Victim and Witness Care Officer Ashford, Kent, South East England, England
Job description
Location of Role: Ashford
Advert Closing Date: 27/02/2023
Salary Range: £23,541.00 to £27,171.00 (pro-rata for part-time vacancies)
Part/Full Time: Full Time
Contract Type: Secondment/fixed-term
Working Pattern: Mon-Fri
Weekend/Evening Working: Yes
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Victim and Witness Care Unit where you will be providing much needed support and information to victims of crime. This is a chance to make a difference to the experience of a victim or witness as they go through the Criminal Justice process by providing a first-class service in accordance with the Home Office Statutory requirements.
The main role will include making and maintaining telephone contact with victims and witnesses at key stages of the case, as it progresses through the Court System. You will ensure that Police and Civilian witnesses will attend court to give their best evidence at the trial date, in order to support effective prosecutions. The Victim & Witness Care Officer is required to fully comply with the statutory requirements of the Victims Code of Practice, along with the principles of No Witness No Justice and the requirements of the Witness Charter.
Main Responsibilities
Manage your own caseload in a home-based working environment and the requirements for victims and witnesses to attend court. Completing a detailed Needs Assessment and ensuring all information is recorded accurately. As the role is primarily a home working role, it is essential that you have a safe and secure environment.
Ensuring appropriate support is offered and applied for, including; travel, accommodation, special measures and Restorative Justice Referrals.
Deal with queries and issues from victims and witnesses who call in, covering any staff member not at work and ensuring Victims Code compliance is adhered to.
Deal with queries and issues from other agencies such as Crown Prosecution System (CPS), Courts, Police Officers and other victim/witness support partners. Providing advice and guidance as appropriate and in accordance with Force Policy surrounding Data Protection.
Work in accordance of the Witness Care Unit process timelines, CPS target dates and other Service Level Agreement timeframes. Maintaining regular contact with and passing on when relevant, witness information to the appropriate agencies; including accompanying documents, Witness Confirmation Forms and Witness Service handover packs.
Maintain a working knowledge of current policies surrounding victim and witness care, engaging with all training required as directed by the Witness Care Unit.
In this role you will manage your own workload daily, maintaining a proactive approach to the work and reacting accordingly to urgent requests that may arise. You should possess strong customer service skills as well as communication skills, both written and verbal. These will need to be flexibly applied to handle a variety of situations including dealing with all types of witnesses - angry, abusive, vulnerable and reluctant from all walks of life and professions who can be very frustrated with the Criminal Justice System.
The Victim and Witness Care Unit uses Athena (an online Police Database) in order to gain relevant information surrounding a case. Strong IT skills are desirable but not essential as these will be developed during the initial training period.
You must be able to demonstrate good problem solving and decision-making skills to ensure effective management of cases and witnesses through the Criminal Justice System. You will have a sound knowledge of the Criminal Justice environment, policy and procedure with an understanding of victim care. A certain level of flexibility is expected in order to deal accordingly with late night court warnings or urgent witness issues which may arise. You must be comfortable managing your workload independently, although support and contact with colleagues is maintained virtually and through attendance at our Team Zone.
The nature of crime work is often distressing and sensitive as we deal with rape, child abuse, and other sexual offences as well as murder and offences against the person. The work within the Witness Care Unit demands resilience, dedication and commitment. Previous experience in managing sensitive issues and having difficult conversations would be desirable
The Victim and Witness Care Unit is a center of excellence, we are looking for a team member who embodies this ethos and applies a positive approach to their daily working commitments.
The role will offer flexibility in terms of place of work, including the potential to work from home for those who would like to. In the event that home working is agreed for the successful candidate, there will be a requirement to regularly attend a designated ‘Team Zone’ location on average one or two days a week, as agreed with the line manager. Currently the designated Team Zone for this role is located at Compass House, Ashford.
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Your application is shortlisted on the content provided within the 'reason for application' section, which is limited to 9000 characters. Within your answer please refer to the criteria stated in this job advert and include any experience, skills and abilities you feel you have that will make you suitable for the role. Please ensure you provide as much detail as possible as insufficient information may mean that you do not meet the shortlisting criteria.
All of our posts require a level of vetting and security clearance. During the recruitment process you will be sent vetting information forms to complete.
Kent Police and Essex Police welcomes applications regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, sex, or employment status.
Please let us know if you require extra support at any stage of the application process, or for further information regarding this position, please email us at [email protected] stating ‘Application Support and Adjustments’ in the title of your email. Alternatively, you can call us on 01245 452833.
Where appropriate we will make adjustments to the selection process, working arrangements and/or the working environment provided it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so.
This post is open to British Citizens, members of the EC or other states in the European Economic Area. If you are a Commonwealth citizen or a foreign national, you must be a resident in the UK free of restrictions and with indefinite leave to remain in the UK. All applicants must have lived in the UK continuously for the past three years.
Essex Police and Kent Police are an equal opportunities employer. Communications may be recorded for monitoring purposes.
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