Mental Health Prevention & Wellbeing Officer

About Us

West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents. There is a supportive team culture, employees are genuinely valued, respected and there is an emphasis on work life balance. Hybrid working helps us deliver a great service and our employees enjoy the flexibility this gives to fit around their home lives.

The Older Peoples Mental Health team comprises of social workers and mental health prevention and wellbeing officers who have an important part to play in improving the quality of life for the people and families who access their service. They work in a multi-agency environment which involves collaborating with colleagues to deliver a high standard of social work practice.

Why not have a look at our dedicated careers in adults social work webpage to learn more!

In this exciting opportunity, you will, under guidance and regular supervision, provide a social care service to those people who access or need the service to include assessment, planning and review using the Care Act, Mental Capacity Act and the Mental Health Act.

About The Job

Salary

£29,540 to £32,061 per annum

Working Pattern

Full time, 37 hours per week

Contract Type

Permanent

Location

Chichester & Bognor Regis office bases and role covers both areas

Interview Date

w/c 8th June

You will be part of a dedicated team in West Sussex delivering trauma-informed, person-centred support. You will adopt a curious, creative and collaborative approach to service provision, fostering relationships with professionals to ensure that the people we work with receive wrap-around support.

As a Mental

Health Prevention & Wellbeing Officer

• You will have a distinctive contribution to make to the current challenges faced in mental health services.
• You will need to fully understand and implement a strength-based approach that will ensure that all clients are supported in this manner. This approach would be applied in all elements of social care including assessment, planning, implementing, and review of people's care.
• You will need to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of The Mental Capacity Act and how to apply it to Social Care, while ensuring West Sussex County Council safeguarding procedures are followed.
• You will be working with Social Workers closely across services, both internally within Adult Social Care, and externally with our partner organisations such as Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust and other third sector agencies.

Experience and Skills

Key Skills (these will be used as short listing criteria so please cover within your application)

1. Ability to analyse and interpret complex data and information and prioritise needs to make recommendations / decisions which will have a positive outcome.

2. Highly developed communication skills to persuade, negotiate or influence within or outside the organisation to achieve challenging / sensitive objectives and ensure implementation of solutions.

3. Ability to challenge existing practices and identify innovative solutions, setting timescales and objectives, and reviewing effectiveness of service delivery.

4. Ability to work in a multi-agency environment that contributes to improvements for individuals and/or services.

5. Ability to make sound pragmatic problem solving decisions, which may have a wider service impact and could be business critical, including the ability to tackle difficult problems of a technical, professional, resource or people related nature using existing policies, procedures and knowledge to devise approaches.

6. Ability to recognise the limits of own accountability and responsibility, and to seek appropriate support, advice and supervision.

Qualifications and/or experience

* GSCE English and Maths, or equivalent qualification or experience demonstrating that level of literacy and numeracy.

* Experience of working within adult social care, or a care provider or health provider, with experience of working with individuals who have complex mental disorder.

* Up to date knowledge and experience of safeguarding, assessment and review processes, policies and legislation.

* Working knowledge of financial eligibility for statutory services and benefits.

* Knowledge of a variety of associated legislation, for example Care Act, Mental Capacity, Mental Health Act.

* Experience of forming effective working relationships within a multi-agency setting.

Rewards and Benefits

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06260.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran's Guaranteed Interview Scheme (if you meet all the essential criteria), this can be found on our application help page.

Note for Recruitment Agencies

We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!