Day Service Project Support

Day Service Project Support, 35 hours per week over 5 weekdays, Permanent Contract

L’Arche Cork is recruiting for the position of Project Support toenhance the work of the day service team in meeting the needs of adults with intellectual disability (ID). A vital component of the role is to offer individualised care and support, ensuring activities are available to people in accordance with their expressed preferences, individual capabilities, and also their specific needs, aligning with New Directions standards for person-centred practice. The position calls for administration of medication and personal care and is, thus, needs-led, requiring enthusiasm and initiative, together with the ability to foster positive relationships.

Expectations of the role of the Day Service Project Support:

· To be responsive to both service needs and individual needs, (including personal care needs), and to work as directed within the day service team

· To build trusting, Person-Centred, relationships with the people you support

· To encourage and support adults with ID to participate in activities of interest both within and outside of the L’Arche community, promoting independence and positive risk-taking

· To communicate regularly with the day service team to ensure effective sharing of information, safeguarding, planning and risk assessment

Requirements for the role:

· A minimum QQI Level 5 qualification in social care or equivalent qualification

· Minimum 2-years’ relevant experience in a care or disability environment

· To work on own initiative and also as part of a team, to be solution-focused and needs-led, with the ability to contingency-plan

· Ability to manage behaviours that may challenge

· Commitment to best practice, legislation, and to L’Arche policy, especially regarding safeguarding, upholding confidentiality, and accountability

· A working knowledge of New Directions Standards for Adults with Disabilities and the National Framework for Person Centred Planning in Services for Persons with a Disability

· Full clean driving licence

· The post is subject to Garda vetting

Salary scale: HSE Health Care Assistant 27,571-41,952 Euros per annum DOE, pro rata.

Please refer to Job Description for further details. Queries should be directed to the Day Service Co-Ordinator, Meadhbh Furlong, on 021-431-8880. If you believe you have the necessary enthusiasm, competencies, and experience for this role, please submit your letter of application and C.V. via the following link:

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 28th May at 5pm with interviews being held on Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5thJune.

Day Service Project Support

JOB DESCRIPTION

Location: L’Arche Cork’s Day Service ‘Le Cheile’, Togher Road, Cork, T12 CH29.

Reporting to: Day Service Co-Ordinator

Responsible also to: Deputy Day Service Co-Ordinator

Main purpose: The role of any frontline worker in L’Arche is to support and enable adults with intellectual disability (ID) to achieve equality and independence and ensure that their day service experience is high quality, safe, meaningful, and inclusive. The specific role of the Day Service Project Support is to enhance the work of the day service team in meeting the needs of the people we support. This will be achieved through regular liaison with the day service team, and the wider L’Arche team, to help maintain effective working relationships and efficient information-sharing, adhering to best practice and national guidelines. A vital component of the role is to be responsive to arising needs in the day service, including personal care needs, and to work as part of a team, ensuring that activities are available to attendees in accordance with their expressed preferences, individual capabilities, and also their specific needs, aligning with New Directions guidelines for person-centred practice and a Human Rights Based Approach. The role requires enthusiasm and initiative, and the ability to foster positive working relationships. As such, the role is needs-led and can offer considerable skill variety.

Position Summary: The overall purpose of the role is to be responsive to both service needs and individual needs, and to work as directed within the day service team. To enhance the quality of day service provision by creating opportunity for adults with ID to have meaningful interactions, both within and outside of the L’Arche community. The Day Service Support Worker will play a crucial advocacy role in helping to meet the needs of persons less able to voice their preferences, creating a safe space that promotes inclusion and accessibility for all.

Responsibilities include:

Building trusting relationships with our community of adults with ID through consistency of care and frequent communication, with a particular focus on unmet needs, all the time promoting positive risk taking and independence by offering “just enough” support.

Supporting people attending the day service in the following areas:

• Personal care - Provide personal care to day service attendees as required (e.g. application of creams, personal hygiene incidents) and being responsive to changing needs with regard to mobility and independent toileting
• Medical needs - Administer medication as required (following training)
• Health promotion - Encourage healthy habits including appropriate exercise, diet, and relaxation techniques, in conjunction with the day service team
• Spirituality - Support spiritual needs, such as, for example, attendance at a religious service of a person’s choosing, Mindfulness practice etc.

