Elements and Performance Criteria
- Establish effective rapport with young people and families
- Use interaction with young people to encourage personal reflection on relationships and personal responsibility
- Negotiate clear boundaries between worker and young person, taking account of factors likely to impact the relationship
- Use a range of communication strategies to gather information about the background and circumstances of young people and their families
- Ensure all approaches to and communication with the young person are conducted on terms that are non threatening and acceptable to them, and are designed to encourage their own informed choice
- Take steps to create a safe environment when communicating with the young person
- Ensure information provided to young people and their families is factual, clear and designed to promote positive responses
- Identify issues arising from the circumstances of young people and their families and the need for changes to behaviour and relationships
- Maintain clear, ethical and honest relationships with young people and their families
- Promote the young person's rights and choices in ways which respect their values and beliefs, consistent with relevant legislation and professional responsibility and accountability
- Record and report all information relevant to intervention contact with young people and their families according to organisation's procedures and considering confidentiality and discretion
- Identify and address immediate needs and circumstances of young people
- Identify and respond to immediate needs of young people according to nature and degree of urgency
- Provide young people and their families with information tailored to their capacity to absorb and designed to calm and reassure
- Observe and note any signs of distress, anxiety, aggression and apathy
- Observe and note signs of impairment of functioning in individuals and relationships
- Explore and clarify issues facing the young person and the nature of support sought
- Offer the young person adequate opportunity to explore and clarify the issues facing her/him
- Negotiate involvement of other parties as required by young person and worker
- Listen actively and positively to young person's issues, needs, views and feelings about their issues and accepting support
- Where there are communication difficulties, make renewed attempts through appropriately modified approaches or responses
- Describe and analyse the nature and scope of the issues and check with the young person for completeness and accuracy
- Clearly explain to the young person the role and capacity of the worker to provide assistance and support
- Where appropriate, obtain relevant available information from others about the young person's potential need for support, consistent with the young person's right to access information and to approve or disapprove of the worker's actions
- Facilitate goal setting and action planning
- Encourage and support the young person to work out their own goals and priorities and to assess their feasibility
- Where appropriate, offer further options to the young person without imposition or pressure
- Emphasise and negotiate clients' responsibility for determining and achieving their goals
- Where there are judged to be risks to the young person from the choices made, explain these in a manner which is supportive whilst outlining the risk
- Encourage clients to identify and prioritise long and short term goals based on individual responsibility and personal choice
- Encourage and/or support the young person to develop strategies to act on goals set
- Encourage clients to identify and analyse factors that have contributed to past behaviour and obstacles to achieving individual and family goals
- Identify unrealistic expectations, challenge negative attitudes and unacceptable objectives and re-negotiate plans when required
- Provide targeted assistance and referral
- Identify and clearly communicate the type and nature of services available to clients
- Discuss availability, type and nature of services and resources in a manner, and at a level and pace, appropriate to the young person and in a way which respects their right of choices
- Undertake appropriate work to ensure assistance provided:
- is of a level, type and manner appropriate to the young person and the nature of the issues facing them
- is consistent with legal and statutory provisions
- meets resource and time constraints
- complies with organisation policy
- Encourage young person to use this service and/or access alternative services and resources which are appropriate to their requirements, beliefs and preferences and to be as self managing as possible
- Advise the young person about ways in which legal and statutory provisions might affect their situation and confirm young person's knowledge and understanding of information provided and need for additional information
- Establish systems to ensure information and referral sources within organisation are up to date, comprehensive, accurate, accessible and relevant to clients
- Implement procedures to ensure workers have access to additional advice, expertise and support from others as required
- Continually monitor effectiveness of service delivery and resolve problems of access, services or resources as appropriate
- Ensure all documentation and reporting is in accordance with organisation procedures
- Act as an advocate on request
- Where the young person requests the worker to act as an advocate, identify the scope and goals of the possible role and outline and negotiate these with the young person
- When requested and where possible, support the young person and accompany them during first stages of access to services to enable them to gain confidence to go alone
- Represent the young person's interests clearly and accurately in a manner consistent with the identified agreement between them and the worker
- Describe and explain to the young person all representations made on their behalf in a manner and language appropriate to their information needs and circumstances
- Ensure decisions and/or actions taken on behalf of the young person are consistent with their expressed or implied preferences and interests