The Inclusion Development Officer role sits in the Specialist Services Team within the Children and Young People's Disability Service in our Windsor and Maidenhead operational area. The Specialist Services Team provides Short Breaks to children and young people with disabilities who have been assessed by social care and the need for support has been identified.

As part of a wider service development initiative, the Inclusion Development Officer will drive the expansion of our Short Breaks provision, focusing on enhancing accessibility and support within mainstream and universal activity provisions in the borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

About the role

You will work closely with other services to ensure that children and young people are receiving the right level of support and reduce the community’s reliance on specialist social care interventions by expanding the availability of high-quality targeted Short Breaks within the local community. This role operates within an ' invest to save’ objective; by building capacity in mainstream settings and assessing barriers to inclusion, you will help create a sustainable service model that prevents the escalation of needs into costlier statutory interventions.

Build strong partnerships with activity providers to increase opportunities for children and young people with disabilities to participate in mainstream provisions.
Champion children and young people with disabilities inclusion and promote the Short Breaks service to providers.
Support mainstream activity providers in carrying out their reasonable adjustment duties under the Equality Act 2010, identify and signpost providers to relevant training and resources, carry out visits to support general inclusion and individual plans for a child or a young person.
Assess mainstream activity providers’ inclusion practice in the borough to understand barriers to engagement, barriers to inclusion and identify providers who have good inclusive practice.
Establish and promote inclusion standards for mainstream activity providers.
Create a database and monitoring system or inclusive providers that can be utilised for signposting across social care services.

For further information about this role, please contact Suki Hayes-Lapham by email suki.hayes-lapham@achievingforchildren.org.uk for an informal discussion.

About you

Qualifications

Educated to A level, pass or above (or equivalent) in English and Mathematics or an equivalent level of experience.
Proven evidence of continuing professional development.

Skills and experience

Experience working directly with children and young people with disabilities.
Experience of developing risk assessments and individual plans for children and young people with SEND.
Ability to build relationships with colleagues and partners to champion inclusion and the development of the universal short breaks offer.
Ability to manage your own workload and adapt to changes with minimal supervision.
Sufficient technical skills to use digital tools effectively (e.g. Google Suite or Microsoft 365).
Ability to travel to different locations across the borough.
Good analytical skills to assess inclusion barriers, monitor service impact and inform future short breaks development strategy.
Good understanding of what makes a setting inclusive and what a provider needs to implement to be inclusive.
Good understanding and working knowledge of the legislation and registration surrounding short breaks and SEND.
Good understanding of safeguarding procedures and compliance requirements to ensure that activity providers are keeping children and young people safe.

About our benefits

We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:

29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month (Or for term-time workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract)
Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
A range of staff benefits and discounts
An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway

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Inclusion Development Officer