Advocacy Caseworker Jobs in Bath, Bath And North East Somerset
Somerset (hybrid working, with desk space available at Somerset Council offices)
Ref ESE-243
We are seeking a highly organised Children and Young Person’s Specialist Exploitation Caseworker to work alongside Somerset Council’s Exploitation Service.
They will combine their lived experience of overcoming similar barriers to the client group and their professional experience to provide crucial guidance, support, and mentorship to children and young people who are being, or at high risk of being exploited.
Through 1:1 mentoring, you will ensure children and young people are equipped to think critically, assess risk, and make better life choices. You will also support them to overcome personal challenges and achieve personal goals. The resulting mindset shift and confidence makes them more resilient to the risks of becoming involved with substance misuse and/or supply; gangs; exploitation and violence.
We positively encourage applications if you have had personal adverse experiences that make you an ‘expert by experience’. This could include experience of the criminal justice system, having served a prison sentence, experience of gang involvement, county lines and criminal exploitation. You will need to demonstrate how your lived experience supports your ability to carry out the role to the benefit of the clients we work with.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
• Delivery specialist Exploitation 1 to 1 casework and mentoring to identified at risk young people and their families.
• Establish and maintain positive relationships with children and young people to provide emotional support, guidance, and mentorship.
• Address individual needs and challenges, utilising personal experiences, local knowledge, professional skills and St Giles casework and mentoring materials to offer support and intervention.
• Assist children and young people in setting and achieving personal life goals.
• Collaborate with professionals to support and develop strategies to minimise the risk to young people.
• Maintain a trauma informed approach, that recognises and responds to trauma and amplifies the voices and experiences of children and young people.
• Develop positive, pro-social attitudes, behaviour and social skills with children and young people.
• Safeguard, protect and promote the welfare of children and young people.
• Provide guidance on resolving interpersonal issues.
• Maintain open and effective communication with mentees, professionals, parents/carers and partners.
• Maintain accurate records (including case notes and engagement data) of interactions, progress, and outcomes in line with St Giles delivery protocols.
• Use data to assess the effectiveness of interventions and make adjustments as needed.
• Support in the collation of evaluative data (in line with project protocols).
• Promote inclusivity and equity in your role.
• Attend relevant training and workshops to enhance mentoring skills and professional knowledge.
Person Specification:
• Relevant direct or indirect experience of the criminal justice system or lived experience of the issues facing the client group (i.e. involved in gangs, county lines and/or knife crime). (A)
• Experience of working positively with socially excluded children, young people or adults and able to engage successfully despite ‘challenging’ behaviour. (A)
• Knowledge of the challenges and issues facing vulnerable young people (A)
• Understanding and demonstration of professional standards and accountability.
• Empathetic and understanding attitude toward young peoples' needs. (A)
• Strong communication, interpersonal, and active listening skills.
• Experience of working collaboratively with multi-agency partners. (A)
• Commitment to promoting inclusivity and equity.
• Excellent record keeping and experience of using case management databases (A)
• Outstanding organisational skills.
• Total commitment to excellent safeguarding practice and understanding of professional boundaries. (A)
• Emotionally resilient.
• Commitment to upholding St Giles core values.
In your application, please demonstrate how you meet the person specification criteria marked with (A).
Please note this role requires Enhanced Adult and Children DBS checks with the Children Barred List.
In return, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance, staff pension, flexible working, a mentoring programme, an advice and counselling service, season ticket loan and much more.
We are an equity and inclusion confident employer. We welcome all applications and we particularly encourage applications from people of the global majority (black, brown, multi- heritage) and those who identify as disabled, neuroexpansive, neurodiverse, with any protected characteristics and/or social barriers or challenges. We value the empowering and informative impact that all lived experiences and diversity of thought can offer the organisation.
St Giles will guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria set out in the Job Description for the vacancy.
To apply, please visit our website via the ‘Apply’ button.
Closing date: 11pm 22nd May 2024 Interview date: 30th May 2024
Victim Support are looking for an Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Practitioner to join the team in Staffordshire working 37.5 hours per week. This role is home based and will require regular travel across Lichfield, Tamworth and Burton Upon Trent.
Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you have experience of working with and advocating for victims of Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) - or would you like to work in this area?
If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…
What we offer:
At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:
- Flexible working options including hybrid working
- 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
- An extra day off for your birthday
- Pension with 5% employer contribution
- Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
- High Street, retail, holiday, entertainment & leisure discounts
- Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
- Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
- Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression
About the role:
You will be support victims of ASB, working with a multitude of partners across all local authority areas to ensure their expectations of services are clear and their personal needs are met. You will work with both adults and young people & work closely with partners. Ultimately, you will help them cope, recover and move forward from their experiences.
