Children and Young People Mental Health Practitioner

Job overview

Are you a qualified practitioner who prides themselves on being outgoing, self-motivated and creative, with an interest with helping children and young people? The Dorset Integrated Non-Custodial Service work with children and young people entering the criminal justice system would like to hear from you!

The  Service supports children and young people who have mental health, neurodiverse conditions and other vulnerabilities when they first enter the criminal justice system, usually in police custody or through a Voluntary Attendance Interview. You will use your clinical experience to carry out mental health and risk assessments, sharing information with the Police, help to reduce the risk of re-offending by identifying vulnerabilities that could lead to crisis point and ensure the right support can be put in place.

This is a full time Monday to Friday (8.30am – 4.30pm) role which covers the whole of Dorset and we will try and match your base with your home address .

Being a driver holding a UK driving license is essential for this role. We would welcome part time applications with a minimum of 30 hours. We support flexible working to promote a healthy work life balance. Investing in our staff is key to our values and we welcome sharing ideas. This is a specially commissioned fixed term role to 31 March 2028 to help implement and embed an enhanced service for children and young people.

For further information, please contact Demelza Evernden - [email protected]

Main duties of the job

The Service has been recognised by the CQC as a ‘highly skilled and tight knit team’ and we are looking for a Practitioner who has a real passion for developing their clinical skills in an environment that is ever changing, with a good working knowledge of assessment and care planning including comprehensive risk assessment.

We aim to follow up an individual to ensure they are getting the support and access to services that they need. We work collaboratively and develop support networks with both statutory and voluntary sector to ensure robust pathways

If you are self-motivated, able to work autonomously and show plenty of initiative when it comes to handling a wide range of situations, then this could be the right role for you in a service that you can help shape.  As this is a new role in an ever-developing environment we highly suggest you contact the service before applying.

Employment with the Service is dependent on passing the police advanced vetting process.

This is a fixed term role and for those with current NHS service, the role will be offered on a secondment basis only.  Please obtain permission to be released on a secondment before submitting an application.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification.  When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

We understand that using AI can be a useful and supportive tool when completing your application.  However, we have also seen an increase in the over-reliance of AI tools which is negatively impacting applications as they remove candidate’s individuality, and it becomes much harder to get a sense of who you are and your authentic experience.  If you do use AI, it should be used to enhance your application and not to create your supporting statement in its entirety.  If we suspect you have used AI to create your supporting statement and this does not match your experience, we may withdraw your application.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contact [email protected]

Applications from candidates that require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are unfortunately ineligible to apply for this position.