Job Title: School Age Mental Health Worker 

Reporting To: Coordinator of Youth and Afterschool Services and CEO through the Voluntary Board of Management.  

Role Purpose  

Lead and coordinate the School Age Mental Health Project to improve mental health and resilience among school-age children and young people. This will be achieved by delivering evidence-informed therapeutic supports, embedding trauma-informed practices across children and young persons’ services and supporting parent-child relationships. 

Key Responsibilities 

Mental Health Supports: 

• Conduct thorough assessments to identify mental health and wellbeing needs. 

• Design and implement tailored interventions based on assessed needs. Provide one-to-one and small group interventions to children identified as needing additional mental health support. 

• Support access to therapeutic services such as individual therapy and the Circles of Security Attachment-Based Parenting Programme. 

• Embed trauma-informed practices across children’s services by sharing learning from the project. 

Family Engagement: 

• Offer ongoing individual support to parents, linking them with appropriate services. 

• Build relationships with local families by integrating into Afterschool and Youth Work Services. 

• Work collaboratively with core staff to identify families in need of intervention. 

Multi-disciplinary Practice: 

• Embed into universal services to identify group and individual needs. 

• Develop holistic Multi-disciplinary Support Plans for children. 

• Generate care plans and conduct reviews with children and parents to celebrate progress and adjust plans as needed. 

• Ensure child and parent voices are central in all decision-making processes. 

Networking and Collaboration 

• Partner with local agencies to ensure an integrated approach to service delivery. 

• Liaise with local, regional and national voluntary and statutory agencies to strengthen inter-agency collaboration. 

Administration and Reporting 

• Develop a clear action plan with measurable targets and outcomes for Board approval. 

• Monitor and evaluate project activities, producing monthly reports and a final evaluation to support funding proposals. 

General Duties 

• Undertake other relevant duties as requested by the Co-ordinator of Youth and School Age Services and the CEO. 

• Uphold safeguarding policy and mandatory reporting duties. 

• Contribute to the general work and collaborative culture of the Centre. 

Person Specification 

Essential 

• A professional qualification at QQI Level 8 (minimum) in a relevant field such as child and adolescent psychotherapy, clinical psychology, counselling or creative/play/music therapies, with demonstrable training or experience in working with children and young people. 

• Minimum two years’ experience delivering therapeutic interventions with school-age children and young people through creative mediums. 

• Training in therapeutic models, play-based therapies or group facilitation. 

• Strong understanding of child development, attachment theory and trauma-informed practice. 

• Clear knowledge of safeguarding responsibilities and demonstrable experience managing concerns. 

• Excellent interpersonal, written and reporting skills; ability to prepare accessible reports for management, trustees and funders. 

• Ability to work flexibly across mornings, afternoons, evenings and occasional weekends. 

• Commitment to equality, inclusion and participatory, family-centred practice. 

Desirable 

• A professional qualification at QQI Level 9 (minimum) in a relevant field such as child and adolescent psychotherapy, clinical psychology, counselling or creative/play/music therapies, with demonstrable training or experience in working with children and young people. 

• Experience delivering evidenced based programmes to children, young people and parents. 

• Experience in working with Community Organisations like Family Resource Centres. 

• Familiarity with child mental-health outcome measurement tools and basic data collection for monitoring and evaluation. 

• Experience drafting funding reports and managing monitoring frameworks. 

Terms of Employment 

Contract 12-month contract subject to continued availability of funding. 

Hours Full time 37.5 hours per week; flexibility required to meet service needs including some evenings and weekends. Time-off-in-lieu for additional hours. 

Salary Starting salary €39,500 per annum pro rata; final salary commensurate with qualifications and experience. 

Probation Six-month probation period. 

Pension Employer contribution matching double the employee contribution up to a maximum of 5% of gross salary, subject to funding and eligibility. 

Benefits 25 days annual leave pro rata plus public holidays, 2 company privilege days, and up to 14 days paid sick pay. 

Professional Supports CPD and access to coaching; support for accredited training where appropriate. 

Confidentiality and Professional Standards Post-holder must observe confidentiality, professional boundaries and Centre policies including safeguarding, equality and data protection. 

Accountability Responsible to the Voluntary Management Committee through the Coordinator of Youth and After School Services and CEO. 

How to Apply 

Applicants must complete the application form for this role on Hire Hive. CVs will not be accepted. Complete the Hire Hive form and include any requests for reasonable adjustments for the application or interview.