The Child and Family Agency was established on 1^st January 2014 and is responsible for a range of statutory functions including provision of child protection, alternative care, specified regulatory services and a range of family support services.  The Agency has commenced a major improvement programme with significant focus on Practice, Culture and Structure.

The Agency currently has responsibility for a budget of circa €1.2billion and delivers its services through over 5,500 people in 259 locations across the Country.

The Child and Family Agency has responsibility for the following range of services:

• Child Protection and Welfare
• Parenting, Family Support and Early Help Services
• Alternative Care
• Birth Information & Tracing and Adoption
• Tusla Education Support Services (TESS)
• Children’s Service Regulation
• Counselling and Therapeutic Supports

Further information is available on www.tusla.ie

Purpose of role:

The staff appointed to these roles will be assigned to work with children in care in specified TUSLA area(s), working as part of multi-disciplinary team(s) delivering a co-ordinated service to children, young people and their families.

The purpose of the post is to participate as a member of a multi-disciplinary team within Special Care units.  The team collaborates with the relevant manager to provide MDT input into care planning.

The post holder will work collaboratively with a variety of services to assess and understand the therapeutic needs of young people and their families in the care of Tusla and respond with interventions that are timely, proportionate, needs led, evidence based and in partnership with the young people and their families. Other key stakeholders could include HSE primary care, Disability services, CAMHS, Schools, PHN’s, GP’s, etc and other community and voluntary organisations.

When children enter care, there can be limited information available pertaining to the child/young person’s developmental and medical history.  Occupational therapists use their understanding of typical childhood development to consider a child’s developmental therapeutic needs across the Person (psychosocial skills, cognitive skills, sensorimotor skills), Task (performance of occupations, behaviours) and Context (cultural, social, physical).  Occupational therapists have a key role in supporting the caring network to understand the impact of trauma on everyday functioning and can focus upon improving underdeveloped systems and skills through occupation.  The post holder will focus upon supporting children in care to engage in occupations and in activities that allow desired or needed participation in community lift, home, workplace, and school situations in the areas of activities of daily living.  Interventions that strengthen environmental protective factors for children who have experienced trauma is a key area of practice in trauma-informed Occupational Therapy.  Occupational Therapists recognise the interconnectedness between the child in care’s environment and their participation in occupations. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Ensure that professional standards are met and that a quality and equitable service is provided at all times
• Have clinical knowledge and experience working in the field of child care with a particular focus on children in care and relevant applicable occupational therapy interventions
• Carry out clinical duties to meet the occupational therapy needs of the client group and effectively time manage assigned clinical caseloads
• Assess the needs of the child/young person in relation to their occupational performance needs, in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary team plan, and within the context of the child/young person’s family, living environment, social and school context
• Utilise and apply appropriate therapeutic approaches and models to effectively support children/young people presenting with child welfare/abuse symptoms and difficulties. Adapt the therapy and approaches required to effectively meet the needs of the child/young person, and steer and mentor the child’s support network throughout their journey
• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary therapeutic team, be responsible for the maintenance of standards of practice of self and staff appointed as the project grows
• Be an active member of the multi-disciplinary team, contributing to the multi-disciplinary model of practice representing the occupational therapy service to ensure that the needs of the child/young person are met
• Feedback occupational therapy opinion on the child/young person’s occupational performance, to the multidisciplinary team to assist with team planning for the child/young person’s care
• Have clinical skills and personal attributes required to work with this complex and varied cohort of children/young people, often dealing with families coping with difficult situations
• Be able to demonstrate appropriate clinical reasoning working with children, young people and their families/support structures. Be involved in educating the child/young person’s support network to empower them to assist with the child/young person’s progress
• Ensure the quality of documentation of all assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, reports and discharge summaries are in accordance with local service, professional and legislative standards
• Communicate verbally and/or in writing results of assessments, treatment/intervention programmes and recommendations to the team and relevant other professionals e.g., child/young person’s social worker
• Attend team meetings, review meetings, case conferences, etc. as designated by the Regional Therapy Manager
• Have up to date knowledge on Child Care in particular traumas experience by children coming into care and being in care. Have up to date knowledge on relevant legislations and national developments for the delivery of services to children/young people in the State
• Be responsible for adhering to existing standards and protocols and for supporting the development and maintenance of standards/strategies for quality improvement and outcome measurement
• Seek advice and assistance with any assigned duties in line with principles of evidence-based practice and clinical governance
• Ensure that professional standards are maintained in relation to confidentiality/data protection, ethics and legislation
• Operate within the scope of Occupational Therapy practice as per CORU requirements and in accordance with local guidelines
• Ensure anti-discriminatory practice and cultural competence at individual and service level
• Participate in research and where appropriate, initiate and/or participate in MDT research programme
• Develop good working relationships with residential care teams, foster carers and appropriate HSE services such as CAMHS, Primary Care and Disability
• Make it possible for children and young people along with their families to advocate for their own needs or where appropriate advocate on their behalf.
• Attendance at court where absolutely necessary for care planning for the child. 

