About Us
At West Sussex County Council (WSCC) we have an opportunity for a Education Mental Health Practitioner to make a real difference in supporting Mental Health in Children. You will be working within Education & Skills, Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) where there are exciting new initiatives and an important strand of the Government's 2017 Green Paper 'Transforming Children and Young People's Mental Health Provision'.
For more information, please visit our Education, Children and Families page on our West Sussex County Council (WSCC) website.
About The Job
Salary: £28,371 - £31,099 per annum
Working Pattern: Full time (37 hours per week)
Contract: Permanent
Location: Your base location can be from Crawley Library, Durban House Bognor Regis, or Bridge House Worthing
You will also need to be able to travel independently to carry out assessments, and there will be periodic physical requirements to this role.
Closing Date: 19 November 2023
Interview Date: week commencing 27 November 2023
Are you looking for the next stage in your career? Do you hold a Post Graduate Diploma in Education Mental Health? Do you have experience working with children and young people in an education setting? If this is you, we would love to hear from you!
As an Education Mental Health Professional (EMHP), you will be based within our Mental Health Support Team (MHST), working alongside various mental health professionals.
You will work in education settings and in the community delivering a range of evidence informed interventions, under supervision. You will undertake mental health assessments (including risk assessments) and interventions based on the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model.
You will work directly with children and young people of primary and secondary school age, and in some cases their parents and carers. You will support MHST work to develop and deliver whole school approaches to emotional wellbeing and mental health.
(These will be used as the shortlisting criteria)
Key Skills:
- Ability to carry out low-intensity, CBT-informed 1:1 therapeutic mental health assessments and interventions with children and young people, and/or their families, in line with EMHP training.
- Ability to work flexibly with a range of professionals and other adults including teachers, parents / carers, social workers, and other mental health professionals in the best interests of the child or young person, communicating complicated or sensitive information effectively.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to quickly build effective therapeutic rapport with a child, young person and / or their parents.
- Ability to effectively manage an allocated caseload.
- Ability to positively make use of clinical and peer group support supervision.
- Ability to complete and maintain data recording and paperwork appropriate to the work undertaken. Ability to assess risk and to record and communicate it appropriately and take necessary actions.
Qualifications and/or experience:
- Minimum Bachelor's degree (2:1 or 2:2), or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard (in any academic subject).
- Post Graduate Diploma in Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP).
- Evidence of prior experience working with children and young people.
- Experience of working within an education setting.
Rewards and Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.
For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.
The reference number for this role is CAFHE04759.
- This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and an occupational health check.
- You must be able to travel throughout the county including to locations that are not always accessible by public transport.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.
For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran's Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please visit our help applying for jobs page.
Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!