JOB ROLE: 

·       Provide professional independent advocacy support to young people with a learning disability and additional mental health problems in a hospital setting.
·       Assist children and young people with difficulties in communicating to engage in relevant decision-making processes. 
·       To champion the rights, inclusion, and well-being of children and young people with disabilities within the hospital setting. 
·       The advocate will work closely with young people, families, clinical teams, and external agencies to ensure equitable access to care, support, and resources, while promoting a culture of inclusion and understanding throughout the hospital.

·       Provide professional independent advocacy support to young people with a learning disability and additional mental health problems in a hospital setting to assist in securing satisfactory resolution to issues raised.

·       The advocate will utilise various communication tools or techniques to gather the young person’s wishes and feelings.  

·       If appropriate assist children and young people to share their views and experiences of care and engage with decision-makers. 

·       To work in partnership with nursing staff, social care professionals, carers, families and others to promote best practice in respect of children’s rights. 

·       Participate in multidisciplinary meetings to represent the voice of the young person

·       To promote children’s welfare and their rights within the Children (NI) Order 1995; the Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005; the Mental Capacity Act (NI) 2016; the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and all other appropriate guidance and legislation

 

·       Deliver training and workshops for hospital staff on advocacy practice and the rights of young people.

·       To provide children and young people with relevant user-friendly information about their rights and entitlements and support them in interpreting and understanding information.

·       Contribute to hospital policies and procedures

·       Liaise with external agencies, schools, and social services to support continuity of care.

 

·       To act in accordance with relevant policies, procedures within VOYPIC, particularly safeguarding procedures. 

·       To keep up to date with new policy and legislation that impacts on children and young people in care and take on an ‘expert’ role in promoting the rights of children and young people in Iveagh and with other professionals within social care. 

·       To maintain an efficient and effective administrative and recording system for the service. This includes recording and collating emerging themes from our work.

·       To contribute to the monitoring, annual review and quality assurance of the service to ensure that the services offered meet the needs of the children and young people.

·       To maintain records of all financial matters pertaining to the project, funding and expenditure.

·       To contribute to the promotion of the independent advocacy service to children and young people; families; carers and other professionals involved with young people’s care. 

·       To work evenings and occasional weekends as necessary. 

·       To undertake responsibility for any other project or area of work as directed by the line managers. 

·       To attend and participate in monthly supervision with their line manager. 

·       To represent VOYPIC by attending meetings, working groups and other forums as required. 

·       To attend training and continue their professional development.  Keeping abreast of any new policy or legislative changes through research and training, that impact on children and young people in and leaving care.  

 

The key responsibilities above give a broad outline of the functions of the post. However, these duties must be approached in a flexible manner. The post holder will be expected to adapt to changing circumstances and undertake other duties appropriate to the grade of the post as allocated by your line manager. The outline of responsibilities may change from time to time.