As the Victim Liaison Officer (VLO) you will be responsible for promoting victim services and increasing victim awareness within the team. Your contact with victims will promote increased victim participation, engagement, satisfaction and contribute to the increased use of restorative justice practices within Sutton Youth Justice Service. You will therefore be working closely with the Restorative Justice Worker to achieve this.
As the Reparation Coordinator your role is to develop and manage a range of reparation projects for young people, which will benefit the victims of their crime and the wider community. The post-holder will work closely with all Youth Justice staff in the delivery of programmes to prevent offending and be responsible for the supervision and management of volunteers and sessional workers.
As Participation Lead, you will be responsible for creating opportunities for service users to be involved in the shaping of the service. The post-holder will be responsible for the design of feedback resources for defined themes of practice within the team. You will be responsible for involving young people, wherever possible, in decision making processes and work closely with them to ensure their views are listened to and their feedback is acted upon accordingly. You will also lead on collating feedback and sharing this with young people, the team and management where appropriate; keeping feedback and evaluation on the agenda for the service. Further you will also lead on Social Media platforms for the YJS, and support with marketing for specific youth projects
About Us
Specific Accountabilities:
To develop and arrange direct and indirect reparative activities for young people and wherever possible ensuring that victim’s views and young persons interests are taken into account when identifying such activities.
To risk assess young peoples suitability for reparation projects and maintain regular communication with young people, their parents/carers, volunteers and sessional workers to ensure they are aware of project assignments.
To supervise and support volunteers and sessional workers to act as mentors/supervisors to young people engaged on reparation projects
To attend appropriate meetings such as identified Referral Order Panels, Risk Management Panels, Youth Rehabilitation and Detention and Training Order interventions and sentence planning meetings. Attendance at these meetings can be either in the role of VLO or as Reparation Coordinator.
To be responsible for the collation of feedback and views and ensure they are reported back on a regular basis to the team, at relevant meetings and to the YJS Management Board.
To work closely with members of the team to design and implement innovative ways to capture service user feedback, and support work towards a Participation Strategy.
To provide statistical reporting on service user participation (including victims) and participate in quality assurance processes as required.
To introduce and develop innovative ways to encourage service user participation across the Integrated Youth Service; including being responsible for social media accounts.
A relevant qualification or equivalent qualifying experience in work with young people within a youth justice, social care or probation setting/Education to degree level or equivalent.
Recent experience of managing a caseload and working on a one-to-one or group basis with difficult to engage young people and their families and/or victims of crime in the context of the criminal justice system.
Experience of multi-disciplinary work within a multi-cultural context.
Experience and/or understanding of attending and representing victim’s/service user’s views at multi-agency meetings
Experience of supervising volunteers or sessional workers.
Knowledge of Safeguarding procedures in relation to young people and their families
Knowledge of The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, restorative justice principles and reparative practice. To be able to demonstrate this in practice.
Knowledge of the factors that put young people at risk of offending and the impact of crime on victims
Knowledge and understanding of national priorities for the development of restorative justice in the youth justice system..
Possess strong verbal communication skills to be able to promote victim services within the team; communicate effectively with young people, their families, victims and professionals; and present information in formal settings, i.e. meetings.
Possess strong assessment and written communication skills to carry out effective risk assessments and complete reports succinctly, grammatically and in plain English.
Possess highly developed teamwork skills to work effectively as a multi-agency team member including well developed liaison, networking and negotiation skills
Possess strong organisational and administrative skills, including being able to prioritise own workload to meet deadlines, complete tasks and maintain electronic records
Ability to remain professional and boundaried at all times and engage effectively with young people, their families and victims of crime.
Ability to act on own initiative and create innovative solutions including developing and sustaining a project.
Willingness to engage in supervision, appraisal and training as identified as appropriate
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
To carry out own work in a manner which promotes equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for both staff and service users.
To have regard to the provision of the Health and Safety at Work legislation when undertaking the duties of this post.
It is a requirement of this post that you are able to work some Saturdays and occasional evenings, dependent on the needs of the Service as it develops.
Sutton combines a high quality of life, green and spacious, with distinctive town centres providing access to jobs and culture the capital has to offer.
Ofsted rated us as ‘Good’, with 'Outstanding' leadership, in December 2021. However, we have not rested but continue to strive to do more for families, strengthen practice and bring innovative ways of working across our systems.
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
Interested in working in Sutton? Hear from our staff below on why they think Sutton is a great place to be a Social Worker.
If you have any questions about applying for this role, please contact recruitment@sutton.gov.uk