Short Breaks Solutions Officer

An exciting opportunity has arisen in the One Point & Think Family Service for a Short Breaks Solution Officer, on a temporary basis for 6 months. WHAT IS INVOLVED? You will work to ensure sufficiency of short breaks opportunities for families of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities in County Durham (0-25). The role will provide a central point of contact for families and professionals to offer advice, guidance and information on local community activities and services available to them. The aims of the role will be to empower families to be able to make their own choices to access community activities for children and young people with SEND to allow parent/ carers a short break from caring. This role will capture the needs of families, understand gaps in services, barriers to access and impact. The postholder will work jointly with families to identify solutions to meet their needs and fill gaps in service provision. The postholder will be proactive working with a range of organisations to extend and enhance the local community offer available for families in line with the direction of travel within the wider SEND Strategy, Think Autism Strategy and Short Breaks Statement. You will work closely with families and young people up to the age of 25, SENDIASS, Making Changes together Parent/ Carer Forum, Durham County Carers, Investing in Children, the VCS Alliance, Children and Young Peoples Network, Community Services and Leisure Service Providers and Commissioners., We are a proud equal opportunities employer and recognise that a diverse, talented workforce brings new ideas and new perspectives, which will facilitate growth and improvements to services. We are committed to ensuring that our employment policies and processes are fair and equitable to all. We welcome job applications from everyone, and successful candidates are considered only on their skills and ability to do the job. As a Disability Confident Leader, we encourage applications from disabled people and provide support throughout the recruitment process. Take a closer look: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26899/Equality-diversity-and-inclusion-in-our-workforce INTERVIEWS Interviews will be held week commencing 21st October 2024. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran.

• Level 3 qualification in a relevant field.
• Evidence of continuous professional development.
Please refer to the attached person specification for the full criteria. If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure.

REWARDS AND BENEFITS We offer generous rewards and benefits that are designed to help you perform at your best:
• Competitive salaries and 27 days holiday per year rising to 32 days after five years continuous local government service.
• Option to purchase up to 10 additional days annual leave per year.
• Excellent work/life balance through schemes including job sharing, compressed hours and flexi-time (allowing up to 13 flexi days per year).
• Hybrid working (home and office working).
• Excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Plus, top up options - Salary Sacrifice Shared Cost AVC scheme and standard AVC scheme for members of the LGPS.
• Wellbeing Portal and access to an Employee Assist Scheme.
• Wide range of learning and development opportunities including professional qualifications, coaching and mentoring.
• Employee Benefits Portal and Lifestyle Savings Scheme (discounts across a host of major retailers).
• Discounted DCC gym membership.
• Staff networks run by staff for our staff, including Race Equality and Diversity, Disability, LGBT+, Armed Forces, Carers, Menopause.
• Trade Union membership.
• A range of other salary sacrifice schemes such as car leasing.
Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions. Take a closer look: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26895/Rewards-and-benefits HYBRID WORKING Durham County Council currently operates a hybrid working policy where a model of 2 days in the workplace and 3 days at home/remote will apply. This model is pro-rated for part time roles and arrangements are at managers discretion, alternatively you can work all of your contracted hours within the workplace if you prefer.