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The Team

The principle aim of the Youth Engagement Service (YES) is to reduce the risk of child exploitation, entering the criminal justice system and episodes of missing from home which vulnerable children and young people across the district may face. The Youth Engagement service is a multi-disciplined team across children services and the Youth Justice Service, working alongside partner agencies including Police, Health, Education, Early Help, Liaison and Diversion and Communities to reduce and prevent risk linked to exploitation, crime, and gang crime.

The aim of the Youth Engagement Service is to provide a flexible and responsive service to reduce risk and vulnerability to child exploitation and episodes of missing from home and care. We are a large team that work collectively and collaboratively to find the best ways to support individuals and address community issues. We are looking to appoint Youth Engagement Officers who can communicate effectively with young people to support and deliver interventions that create a positive opportunity for young people to develop their goals and ambitions whilst holding an understanding of their situation.

The Role

The role will be office based. You will work alongside team members and colleagues within the office but spend much of your time working out in the community with young people, partners and within the police custody suite. The role offers you the opportunity to work directly with young people as part of a multi-agency team. As you will be working with young people you need to be an excellent communicator, with experience of working with young people. You will need to demonstrate your ability to effectively engage young people in your application.

You will work alongside young people through planned pieces of intervention to reduce risk of, or vulnerability to, forms of exploitation. Intervention is tailored to the needs of the young person and their family and are developed using the principles of a contextual safeguarding model. The work will be fast paced as the team respond to the changing needs of young people and their communities. You will be able to positively affect the lives of young people and communities, take part in reactive work as new issues arise and get involved in the planning of far-reaching work that will affect the wider Kirklees community.

Experience of working within multi-agency teams would be beneficial for this role as you will work closely with partner agencies to prevent young people being exploited or entering the youth justice system. You will need great team working skills to contribute to our collaborative planning and decision-making processes. Recording and documentation of your work is a vital part of this role, you will need to clearly record and document the work done alongside the young people you support and your work with communities. Much of the work will need to be completed within statutory timescales.

The role will be dynamic as we respond to emerging needs, in addition to this we are an expanding service and for these reasons there may be development opportunities as you become involved in new projects to support our aims. For a full list of the role requirements please see the attached Job Profile and Focus Sheet.

Working pattern

Full-time with a requirement for some weekend working.

What can we offer?

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Friendly and supportive team environment
• Ongoing training and career development
• Excellent pension scheme
• A range of family friendly polices, including flexible working
• Discounts with local and national retailers
• We offer a wide range of well-being initiatives including a cycle to work scheme and discounted KAL membership

What the team say about the role

"A diverse and varied working day and feeling like your making a difference."

"As a new employee I have found the team to be supportive and welcoming and that the wider service is welcoming of the support offered by YES."

"The YES service works well because the team are a very diverse bunch that bring lots of different experiences and personalities to the table - a very friendly and supportive team."

"No two days are ever the same and I am never bored. Although it can be challenging, it is also very rewarding. I do feel that I am making a difference to not only the children, but the whole family."

"A driven and supportive team who are passionate in supporting the children and families we work with. A lovely team to work for."

"We are in a unique position to support young people to move forward to reach their true potential. Helping them to move away from danger and towards a bright future."

Further Information

To find out more about the joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to the criminal exploitation of children in Kirklees please see the findings of the joint inspection here.

If you have any questions about the role, please contact either Ben Newsome (Youth Engagement Service Manager): [email protected] or Chris Sweeting (Youth Justice Service Manager): [email protected]