Advocate

Salary £23,000, with future progression to £26,000

Location Home based in North Yorkshire or Hull

Hours 35 hours per week

The Vacancy

(Please note the advertised salary is pending a pay review with effect from 1st April 2024)

We are looking to recruit an Advocate to provide independent and confidential advocacy to children and young people under Local Authority care in North Yorkshire and Hull.

Working across these two contracted areas, you will work with looked after children and young people to empower them to express their wishes and feelings in decisions that affect their lives to ensure that their voices are heard.

Your role is to listen to them, hear how they feel and what it is they want and support them by promoting their understanding of outcomes and options that are available to them so they can make informed decisions whilst ensuring that their legal rights are upheld and that they are treated fairly.

You will do this by:

Attending decision making meetings with the young person and ensuring that others know how the young person is feeling and what it is they want.
Providing impartial information to the young person.
Assisting the young person making a complaint.
Asking question to other professionals on behalf of the young person.
Signposting to other relevant services.

To meet the requirements of the role you must live within one of the geographical areas.

For more information, please view the attached job description.

In your application, you will need to evidence, using specific examples, how your skills and experience meet the criteria laid out in the person specification, within the job description attached. Requirements include:

Significant practice experience in delivering direct work to children, young people and vulnerable adults in a relevant setting
Experience and understanding of child/vulnerable adult safeguarding procedures
Ability to maintain professionalism at all times
Ability to communicate effectively and to a high standard both orally and in writing, particularly with service users. This includes the importance of listening to children, young people and adults objectively.

NYAS operates robust safe procedures to ensure the protection of the children, young people and adults at risk we work with. To comply with NYAS’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check, references and a Digital Risk Assessment.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early once we receive a high number of applications.

About NYAS

As an established leading rights-based charity, NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service) is well positioned to ensure that children, young people, and adults across England and Wales are fully respected, represented, and supported in expressing their views and having their rights upheld.

We work with care-experienced children, young people, and adults who are often reliant on statutory services suffering the negative impact of the cuts in public expenditure. Our combination of social care and legal services places us in a unique position to ensure that they receive the services they need and that their voices are heard.

We are an equal opportunities employer and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment which means NYAS welcomes applications from all individuals regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, or any other protected characteristic.

NYAS is proud to share that we are a Disability Confident Employer and we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies.

Work with us to help change young lives.

The Benefits

26 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Salary sacrifice pension contributions

Additional sick pay

Enhanced pay for family friendly leave

Health care plan

Employee assistance programme

Cycle to work

Learning & developing opportunities

Mission, Vision & Values

At NYAS we listen to what children and young people want, care about what they say, and empower them to get their voice heard.

We ensure their wishes and feelings are expressed and acted upon to improve their situation and help them build a better future. We will never stop in our efforts to influence, lobby, and campaign to bring about positive changes and ensure children's and young people's rights are upheld.

Every child and young person has the right to be heard.
Every child has a right to feel safe.
Every child has the right to be involved in decisions made about them.

Collaborative

We work closely with colleagues and partners to deliver an outstanding service to the children and young people who need us.

Accountable

We are open, transparent, and accountable, taking responsibility for what we do.

Respectful

We value and respect each other and the people we work with, embracing diversity and nurturing trust.

Empowering

We listen to children and young people when they are not being heard, inform them of their rights and empower them to change their lives for the better.

Documents