Early Years Specialist

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work in the Early Years part of Merton CAMHS based within Merton Borough Early Years settings for 30 hours per week.

Merton CAMHS Under 5s team offers early intervention and preventative work to children and their families. Established 10 years ago, the team is highly regarded by the Trust, the Local Authority and the CCG.

The team works closely with staff from the perinatal service, nurseries and children’s centres in Merton and has scope to offer appointments in the community and in family homes.

The successful candidate will work as part of the existing Tier 2 CAMHS team based within Birches House to support young children with attachment, separation, emotional and behavioural regulation difficulties from nurseries and schools across Merton. You will:

• Be responsible for the provision of specialist assessments and interventions to children aged 0-5 years and their carers, as well as offer consultation and support to professionals.
• Undertake service evaluation, audit and lead on service development.
• Be required to provide supervision to psychologists, trainees and other staff members as appropriate.
• Have considerable experience in working with families and young children who are displaying difficulties with attachment, separation, emotional and behavioural regulation.
• Have a keen interest in multi-agency working and in partnership between Health and Local Authority.
• Have a professional registration from one of the following professions: Psychology / Psychotherapy / Art Psychotherapy / Systemic Family Therapy / Social Work / Occupational Therapy / Mental Health Nursing, and recognised in the UK.

Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:
We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. We have career pathways available, where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience to progress into other roles across different specialities.

Agile and flexible working:
As one of the few Trusts in London we are proud to offer flexible working as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage.

To bring Tier 2 primary mental health expertise to the 0-5 Children Centre Services, both by working alongside family support officers, FIAG officers and Children’s Centre staff, and by holding a limited caseload.

• To work in partnership with Children Centre staff and the 0-5 Supporting Families Team, children and families to respond to the psychological needs of children experiencing social, emotional or behavioural difficulties.
• To provide, in conjunction with the wider CAMHS service, specialist consultancy, advice and support to staff in the Children’s Centres and 0-5 Supporting Families team on the identification of mental health needs and where appropriate, accessing additional CAMHS.
• To promote integrated, holistic, non-stigmatising and innovative approaches to meeting the psychological and emotional needs of children and young people, and to ensure support for those who work and live with them.
• To complete CASA assessments with children and families as appropriate, in order to identify needs and with a view to meeting those needs through referrals to appropriate services when necessary.
• To participate in and contribute to team around the child meetings as appropriate.
• To share expertise with Children Centre staff and members of the 0-5 Supporting Families team around therapeutic approaches to direct work with children and young people.
• To provide training to the Children Centre staff and 0-5 Supporting Families team with a view to raising the quality of their interventions with children and young people.
• To promote accessibility and equity for children and families.
• To sit on, and contribute to the 0-5 Local Area Network (LAN) panel.