Information and Advice Triage Officer

Part Time 18.5 hours per week (Wednesday to Friday)

DiAS
DiAS is the Devon Information Advice and Support service for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

We give information, advice and support to help families understand the legal processes that impact access to the best education, health and social care support for their child. We support them to work in partnership with schools, the local authority and other agencies, whilst developing their knowledge, confidence, and self-esteem. Our aim is to help families feel empowered and understood and to help them take part effectively in decision-making. By doing this we support families to achieve the best possible futures for their child or young person.

We are a strong and supportive team with a wide range of backgrounds and experience. We are committed to working collaboratively to ensure that the service works effectively to meet the needs of our service users.

The Role
The purpose of the role is to be the first point of contact for parents, carers, children and young people (CYP) who contact the service. You will listen, ask questions and then use a solutions focused approach to give impartial information and advice. As a foundation of the service, this is always done in accordance with the Children & Families Act 2014, Equalities Act 2010, SEN Code of Practice and other relevant statutory guidance.

Supporting families means you will need to interpret and give advice and guidance about legal processes and local authority policy and procedure. This is to ensure families are well informed and aware of their legal rights, under the relevant SEND and associated social care and health legislation.

About You
You will need to be highly organised, with excellent communication skills. You will also need to be able to show empathy and diplomacy, and to interact sensitively with parents carers and young people who may be distressed or frustrated. You will have good listening skills and be able to take complex information and make it understandable and useable for a lay audience.

Ideally, you will have some knowledge of educational legislation for children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and or disabilities or have relevant experience. You should also understand the law relating to disability discrimination and how it applies to children and young people in an educational context.

You will be able to work to confidentiality protocols and share information which relates to the safeguarding and protection of children and young people, whilst respecting the confidential and sensitive nature of the written and verbal information.

You will need to be able to use your own initiative to make decisions and manage your workload as well as being an excellent team player. You must enjoy working with people and be comfortable as part of a hard-working and conscientious team, using your experience and expertise to complement and support others. We like to enjoy our work too, so a sense of humour is a must.

Please click Apply Now to see further information.

• DCC embraces the positive benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing an environment that is inclusive and safe. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to stop discrimination, challenge inequality and promote diversity across Devon. More information can be found on our Equality and Diversity webpages.
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working – The Council offers flexible working arrangements in terms of when and where people work e.g. hybrid working, part-time, condensed hours etc.
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
• This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
• Personal data we collect from you will be processed in accordance with the Applicant privacy notice.
• For more information about Working for Devon please visit our Working for Devon page.
• This role requires a DBS disclosure.