Job Description – Qualified Supervisor/Practitioner

Job Title:  Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Support Team

Supervisor/Practitioner (Qualified) 

Reporting to: Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Support Team Manager 

Location:  Epping Forest & Harlow (with the ability to occasionally travel throughout

West Essex and Hertfordshire) 

Responsible for:  Clinical and Case management Supervision of Trainee and

Qualified Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs)

Hours: 37.5 hrs a week 

Pay:  NHS Agenda for change Band 6 (+ HCAS Fringe)

The Organisation:

Mind in West Essex is a mental health charity. We are an independent organisation

affiliated to Mind (the national association for mental health), an organisation with

which we share common values and principles.  We embrace diversity and

understand that being an inclusive organisation and recognising different

perspectives, will enable us to provide excellent services.  We are committed to

ensuring all our employees are treated fairly and equitably at work and promoting

equity in physical and mental health for all.

The Service:

Following on from the government’s green paper Dec 2017 ‘Transforming children

and young people’s mental health provision.’ Mind in West Essex is part of a national

‘Trailblazer’ programme.

Our Children and Young Peoples (CYP) Mental Health Support Teams are working

with children and young people who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health

issues. This includes working with parents/caregivers of Primary School age pupils

and working with Secondary schools and colleges to develop the support they offer

the whole school community. It aims to strengthen the links between education,

health services and families in Harlow, Epping Forest and Uttlesford.

Purpose of the Job:

You will be working in a multi-disciplinary team and will be responsible for managing

and providing clinical and case management supervision to other team members.

You will also hold your own small caseload and deliver MHST interventions in schools.  Primarily the team members will include Qualified and Trainee Educational Mental Health Practitioners, who will deliver group and individual low intensity CBT interventions to children and young people and some support packages for parents/caregivers.  

The post holder will have an active caseload of children and adolescents with mild – moderate emotional and mental health difficulties and will use evidence-based therapeutic models. Low intensity, early interventions will be delivered in a range of education settings (primary, secondary, and colleges). The work will also include training for education professionals and developing the team’s ability to serve the needs of the whole school community including children and young person’s caregivers.  

You will work with CYP and families from different cultural backgrounds, using interpreters when necessary, and should be committed to equal opportunities.  You will also work closely with colleagues and partners in the Local Authority, SET CAMHS, education settings where interventions are being delivered and other relevant mental health providers.  

Key Responsibilities

Supervision and Management

- Provide clinical and case management supervision, including support through observations and modelling, to team members who are undertaking EMHP training in CBT evidence-based practice

- Support the EMHPs to develop and maintain a working relationship with education settings

- Support the EMHPs in delivering a Whole School Approach service

- Support the EMHPs to develop their clinical progression during and after training

- Support the EMHPs in assessing, reporting and managing any client risk

- Support the EMHPs to ensure data is inputted to EPR (Iaptus) within 48 hours of clinical contact

- As required, liase with educational settings

- As required, liase with training university regarding trainee EMHP progress

- As required attend any MHST partnership meetings

- As required attend any meetings representing MHST and/or Mind in West Essex

Clinical and Client Care

- Assess and develop evidence-based treatment plans to meet the mild - moderate needs of CYP with a range of emotional and mental health difficulties 

- Support children and young people, their parents/carers, families and educators in the self-management of presenting difficulties

- Work in partnership with children, young people, their families and educators in the development of their care plans, including specific interventions and agreeing outcomes

- Deliver evidence-based, low intensity interventions for CYP aged 5-18 with mild – moderate emotional and mental health difficulties

- Show evidence in a variety of forms that at all times assessment and intervention is provided from an inclusive values base, which recognises and respects diversity 

- Undertake accurate assessments of risk to self and others and support supervisees to do the same

- Make decisions on suitability of new referrals, adhering to the services’ referral protocols, refer unsuitable clients on to the relevant service or back to the referral agent as necessary

- Maintain comprehensive records of all training and clinical activity in line with both health and education service protocols and use these records and outcome data to inform decision-making 

- Ensure outcome measures (e.g. SDQ, RCADS) are routinely embedded in your clinical work and that of those you line-manage 

- Complete all requirements relating to data collection and report clinical outcomes and service access data into the digital patient record system

- Promote the mental and emotional health of children and young people in education settings, through clinical interventions in the care pathway

- Demonstrate an ability to manage one’s own caseload in conjunction with the requirements of the team

- Attend multi-disciplinary and multi-agency meetings relating to referrals or children and young people in treatment, where appropriate, both for personal educational benefit in discussion with supervisors, or to provide direct assistance  

- Show evidence of working within a collaborative approach, involving a range of relevant others when indicated. Specifically, work in collaboration with teachers and other educational staff, parents, children, young people and the wider community to enhance and broaden access to mental health services

