Independent Occupational Therapist

Job summary

Independent Occupational Therapist for our Centre for Fostering and Adoption Support Service.

Location: Warrington/Chester

The person would need to be located in or around Warrington/Chester (the North West of England) as regular travel across the region is required, with a mix of home-based and in-person working with families.

We are looking for an Occupational Therapist who has the ability to work with children, young people and adults, including people with disabilities, on a self-employed basis.

Make a difference and play a pivotal role in ensuring the charity delivers meaningful outcomes.

Main duties of the job

What were looking for:

Knowledge

• Professional knowledge of child and adolescent development, trauma and loss Knowledge of Adoption & Children Act 2002 Associated Guidance and Regulations Adoption Support Regulations 2005 Knowledge of Attachment Theory and its lifelong impact.
• Awareness of current adoption and childcare research and experience of applying it in practice.
• Knowledge of Adoption Matters or an interest in finding out about the agency and how it operates.

About us

About us

Adoption Matters is a children's charity and one of the largest voluntary adoption agencies in the UK. We recruit, train and support individuals, couples and families looking to adopt and offer ongoing support and training. We also offer a support service for adopted adults and birth families, and a specialised therapy service.

In 2024, we launched our not-for-profit fostering agency, Foster Care Matters. As a non profit provider, the service is committed to reinvesting resources to deliver high-quality support and ongoing training for foster parents. More recently in 2026, we acquired 1st Affinity Fostering Service in Wrexham, securing a not-for-profit future for the agency in Wales.

The Centre for Fostering and Adoption Support (CFAS) service offers a wide range of support and training services for fostering, adoption and permanency. The successful self-employed applicant will carry out work as required in assisting the Centre for Fostering and Adoption Support (CFAS) in its delivery of multi professional fostering and adoption support services.

For more information on the management team and our board of trustees, please visit our Team Page on our website.

Job responsibilities

Ability

• To effectively manage a complex and diverse caseload with support and advice from a contact manager, using evidence-based / child-centred principles: including prioritisation assessment.
• To contribute specialist advice.
• To contribute to the training and education of staff, to ensure a quality service is delivered.
• To contribute to a high-quality service, by working within national, local and professional standards and to act as a source of expertise and advice for other professionals.
• To support the services expanding its philosophy and its commitment in the field of Fostering, adoption and permanency and to share in the agencys development plans.
• To comply with the agency's statutory obligations, including fostering, adoption and safeguarding of children and adults.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Experience and qualifications
• Experience of therapeutic work with children and parents/carers
• Qualified Occupational Therapist Registration with a professional body i.e. HCPC Registration is essential.

Desirable

• Training in specific assessment and therapeutic methods such as Ayres Sensory Integration, Theraplay, DDP, EMDR, ASI, Story Stem Assessment, BUSS and SAI qualifications is desirable.