Youth Justice Officer

The purpose of the role is to manage a case load of youth justice cases, working innovatively with young people from diverse backgrounds and engaging them and their families and other professionals in order to assess, develop and deliver intervention and activities that support their personal and social skills and participation in society

YOS Officers will be directly contributing to youth offending service outcomes by creatively engaging young people who are subject to youth justice orders and also who are at risk of anti-social behaviour, crime, becoming NEET and substance misuse.

This job description is intended as a guide and is not an exhaustive list of the duties and responsibilities of this role, such duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility entailed.

1. To effectively engage with young people from diverse backgrounds at all stages of case management including during assessment, review and delivery of interventions/programmes.

1. To gather information, analyse and assess in order to manage risk, re-offending and safety/wellbeing accurately using appropriate screening and assessment tools; taking necessary measures to ensure welfare needs are dealt with effectively and public protection considerations are appropriately managed.

1. To create, in conjunction with young people and families, bespoke intervention plans to address all areas of need and to regularly review the plans to ensure their suitability and effectiveness.

1. To work within a multi-disciplinary team, to be responsible for all aspects of case management of youth justice cases, including dealing with non-compliance issues swiftly and effectively in line with local and national standards and inspection frameworks

1. To prepare for and attend professional meetings such as strategy meetings and child protection conferences, presenting information in a clear and concise manner.

1. To write reports to a high standard and within tight timeframes for Youth Magistrates and Crown Courts and to confidently present these reports to the Court in person as required.

1. To undertake regular Court duty, providing advice and support to young people, their families and the judiciary. Undertaking assessments at Court will also be part of the role when working in court.

1. To undertake bail assessments and produce bail support packages for court.

1. Evidence of effectively managing high risk and complex cases and assisting with the day to day support of less experienced YOS staff.

1. Lead responsibility for liaison with key agency e.g. CAMHS, Health Visitors, Schools as directed by the Team Manager.

1. To convene and chair multi-agency meetings.

1. To play a leading role in improving practice and quality of assessments and plans, assisting Team Manager in Team meeting discussions and workshops, taking responsibility for updating Team on practice developments and research findings, take a lead role in the induction of new staff and being a buddy.

1. To act as lead professional for allocated cases and work collaboratively with partners using a family based approach to work towards increasing young people and family resilience.

1. Working collaboratively with young people and a wide range of agencies, adopt creative and innovative approaches to deliver effective evidence based group or individual interventions/programmes to reduce the risk of offending and disengagement from education, training and employment

1. To adopt a restorative approach in engaging young people and work together with colleagues to support opportunities to repair harm.

1. To maintain clear, precise and appropriate case management records on IT client information systems, in accordance with local and national standards and in line with data protection guidelines

1. Contribute to the development of team/project/service plans and procedures to ensure these reflect the needs of young people.

1. Prepare, deliver and participate in the running of group work programmes

1. This role requires flexibility in order to meet fixed deadlines and competing priorities.

1. The role will require regular attendance at secure estates, Police stations and community facilities.

1. To attend all team meetings, case manager/practitioner meetings and other meetings internal and external which are relevant to the role, eg: Risk Management Panel and MAPP

1. Home visiting is a regular requirement of work with families, at times outside 9-5 hours to avoid interfering with school and work commitments of families. The public engagement element this role involves regularly coming into contact with people, some of whom may at times be distressed, agitated and, from time to time challenging.

1. The post holder will be required to use their initiative to complete certain tasks, with supervision. Creativity is required for identifying, developing and delivering appropriate interventions for young people. The post holder will need to work flexibly across levels of need (from lower risk community orders to high risk custodial cases)

1. Carry out all duties in accordance with the London Borough of Lambeth’s Equal Opportunities policy, actively promoting equality and seeking to prevent and overcome disadvantage and discrimination.

1. The post holder will participate in the Councils appraisal scheme, take responsibility for the implementation of own Personal Development Plan and continued professional development in those areas relevant to their role and will ensure that the same process is undertaken to all line managed staff.