The Participation worker’s primary purpose is to work directly with the young people on campus to ensure that their voices are heard, taken seriously and given influence wherever possible when decisions affect their lives. Enabling them to participate in shaping and improving the provision of services to support the care and development of the young person, maximise positive outcomes and support their re-integration into the community.

QUALIFICATIONS

Eligibility Criteria Qualifications and/ or Experience

• Applicants must by the closing date of application have the following:
• Hold a CORU approved Social Care Worker Qualification and made an application to CORU for Registration or be fully registered with CORU. (desirable)
• Or 24 months’ Social Care experience within the past 5 years and a qualification in Social Sciences (for CORU registration via this route, the most recent 2 years must be signed off by a previous employer. CORU application deadline: November 30th 2025) (desirable)
• Or be eligible for registration with the Social Care Workers Register (application must be initiated upon commencement of the role) (desirable)
• A minimum of 3 years’ experience in working directly with young people and / or vulnerable adult. (Essential)
• To have an excellent knowledge and practical skills in ensuring good practice in children and young people’s participation in decision making.
• Knowledge of the international and national perspective and approach on children and young people’s participation in decision making, including familiarity with the National Participation Framework for including children and young people in decision making, the Lundy model and supports such as Hub na nÓg”
• To have the ability to communicate highly complex and sensitive information.
• To have the emotional resilience to promote and practice the highest standards of safeguarding.
• Evidence of ability to comply, including registration, with all relevant bodies regulating health and social care professionals, as in force at the closing date for applications or introduced at a later date (e.g. CORU under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005);
• Must possess appropriate ICT Skills, e.g. proficiency in Word, Excel, e-mail etc.
• A knowledge and understanding of relevant legislation and policy in relation to the detention and care of young people.

• Build strong, collaborative, trusting relationships with the young people on campus to support meaningful and impactful engagement that promotes participation in the decision making process and improves outcomes for young people.
• To support young people’s involvement and engagement in their journey through Oberstown by understanding their views needs and concerns.
• Identify gaps and challenges in service provision and contribute constructive suggestions for improvements. Represent the voices of young people to ensure their perspectives are heard and influence decision-making at local, national and where appropriate, international level.
• Create opportunities for young people to express their views such as council meetings workshops and forums by empowering the young people with skills and confidence to participate effectively in discussions and decision making.
• To undertake consults, facilitate focus groups, engage with external providers to ensure the promotion of our Young Peoples Voice and influence and support young people’s participation decision making. Contribute to the design and implementation of child friendly policy on campus.
• To ensure that young people are provided feedback on what happened with their views, what influence they had and feedback on decisions made.
• To support other adults in including young people when they are making decisions and promoting a culture of inclusion of young people in decisions too.
• To assist in identifying and developing opportunities for young people to become involved in the life of Oberstown.
• To work collaboratively with professionals from a range of agencies supporting the young person to contribute to their exit plan to improve outcomes for young people.
• Research, observe and assess best practices used in similar services.
• Utilise established frameworks to design and deliver initiatives, ensuring that all elements – providing safe spaces, supporting expression, engaging the right audiences, and enabling influence – are fully addressed.
• Offer clear age-appropriate information about the topics on which children are invited to express their views.
• Support young people to build the skills and confidence needed to express their views effectively.
• Apply a range of approaches – such as discussions, surveys, and creative activities – to ensure diverse preference and abilities are resected in how views are shared.
• Deliver a participation strategy grounded in the Lundy Model, ensuring that the contributions of children and young people are respected and valued. By embedding the core elements – Space, Voice, Audience and Influence – create an environment where participation is both meaningful and impactful
• Identify and address barriers to participation striving to create inclusive environments where all individuals feel welcome to contribute. Ensuring that young people have the opportunity to actively engage in shaping the decisions and policies that impact their lives, leading to more inclusive and responsive outcomes.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of participation initiatives, gathering feedback to inform improvements and guide future strategies.
• Document activities, outcomes and lessons learned to share with stakeholders and guide ongoing efforts.
• Networking, co-operating, and enlisting the support of other agencies/organisations and community groups to enhance opportunities to integrate young people’s perspective into programs and policy’s.
• Building and maintaining relationships with local stakeholder’s young people.
• Collecting and maintaining data and prepare reports on progress, outputs and outcomes achieved. Assessing the impact of participation and ensuring continuous improvement.
• To carryout duties in line with the Oberstown Children Detention Campus policies and procedures, in particular the Safeguarding and Children First policies.
• The abilities to work reliably and consistently on their own initiative and contribute to the mission, vision, values and strategic goals of the campus.
• Develop and maintain professional working relationships with colleagues, young people, to improve satisfaction by implementing feedback pathways.
• Work in partnership with colleagues and other professionals to meet the social, emotional, educational, health and mental health needs of the young people.
• Completing and maintaining administrative records relating to young people.
• Compile service user feedback from surveys, activities and projects to include robust monitor, evaluating and reporting ensure best possible outcomes.
• Working in accordance with the Children’s Rights Policy Framework for the campus, co-operating with any inspection process.
• Working in accordance with all campus wide policies and procedures, such as care, HR, health and safety, operations, etc.
  The above 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.