Educational Mental Health/Child Wellbeing Practitioner

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The post holder must hold a Educational Mental Health Practitioner or Child Wellbeing Practitioner qualification.
• Delivering evidence-based intervention for children and young people in an education setting with mild to moderate mental health and SEND additional needs.
• Helping children and young people within these settings who present with more severe problems to rapidly access more specialist services
• Supporting and facilitating staff in education settings to identify and where appropriate manage issues related to mental health and wellbeing
• Working with and within education environments to afford better access to specialist mental health services
• To support schools in developing strategies/ activities to promote emotional well-being and positive mental health.
• To work with families following the parent as therapist method to support emotional wellbeing within the home
• To support the school to develop their overall whole school approach to emotional wellbeing
• And to use the acquired skills, knowledge, and abilities to deliver a service based within education settings that builds on and reinforces but does not replace those initiatives that already exist within these environments.
A full valid driving license and access to a car to use regularly for business purposes is essential (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).
For further details / informal visits contact:
Sarah Garvey - MHST Operational Lead, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust on 01727 732031 or email: hct.mhst@nhs.net

We are committed to supporting flexible working options for staff, wherever possible, and welcome discussions on flexible working patterns to support our staff to maintain a healthy work life balance.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Successful completion of the HEE commissioned 1yr ‘Education Mental Health Practitioner' course. Or CWP course
• A further relevant degree qualification
• Experience in relevant mental health/learning disability setting

Desirable criteria

• A relevant teaching qualification
• Further training in relevant areas of Autism, Learning disabilities and Mental health

Experience and Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Experience of working with children and young people, their families, and others.
• Experience of working with children with learning disability and or Autism and/or mental health
• Experience of safeguarding, assessing risk and communicating concerns
• Experience of working and liaising with a wide variety of agencies and stakeholders
• Experience of working with children who cannot communicate verbally
• Experience of adapting resources to support additional SEN needs
• Experience in using an electronic clinical records and data collection system.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working with children and their families in a healthcare and education setting
• Knowledge of evidence-based practice
• Experience of working with anxiety disorders, affective (mood) disorders
• Experience of educating others to work with additional needs

Skills & Abilities

Essential criteria

• Demonstrates an understanding of anxiety, depression, and challenging behavior and how it may present in universal services
• Demonstrate an understanding of the impact Autism and/or learning disability can have on a family environment
• Demonstrates understanding of the need to use evidence based psychological models and how it relates to this post
• Knowledge of educational environments
• Knowledge of safeguarding issues
• Ability to work within educational settings to increase mental health awareness within the staff group
• Ability to conduct mental health assessments of children and young people

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of Mental Capacity Act
• Knowledge of the functional operation of PALMS and specialist CAMHS teams

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• An interest in and commitment to working with children who have a learning disability and/or Autism and/or mental health difficulties
• Ability to work with children and young people whose behavior is personally challenging
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to recognize the emotional consequences of working with children with distressing and life changing disorders and seek support if needed
• Ability to deliver interventions to groups (Young people and parent groups)