· Activities appropriate to individuals - Encourage active participation in activities appropriate to individual capabilities, in line with individual expressed preferences, with a focus on the progression of PCP goals and on diversifying day to day experiences for people attending the service. Activities might include taking the person for walks and car trips to places of interest, assistance to participate in the onsite coffee pod, kitchen, or woodwork projects, or in the various onsite craft projects, in addition to individualinterests in other activities/pastimes/courses of study/work experience offsite.

· Active citizenship - Facilitate engagement with external mainstream community groups, education providers, and any other bodies offering activities/programmes of interest, including sometimes transport

· Safeguarding -Ensure the safety and wellbeing, both of yourself and the people you support, adhering to Safeguarding Protocol, best practice guidelines, and organisational policy, with respect for risk assessments documenting incidents as required

· Driving-Willingness to drive people to and from their (local) residences, as required, to appointments, to L’Arche community events, or on trips out

Communication and Reporting:

Teamwork underpins the role of the Day Service Support Worker in relation to:

· Forging positive relationships with staff, volunteers, students on placement, and residential assistants, consulting with them to best support people in the day service, and with regard to sharing of information, handover etc.

· Close liaison with Day Service Project Leaders, for example, in terms of timetabling and service needs, staffing needs on a day-to-day basis, planning activities/trips/events, safeguarding issues etc.

· To attend and participate in weekly team meetings, showing consideration and respect for other team members and colleagues, and promoting natural support networks

· To attend other meetings when necessary, such as project planning meetings, multi-disciplinary case conferences, or L’Arche Community reviews, as required

· To attend regular support and supervision sessions with your line manager to ensure adequate support is available to you and to the people you support, and to identify training needs

· Report to, and appraise your line manager of, all work-related issues and difficulties

· Maintain strict confidentiality relating to matters regarding personnel and services

Administration:

· To keywork a caseload of people, and to organise and sometimes lead person centred planning (PCP) meetings and reviews for these people, consistently documenting information in files, including in alternative formats (visual and audio documentation)

· To document participation in activities in the day service, in order to monitor progress and inform progression planning, including recording of activities for administrative staff to post onto L’Arche social media

· To adhere to organisational and national standards of reporting with regard to accidents, incidents, and safeguarding

· To be complaint with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

· To perform other such duties as may be assigned from time to time by the Director of Services/ Day Service Co-Ordinator/Deputy Day Service Co-ordinator

Training and development:

· To ensure adherence to relevant national best practice guidelines and regulations, in particular ‘New Directions’, the National Framework for Person Centred Planning in Services for Persons with a Disability

· To partake in any other training as required or identified

· To partake in standard training such as, for example:

· Infection Control

· Safeguarding

· Fire Safety

· Children First

· First Aid

· Manual and Patient Handling

· Positive Behaviour Support

· Person Centred Planning

· Risk Assessment

· CPI (formerly MAPA -Management of Actual and Potential Aggression)

Extensive support, supervision, and mentoring is offered

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential criteria:

• Minimum Level 5 Award in the field of Social Care or equivalent qualification
• An equivalent qualification will be considered, with a minimum of 2 years’ relevant experience
• Minimum 2 years’ experience in a care or disability environment with a focus on promoting independence and autonomy for the people in your care (“doing with” not “doing for”)
• Ability to adapt communication style to meet the needs of participants, for example, willingness to learn Lamh signs, use of PECs etc.
• Willing to work at a pace and level appropriate to the needs of individual participants in activities, focusing on the experience for the participants as much as the end result
• Honed interpersonal skills, both to engage people with intellectual disability and to work effectively in a needs-led team
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team, with a proven record of effective teamwork
• Treating the people we support with dignity and respect, demonstrating patience, compassion and understanding in accordance with Person Centred Practice and a Human Rights Based Approach
• Upholding confidentiality
• Solution-focused, and able to contingency-plan, for example, for such circumstances as infection prevention control restrictions, unforeseen staff absence, and individual preferences on a given day
• Some degree of flexibility in response to the arising needs of the people we support is a considerable advantage
• Full clean driving licence is essential and willingness to drive L’Arche vehicles
• The post is subject to Garda vetting