- Contribute to the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials and go on to develop further such materials as falls within own degree of competence

Teaching Training and Supervision

- To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working within the network of schools and across a range of professions, agencies and settings, where appropriate

- To receive regular clinical and case management supervision

- Supervise and support safeguarding cases held by team members that you line-manage, in line with relevant organisational safeguarding policies and procedures

- Provide quality assurance for the data submitted by team members that you line-manage

- Monitor and track progress against access targets for your caseload and that of the team members you line-manage and develop plans to reach access targets

- Within education settings actively promote the whole school based approach to developing and maintaining emotional health and well being Professional

- Ensure the maintenance of standards of own professional practice according to Mind in West Essex policies and procedures

- Ensure that confidentiality is always protected

- Develop a ‘local knowledge’ of the locality and its services and facilities, particularly in relation to mental health issues

- Develop and maintain an up to date awareness of the entire Mind in West Essex offer

- Ensure that any risks or issues related to the safety and wellbeing of anyone the post-holder comes into contact with during their professional duties are communicated and shared with appropriate parties in order to maintain individual safety and the public interest

- Ensure clear objectives are identified, discussed and reviewed with supervisor and senior colleagues on a regular basis as part of continuing professional development

- Participate in individual appraisal and respond to agreed objectives 

- Keep all records up to date in relation to Continuous Professional Development and the requirements of the post and ensure personal development plans maintains up to date specialist knowledge of latest theoretical and service delivery models/developments

- Attend relevant educational opportunities in line with identified professional objectives

- Ensure adherence to organisational policies and procedures and that interventions are developed and delivered in accordance with NICE guidelines and clinical standards

Person specification

Essential 

- MHST EMHP Supervisor qualification or a Qualification (e.g. PG Cert, PG Dip) to deliver evidence based-therapeutic interventions to CYP.  

- Familiarity with CBT evidence-base, both within clinical training and delivering interventions

- Direct clinical experience (autonomously providing assessment, developing treatment plans and delivering evidence-based therapeutic interventions) with CYP aged 5-18 with mental health difficulties

- Knowledge and direct clinical experience of adapting interventions and delivering them to CYP

- Experience of supervising team members

- Experience of routine clinical outcome monitoring  

- Experience of clinical risk assessment 

- Understanding of child development and psychosocial influences

- Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary mental health team/environment

- Experience of providing clinical supervision and case management   

- Experience of supervising safeguarding cases

- Experience of working in education settings

- Experience of delivering Low Intensity/Psycho-educational interventions to groups of CYP, educational staff and/or parents/caregivers

- Experience of engaging a range of stakeholders (young people, families, mental health providers, schools, Local Authority staff etc.) 

- Experience of involving parents/caregivers in the wellbeing of CYP

- Excellent communication skills 

- Organisational skills and excellent time management 

- Experience of using Microsoft Office package

- Experience of using EPR systems (IAPTUS) To maintain high standards of clinical record keeping including electronic data entry and recording and report writing

- No criminal record that prevents work with our client group or which would harm our reputation, an enhanced DBS will be required

- Valid UK driving licence and/or access to transport to visit various sites and educational settings throughout the day on a daily basis (some occasional travel across West Essex and Hertfordshire).

Desirable 

- Experience of working within the third/voluntary/charity sector

- Ability to develop and deliver effective presentations and promotional talks

- Ability to communicate effectively and clearly to a range of individuals and audiences

- Relationship building and motivational skills

- Excellent organisational/project management skills

- Ability to implement monitoring/evaluation procedure and produce accurate/informative reports

- The ability to work as part of a team and contribute to bringing the team on board with the task in hand

This Job Description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid or exhaustive but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which an individual operates.Mind in West Essex is seeking a qualified Supervisor/Practitioner for our Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Support Team. This role is part of the national 'Trailblazer' programme, working to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health issues.

Key Responsibilities:
- Provide clinical and case management supervision to team members
- Deliver MHST interventions in schools
- Assess and develop evidence-based treatment plans for CYP
- Deliver low-intensity interventions for CYP aged 5-18
- Maintain comprehensive records and use outcome data to inform decision-making
- Promote mental and emotional health in education settings
- Provide advice, consultation, and training to staff in schools

Requirements:
- MHST EMHP Supervisor qualification or equivalent
- Direct clinical experience with CYP aged 5-18
- Experience in supervising team members
- Knowledge of CBT evidence-base
- Experience in clinical risk assessment and safeguarding
- Excellent communication and organizational skills
- Valid UK driving licence

We offer:
- 37.5 hours per week
- NHS Agenda for Change Band 6 (+ HCAS Fringe)
- Opportunity to make a significant impact on young people's mental health

Join our team and help strengthen the links between education, health services, and families in West Essex. Apply now to be part of this crucial initiative in transforming children and young people's mental health provision.