You will provide high quality support to all victims of Anti-Social Behaviour managing a caseload and offering support over the telephone and in person, including home visits. You will assess the victims needs and provide emotional support, advocacy and practical help.
You will also mentor and be responsible for volunteers who will assist you with your caseload and support lower risk victims.
You will work closely with the local Council(s) ASB team and environmental health department, police, housing and other agencies to achieve positive outcomes for victims, as well as a wide variety of people including people with additional vulnerabilities and repeat victims.
You will need to work well in a multi-agency environment, be dynamic, organised and flexible in how you work and support our clients.
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.
About Us:
Victim Support (VS) is an independent charity providing a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. We work towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System. Everyone at VS is driven by our Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events. Working for VS gives you the opportunity to play a key role in a national charity providing high quality services to victims and witnesses and being a vital force for change.
Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.
Victim Support strives to represent the diverse communities we serve and are passionate about creating an environment where all staff and volunteers feel respected and heard. Being a diverse organisation with an inclusive culture is integral to us being able to meet our aim of ensuring that anyone who is a victim of crime gets the support they need.
As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter we particularly welcome applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. VS is also a Disability Confident Employer and we provide a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for candidates that are disabled and meet all essential criteria for a role.
If you have a disability, a learning difficulty such as dyslexia or a medical condition which you believe may affect your performance during any aspect of our selection process, we'll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to perform at your best.
How to apply:
To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.
We look forward to hearing from you.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date.
Do you want the unique opportunity to work in a fast-paced service, delivering exceptional support to families bereaved by and witness to homicide; coordinating a tailored package of support to service users and their families?
Would you enjoy working closely with Police Major Crime teams providing briefings on the work we do in the Homicide Service (HS)?
If yes, then we'd love to hear from you; we have an exciting opportunity for a Homicide Family Caseworker to join our team, you will be based in Thames Valley working 37.5 hours a week. The team you will be joining within HS covers London and South Central.
What we offer:
At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:
- Flexible working options including hybrid working
- 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 33 days plus Bank Holidays
- An extra day off for your birthday
- Pension with 5% employer contribution
- Enhanced sick pay allowances, maternity & paternity payments
- High Street, retail, holiday, entertainment & leisure discounts
- Access to our financial wellbeing hub & salary deducted finance
- Employee assistance programme & wellbeing support
- Ongoing training & support with opportunities for career development & progression
About the role:
You will be joining a passionate and committed team who provide high quality and bespoke support to service users. We pride ourselves on exceptional trauma informed advocacy and support to all service users.
You will be driven to make a difference every day with the ability to focus on the needs of vulnerable service users. You will have resilience and adaptability; understand the importance of professional boundaries; have excellent listening skills and the ability to demonstrate empathy. You will enjoy the challenge of a busy caseload and will be able to demonstrate the excellent organisation skills essential to managing a demanding and diverse workload.
Once in post you will benefit from the mandatory comprehensive training programme which will build on your existing skills and experience to prepare you for the role. Homicide Service training includes, criminal justice process; trauma informed approach to support; supporting traumatically bereaved families; personal and professional resilience.
As a fully trained Homicide Family Caseworker you will be responsible for managing your own complex caseload to the highest quality standards. You will need to be able to travel to home visits within, and occasionally outside of area, and therefore a driving license and use of a car are essential. You will be reimbursed for all travel costs.
Please read carefully the attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details, this is essential for your application.
About Us:
Victim Support (VS) is an independent charity providing a range of specialist services to people who have been affected by crime across England and Wales. We work towards a world where there are fewer victims but who have stronger rights, better support and a real influence in the Criminal Justice System. Everyone at VS is driven by our Vision Ambitions and Values to play their part in making a difference for those who experience crime and traumatic events. Working for VS gives you the opportunity to play a key role in a national charity providing high quality services to victims and witnesses and being a vital force for change.
Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.
Victim Support is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe having a diverse workforce at all levels allows us to represent the communities we serve and connect better with people affected by crime. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all communities and monitor the diversity of applicants to analyse if we are representative of the communities we serve in terms of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, age and socio-economic status. As part of our commitment to the Race at Work Charter we would particularly welcome applicants from BAME communities
How to apply:
To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website, and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria. Please give examples where appropriate, and show your aptitude for post. Please ensure you answer each shortlisting criteria including the need to drive and have your own mode of transport.
We looking forward to hearing from you.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date.