CYPF Mental Health Worker (Waiting Well Programme) – Supporting Smiles

Do you have practical experience delivering structured mental health or emotional wellbeing support directly to children and young people? Can you use that experience to provide purposeful support to CYP and families while they wait for therapeutic intervention? Supporting Smiles is excited to recruit a Children, Young People and Families Mental Health Worker to join our newly established Waiting Well Programme.

Supporting Smiles is part of Ormiston Families, which, for more than 45 years, has supported children, young people and families, helping them overcome challenges, improve emotional wellbeing and build brighter futures. Everything we do is rooted in our values of collaboration, compassion and effectiveness, and we're proud to work alongside people rather than simply for them, creating lasting change through trusted relationships, early intervention and evidence-based support.

The Children, Young People and Families Mental Health Worker role is a fantastic opportunity to help shape an exciting service focused on improving the experience of children, young people and families whilst they wait for specialist mental health support. The Waiting Well Programme has been developed to provide proactive, strengths-based support that promotes wellbeing, builds resilience, improves engagement and ensures children and families feel supported throughout their journey.

Working alongside our multidisciplinary team, you will provide structured wellbeing contacts, including telephone or video waiting-list calls, and Single Session Intervention (SSI)-informed conversations. You will offer psychoeducation, signposting and practical coping strategies, explore changes in wellbeing and agree useful next steps with CYP and families. You will recognise and escalate risk or safeguarding concerns, working within agreed protocols, your demonstrated competence, and the support of the Waiting Well Engagement Coordinator and clinical colleagues.

Our Supporting Smiles service delivers evidence-based mental health support for children and young people across Norfolk and Waveney through both our Therapeutic Pathway for 4–13-year-olds and our Children's Wellbeing Practitioner service for 5–18-year-olds. We are committed to providing accessible, child-centred support that responds to the individual needs of every family.

As part of Norfolk & Waveney's Children and Young People's Mental Health Alliance, we work collaboratively with partners including The Benjamin Foundation, Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Norfolk County Council and Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust to deliver integrated, THRIVE-informed support across the Getting Advice, Getting Help, Getting More Help and Risk Support pathways.

We're looking for people who:

• Have demonstrable experience directly delivering mental health or emotional wellbeing support to children and young people, with appropriate involvement of parents and carers.
• Have delivered structured one-to-one support, such as psychoeducation, guided self-help, coping strategies or brief goal-focused work, and can give examples of agreed actions and outcomes.
• Can build trusting relationships and communicate effectively with children, young people and professionals.
• Have practical experience recognising changes in presentation, responding to distress and escalating risk or safeguarding concerns within agreed procedures.
• Can manage allocated contacts, maintain accurate records and deliver agreed support following service induction and competency review, with supervision and clinical advice available.
• Are committed to delivering compassionate, strengths-based and person-centred support.
• Experience of waiting-list wellbeing calls, telephone or video support, and single-session or other brief intervention approaches is particularly welcome and desirable.
• Current professional registration and/or accreditation in a relevant therapeutic or CYP mental health field is desirable, but not essential. We welcome applicants without registration who can demonstrate the essential direct delivery experience and competencies.

You will receive service induction, regular supervision, and ongoing professional development. We need people with an established foundation in direct CYP mental health support who can apply their skills to Waiting Well delivery following induction and competency review. Induction will focus on our service model, systems, and procedures rather than providing initial training in CYP mental health work.

Please use your application to give specific examples of your direct work with CYP experiencing mental health or emotional wellbeing difficulties, the support you delivered, how you recognised and escalated concerns, and the outcomes or next steps agreed.

Salary: £27,666 per annum, based on 37.5 hours per week.

Location: Norwich Hub, with hybrid working available according to individual and service needs. Greater hub attendance will be expected during induction, with travel across Norfolk and Waveney as required.

For further information and to apply, please visit our website.

Closing date for applications: 9am, Thursday 22nd October 2026

Safeguarding and DBS requirements

Ormiston Families is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check and all relevant safer recruitment checks.

We are an equal opportunities employer and value diversity. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.