Education and Training

• Participate in mandatory training programmes as required by TUSLA
• Participate in continuing professional development including in-service training, attending and presenting at conferences/courses relevant to practice, contributing to research etc. as agreed by the Relevant Manager
• Engage in professional clinical Occupational Therapist supervision with an Occupational Therapist Manager/Clinical Specialist or designated person
• Engage in peer support with Senior Occupational Therapist colleagues
• Participate in performance review with the relevant manager
• Manage, participate and play a key role in the practice education of student therapists. Take part in teaching / training / supervision of other Occupational Therapy and non-Occupational Therapy staff / students and attend practice educator courses as appropriate
• Ensure newly qualified therapists have adequate induction and clinical supervision and assist in implementing annual staff development and performance review.

Administrative

• Be responsible for the co-ordination and delivery of service in designated area(s)
• Promote good working practice and uniformity of standards of best practice
• Promote quality by reviewing and evaluating the Occupational Therapy service regularly, identifying changing needs and opportunities to improve services, in collaboration with the relevant manager and others within the multi-Disciplinary team
• Develop and implement service/business plans, quality initiatives, audits etc. and report on outcomes in collaboration with the relevant manager
• Collect and evaluate data about the service user group and demonstrate the achievement of the objectives of the service
• Oversee the upkeep of accurate records in line with best clinical governance, organisational requirements and the Freedom of Information Act, GDPR, and render reports and other information / statistics as required
• Promote good team working, and a culture that values diversity
• Engage in IT developments as they apply to service user and service administration
• Keep up to date with developments within the organisation and the Irish Health Service.

KPI’s

• Identify and develop Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) which are congruent with TUSLA’s Service & Business plan targets
• In conjunction with the relevant manager, assist in the development of a Performance Management system for your profession
• Manage and deliver KPI’s as a routine and core business objective.

Health & Safety

• Comply with and contribute to the development of policies, procedures, guidelines and safe professional practice and adhere to relevant legislation, regulations and standards.

• Have a working knowledge of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the service for example National Standards for Child Protection and Care and comply with associated Tusla – Child and Family Agency protocols for implementing and maintaining these standards as appropriate to the role.
• To support, promote and actively participate in sustainable energy, water and waste initiatives to create a more sustainable, low carbon and efficient health service.

The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office. 

Please refer to the Candidate Information pack attached to this campaign for full and further detail.

Applicants must by the closing date of application have the following:

Be registered or be eligible for the registration, on the Occupational Therapists Register maintained by the Occupational Therapist Registration Board at CORU

And

Have three years full time post qualification clinical experience.

And

Have the requisite knowledge and ability (including a high standard of suitability and professional ability) for the proper discharge of the duties of the office

And

Provide proof of Statutory Registration on the Occupational Therapists Register maintained by the Occupational Therapist Registration Board at CORU before a contract of employment can be issued.

Annual registration

On appointment practitioners must maintain annual registration on the Occupational Therapists Register maintained by the Occupational Therapists Registration at CORU.

And

Practitioner must confirm annual registration with CORU to TUSLA by way of the annual Patients Safety Assurance Certificate (PSAC)

Health

A candidate for and any person holding the office must be fully competent and capable of undertaking the duties attached to the office and be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.

Character

Each candidate for and any person holding the office must be of good character