Social Care Worker/ Autism Practitioner- Transition Supports- West Dublin

Background on Team:

West Dublin team was founded in 2021 due to an expansion of Transition services in Gheel. When established the team included one staff supporting nine individuals. The team has now grown to support over thirty individuals with five staff members and continues to grow.

Background on the Transition Model:

The Transition Program is an innovative outreach program where the person receives sessional support in a place of their choosing (home, community, transition office).

The Supports are provided in a way which is autism informed, incorporates the New Directions Framework for quality supports and are provided through a casework style of delivery where each person supported is allocated one caseworker from the team.

The provision and resources are aimed at delivering bridging support to people in realising the aspirations they have for their lives in areas such as personal development, education, employment and moving out of the family home. We aim to build an individuals skillset including independence skills, resilience, natural support systems and self support strategies so that they can live an independent life.

The transition model focuses on the support needs of each individual and allows for flexibility within the supports. We recognise that support needs can fluctuate over time.

Typical Day as a Social Care Worker / Autism Practitioner in Transition Services:

Each day truly is different, this role is suited to someone who enjoys variety within their job and the autonomy to create their own schedule, prioritising their own workload.

Typically you will be based in the office and will conduct two to three sessions a day with clients on your caseload. You will either meet these clients in the office or out in the community.

Examples of typical tasks include:

Meeting individuals in their college or place of work to support a client with communication with their employer / educators. This may be to assist in resolving recent difficulties experienced by either party, supporting the client in requesting reasonable accommodations or identifying areas where skill building or further supports are required.

Meeting an individual in the local community to check in on their week or completing a piece of work on a topic relating to the client’s personal goals (examples include social skills, anxiety education, autism education, money management, communication skills, independent living skills etc.)

Supporting an individual complete an application or seek further information from relevant external agencies (examples include housing application, disability allowance applications, CAO applications, grant applications, job applications etc.)

Liasing with families or external agencies in order to help the client reach their personal goals.

Completion of daily reports or other administrative tasks. Time for admin is incorporated into each staff members weekly workload and caseload size is reflective of required weekly admin time.