recognised by the SSSC for registration purposes) and if not already registered, to register with the SSSC within the timescale required, where relevant. 
•    A willingness to complete PDA or relevant top up units (or other supervisory qualification recognised by the SSSC for registration purposes).

Experience:
•    Has substantial direct experience of working with people who have barriers to social inclusion and supporting them to become more socially integrated. This includes working with people whose behaviours can challenge services
•    Has taken a lead role within a team on a professional social care project or activity such as group work, training delivery, working groups, or health and safety.
•    Has experience of managing a team.
•    Ability to use your initiative within policy and procedure.
•    Has experience of working and leading in an environment where the SSSC Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers, or an equivalent body code, is adhered to.
•    Has strong experience in risk assessment.
•    Has strong experience in working with organisational policies, recording systems and support planning including using IT to provide a consistent approach to create and present records, data and other information that is accurate and timely.

 Values:
•    Must be able to demonstrate a strong commitment to the values that underpin social care focussing on inclusion, person centred approaches and citizenship. This includes involving people using services in matters affecting their lives.
•    Must be able to demonstrate an understanding of the need to maintain professional boundaries between social care workers and people who use services and between managers and the people they line manage.
•    Must have a strong and positive leadership approach including being respectful towards all parties, addressing issues positively and the ability to implement change in a constructive manner.

Other skills and knowledge: 
•    Be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of and the skills to operate as a manager to the SSSC Code of Practice for Social Care Workers and in line with Care Standards. 
•    Must be able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills and communicate well with service users, teams and colleagues at all levels in the organisation including the ability to speak confidently and concisely, and listen and ask questions.
•    Excellent knowledge of relevant safeguarding and adult or child protection. 
•    Be able to demonstrate an accomplished level of skill used when directly supporting people. 
•    Must be willing to develop skills used when supporting people through reflective practice, active learning, personal and professional development, supervision and feedback.  
•    Ability to select the best course of action based on available information; and accept personal responsibility for the outcome.
•    Strong organisational skills including being able to prioritise activities and allocate appropriate time.
•    Resilience and an ability to ask for help and support when it is required.

Experience
•    Experience of developing others through informal and formal processes including supervision.

Other skills and knowledge
•    Have an excellent understanding of the wider social care framework and experience of interaction with others involved in supporting the people we support.
•    Skills in working with a variety of agencies or in a variety of roles in health/social work/ and/or or social care settings.
•    Report writing skills.

We are a large, stable national provider and a charity. As we are not for profit there is on-going investment into our staff training and development, a good GPP pension scheme, and annual leave and sick pay that significantly exceeds the statutory minimum.

We also have a brilliant employee assistance programme (independent advice, information and support online, by phone and in person), a group reward scheme to help your money go further and access to a contributory ‘hospital’ fund. We have a relationship with a credit union and promote saving directly from salary.

We aim to provide a working environment where opinions and ideas are valued and arrangements are in place to ensure that there is a high level of staff representation and that people are encouraged to make their views heard and to participate at service and organisational levels.

As a leading national social care provider our breakthrough and forward-thinking models of practice and service are well recognised. Examples of this recently have been: Housing First, Psychologically informed environments (PIE), Citizenship and both Scottish and International research and evaluation of a range of projects. We work across a wide range of types of services and the organisation provides pathways for development: a career development workshop; appraisal; learning and training options; internal forums and project groups; and opportunities for internal secondment, temporary acting up or sideways roles and career progression.

The salary scale for the post will be (reduced pro rata for part time posts, the full time equivalent is a 37 working hour week)

• £28,823
• £29,669
• £30,539
• £31,399

The annual leave entitlement will be (reduced pro rata for part time posts and will include a proportional entitlement to public holidays)

28 days per year, plus 8 public holidays and 2 local holidays.