OVERALL RESPONSIBILITY
- To work as an equal member of the team in the refuge to maximise the well being of women and children fleeing domestic abuse.
- To carry out all duties with regards to Equal Opportunities for all women and children, whatever their class, culture, ethnic origin, religion, sexuality, ability, marital status or age.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHILDREN'S ADVOCATE
The role will be based at the refuge, and you will be expected to work as a member of the team in meeting the practical and emotional needs of the resident children, through play, support and advocacy. You will need to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the work with children is as appropriate as possible with regards to children’s cultural and religious backgrounds and any special needs.
To foster relationships with partner agencies to enhance and develop services delivered by I Choose Freedom.
SPECIFIC DUTIES
Specific Responsibilities — Operational
- To take a primary role in welcoming families to the refuge and responding to their immediate needs. To make them aware of the safety issues of living in a refuge
2. To act as key worker for children and provide individually tailored support services.
3. To ensure the safety and security of all I Choose Freedom refuges.
4. Where appropriate, to attend, contribute and write reports on child protection case conferences and other Children's services meetings.
5. To be self-servicing in terms of correspondence, report writing, maintenance of logs and statistics, etc.
6. To carry out play sessions with children while their mothers are attending refuge meetings.
- To organise school and nursery admissions for the children living at the refuge. This will also include assisting mothers with sourcing school uniforms/equipment.
- To empower and support children in making their own decisions and taking control of their lives, which includes supporting the mother in her relationship with her children.
- Organise local activities and days out for the families. Organise cultural celebrations at the refuge for the children e.g. Christmas, Diwali, Eid.
- Be responsible for maintaining play facilities and equipment in the house and garden and ensuring all relevant Health and Safety regulations are complied with.
- To provide and arrange practical assistance for children and their mothers when necessary including:
· Advocacy and liaison with other agencies.
- Gathering, updating and making accessible information about local agencies and community resources relating to children. To support mothers to access local services.
- With other refuge workers, facilitate the smooth running of the refuge, including:
· Encouraging children and their mothers to respect and take responsibility for the daily maintenance of the refuge.
· Arranging meetings with children when necessary.
- To take responsibility with the rest of the workers for supporting all aspects of the management, administrative and financial responsibilities of the organisation by:
· Keeping appropriate records of children and activities undertaken.
· Setting up and maintaining information, record keeping and monitoring systems in relation to children as required by the given funding body.
· Record all financial transactions relating to the ‘Children’s Fund’ monies.
· Deal with correspondence and produce written reports, as required.
· Share information and expertise with other workers and women in the refuge.
· Participate in regular staff meetings and supervision groups.
- Share responsibility, with your co- worker and the staff team, in raising awareness of the issues surrounding the needs of the children in the refuge.
- Share extra duties as required e.g. input in the Annual Report, funding applications and attendance at Management Committee meetings.
- Support Equal Opportunities practices within the refuge, taking part in specific training as necessary.
- To participate in the development of the children’s services.
- To attend regular supervision with an external Supervisor and the Manager
- Manage and replenish playroom and garden resources and equipment.
General responsibilities
1 To promote the aims and objectives of the organisation and ensure that all contacts with external people and organisations fully reflect the professional approach of I Choose Freedom.
2 To participate fully in the running of I Choose Freedom projects in conjunction with co-workers, volunteers, management and service users.
3 To comply with relevant legislation and I Choose Freedom’s policies, practices and codes of conduct as laid out in the I Choose Freedom Handbook and associated documentation. To always act within these requirements ensuring that you work within a framework of safeguarding, equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice.
4 To ensure the security and confidentiality of I Choose Freedom projects and the women and children at all times.
5 To attend relevant training and work towards qualifications as appropriate.
6 To maintain whatever records are deemed necessary by the Manager and the Management Committee.
7 To take direction on projects and priorities from the Management Committee. This may vary from time to time.
8 To be self-servicing and carry out data entry, filing and administrative tasks necessary to comply with the job description.
9 To undertake any other reasonable duties as required by the Management Committee and senior staff.
This is an outline job description designed to give an overview of the responsibilities of the post. The post holder will be expected to be flexible to respond to change and organisational need given the organisation’s development and growth plans. The post holder will be expected to contribute to the wider organisational needs as appropriate and this job description may be subject to review.
Skills and Person specification:
Essential experience & skills:
· Able to demonstrate understanding of the causes and effects of domestic abuse.
· Proven ability to assess needs.
· Self-starter able to work on own initiative.
· Proven ability to participate in and work effectively as part of a team, both single and multi-agency.
· Ability to achieve targets, particularly whilst working under pressure and in crisis situations.
· Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
· Excellent numeracy and IT skills.
· Understanding of and commitment to upholding confidentiality.
· Possess proven organisation skills.
· Proven experience of advocacy.
· Ability to work in an anti-oppressive way.
· Commitment to I Choose Freedom’s aims and objectives.
· Possession of a full, clean driving license.
Desirable experience & skills:
· A relevant qualification in childcare and experience of working with and supporting children of all ages.
· Some experience of working with children experiencing domestic abuse.
· Ability to and experience of, designing, implementing and reviewing written support plans.
· Awareness of the needs of children living with domestic abuse.
· Experience of working in a supported accommodation setting.
· Experience of inter-agency liaison and co-operation.
· Ability to set clear boundaries and maintain them.
· Experience of dealing with conflict and crisis.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £23,000.00-£25,233.00 per year
Benefits:
- Bereavement leave
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
Education:
- GCSE or equivalent (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
- Driving Licence (required)
Work Location: In person
Application deadline: 27/06/2025
