Children and Young People Mentor

Salary: £22,369.35 per annum

Contract: Full time, permanent

Hours: 37.5 hours (Working hours are Monday to Friday with evening and weekend cover needed to meet the service user needs)

Benefits: 30 days' Annual Leave (rising to 35 days' with length of service) + Bank Holidays, Company Pension, Life Assurance x 2 & Employee Discount Scheme

Base Location: Mansfield, working a hybrid model of 2 day per week either at home or in the office on a weekly rotation. (Please note this is a Community Role so although the office base is Mansfield you need to able to travel to the below locations)

Covering Locations: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire & Derby

About Us

Polaris Children's Services are an established children's services provider that delivers innovative and outcomes-based services, offering real value and building brighter futures for as many children, young people and families as possible.

Working across Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and Derby, STARS provides intensive support to children and young people to step down from residential to fostering placements, to stabilise existing fostering placements, to support reunification home, and to divert children and young people from the edge of care.

Requirements

Please note this is a Community Role so although the office base is Mansfield you need to be able to travel to Nottingham, Nottinghamshire or Derby

• Ability to work as part of a professional network (including birth parents, carers, social workers, schools) to advocate for the child/young person's wishes and feelings
• Be willing to engage in learning and development to support your role as a mentor
• Be based in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire or Derby to support community visits in the area.
• Have a full driving licence with unrestricted access to your own car
• Flexible

Responsibilities

• To support identified children and young people in their home environment
• To support identified children and young people before, during, and after their transition period to foster care in the most effective way, appropriate to their needs and understanding
• To support identified children and young people before, during, and after their transition period from foster care to reunifying home
• Act as a positive role model for the child/young person by sharing experiences & learning, empathising, validating feelings, and making connections
• To support children and young people to express their wishes and feelings, and feed this back into the network for consideration
• To have regular contact with the child or young person, including face-to-face and telephone contact
• Ensuring the service delivered promotes equality, diversity, and rights for all individuals associated with the service
• Delivering the service according to the required model as laid out in the Operating Manual

Polaris Children's Services is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to complete an enhanced DBS Check, cost of which will be met by Polaris Children's Services. Polaris Children's Services is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates.