Job description
Specialist Support Worker- Youth Justice Service
18/05/2023, 23:55
In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.
Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.
All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.
You will work with young people aged 10-17 years old who are at risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice service. The focus is on prevention and supporting the child and their family holistically to sustain positive outcomes.
- You will hold a caseload of young people referred into the service and carryout timely assessments on them to see what support is needed
- You will create intervention plans to support your work with them within a multi agency environment, working with partners and hearing the childs voice
- You will carry out regular interventions with the child and their family meeting the needs of the assessment. This may include home visits, activities or structured work to support them to fulfil their potential
- You will build professional and positive relationships with the child and their family so as to enable change and prevent the child from any offending behaviour
- You will carry out group work activities as required in schools and/or in the community with young people and their family
The Youth Justice Service sits within early help, the adolescent team and the schools team and carried out vital work to support young people. You will be based at the quad in Carshalton as part of a vibrant, innovative and caring service which values its staff and strives to be an outstanding service for young people. You will benefit from flexible and hybrid working arrangements and a trusting environment with managers who understand the needs of the service as well as individuals.
The purpose is to work with young people as part of early intervention to support them by building positive relationships and meeting the needs of our out of court service.
You will expected to work intensively with your caselaod and manage your work accordingly writing up assessments, plans and reviews for all cases.
We are looking for dynamic, passionate and creative staff who have experience of working with challenging young people. You will be able to engage with children with a trauma background who may not be trusting or initially keen to work with you. Your engagement skills will be flexible and adaptable and we need staff who are willing to persist where needed to gain the trust of families.
Ideally you will have experience of whole family working and be able to work with parents and carers too as well as coordinate multi-agency meetings and team around the family meetings when needed.
Your writing and analytical skills will be good and you will be able to write assessments taking into account the whole family needs as well as that of the child and identify what needs to change alongside positives.
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps.
Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
- Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
- Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
- Comprehensive learning and development programme
- Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
- Interest free season ticket loans
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Car parking scheme
- Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
- Zip car scheme
- Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
- Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
- Subsidised gym membership
Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.
To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.
The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.
We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.
The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.