Trainee jobs in United States

Fixed-Term Contract for one year ending January 2027 with the aim that additional funding can be secured to extend employment beyond this date.

35 hours per week

£27,485 per annum (plus allowances)

Location: Plymouth

The Children’s Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 140 years. We run local services that support children when they are at their most vulnerable and in desperate need of help. We’re there for children, every step of the way.

This role sits within our children and families’ directorate, which works to provide immediate one-to-one and group support for children who urgently need support. Your role will be to help us maintain and develop innovative practice to support our work in our services around the country.

We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and motivated trainee Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) to join our service. This is an exciting opportunity to work alongside The Children’s Society Wellbeing Service whilst also completing a Postgraduate Diploma or a Graduate Diploma in Psychological Therapies Practice (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - Children, Young People and Families) at the University of Exeter.

This is an employment based training role within the forming part of a NHSE, HEE and DoH initiative to expand the mental health workforce, offering support to children and young people at a stage of early intervention. The trainee Children Wellbeing Practitioner will be trained over the course of a year to deliver brief, focused evidence-based psychological interventions in the form of low intensity support and guided self-help to young people who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties, such as anxiety, low mood and common behavioural difficulties. Intensive clinical supervision and practice development will be provided. The post is salaried, and the training fully-funded for its duration. The training is delivered by the University of Exeter.

We welcome applications from enthusiastic, highly-motivated and resourceful individuals who are keen to work as part of a team. We are looking particularly for applicants who are passionate about working with children and young people.

We are seeking candidates with a commitment to evidence-based practice, young people’s participation, routine outcomes monitoring, promoting shared decision making and collaborative practice with children and families. Trainees will be provided with robust support and supervision to ensure their learning and development in the role.

The training will commence in January 2026. The trainee CWP will attend University-based taught and self-study days required by the education provider, as specified within the agreed national curriculum and then work in the service area for the remaining days of the week using their developing skills.

Applications to the training programme will be reviewed against the education provider’s minimum entry requirement:

• Applicants must have either a minimum of a degree (Level 6 qualification) from a UK university or equivalent from an overseas qualification in a relevant subject (e.g. psychology) to access the Post Graduate route. The Graduate Diploma programme is a level 6 qualification so we would normally expect an applicant to have some evidence of activity at level 5 (e.g. second year UG study or equivalent). However, applicants who have studied up to level 4 but have significant relevant experience may also be considered. For further information on qualification Levels, please see: https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels).
• Experience of working with children and young people is essential.
• Applicants need to be able to cope with the demands of coordinating clinical with the academic demands of the course.

The Children’s Society runs over 100 local services that help thousands of young people who desperately need our support, and we campaign to get laws and policies changed to make children’s lives happier and safer. Every day we’re changing the lives of children in this country for the better – and with your help, tomorrow we can be there for even more.

The Children’s Society is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and young people that we work with. As such, all posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We ensure that we have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across our services.

Therefore, candidates applying for work in our Youth Impact Domain will be required to complete an “Employment history_template” document prior to interview. The fully completed document should be loaded by the candidate at the point of uploading your CV.

The closing date for applications is midnight on 13th October 2025.

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