Band 6 Senior CJLS Practitioner-Bristol, BaNES, South Gloucestershire

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust; Bristol; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading mental health organization is seeking a qualified mental health professional to assess individuals in court and custody settings. This role involves providing critical reports and facilitating access to appropriate services, while ensuring compliance with Trust Policies. Candidates must have substantial experience with complex mental health needs and a strong educational background in mental health or related fields.

Qualifications

• Minimum 1 year post-registration experience needed.
• Experience managing caseloads and providing clinical supervision.
• Ability to assess and communicate in high-stress environments.

Responsibilities

• Provide assessments and care pathways within the Criminal Justice System.
• Prepare health and social circumstance reports for court cases.
• Act as a liaison with various agencies, maintaining professional standards.

Skills

Assessment skills

Communication skills

Relationship building

IT literacy

Education

Professional qualification in Mental Health or Learning Disability Nursing, Occupational Therapy or Social Work

Job description

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To attend Court or Custody suite, and provide mental health assessments, advice and identify robust care pathways, for individuals where a potential mental health need has been identified.

To provide the Court and/or Police with appropriate written information pertaining to the individual in a timely fashion to inform disposal of the case.

Prepare comprehensive health and social circumstances reports where indicated in a specified time frame.

To work closely and build links with all referring agencies acting as a single point of contact within the Criminal Justice System.

To address the Court in person when necessary in order to advise the Court in the disposal, and care pathway of a particular case.

To refer to appropriate services for the identified needs of the service user.

To make recommendation to Court, whether criminal justice system remains involved or diversion is indicated.

To build a good working knowledge of the Mental Health Act in relation to the Courts and the criminal justice system.

Where diversion is indicated, to facilitate Mental Health Act assessments at the Court or in Custody in conjunction with the AWP Assessment teams.

To refer to the prison mental health teams where custody is indicated ensuring appropriate information is received along the care pathway.

To provide specialist advice and service to Probation and the custody suites where indicated.

To provide mental health information to Probation in the formulation of their pre-sentence reports, where a potential mental health need has been identified.

To be responsible for adhering to all Trust Policies and procedures.

To be able to communicate clearly with a diverse group of service users.

To work autonomously, with the ability to organise and manage own time according to delegated workload. Take accountability for own professional practice.

To possess a good working knowledge of the Integrated Care Programme Approach (ICPA), including the ability to formulate a risk assessment and risk management plan.

To provide formal and informal clinical supervision to junior staff, students, mental health workers where appropriate/in agreement with the team manager.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• A professional qualification in either Mental Health or Learning Disability Nursing, Occupational Therapy or Social Work, and current registration with a pertinent body.
• Evidence of 1 years post registration and evidence of training and development at band 5 or above.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working with individuals with complex and diverse needs including enduring mental health needs and dual diagnosis.
• Experience of managing own caseload and ability to prioritise within that.
• Can demonstrate experience and commitment to working in a team and an understanding of the whole team approach.
• Experience of providing clinical supervision to junior staff.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working within the Criminal Justice system.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to carry out assessments requiring intense and prolonged concentration in stressful environments i.e. Holding Cells at the Courts.
• Ability to manage frequent exposure to highly distressing and emotional circumstances in relation to offending behaviours.
• Ability to gather and process information in the formulation of client risk.
• Excellent communication skills, able to communicate sensitive and complex information in intense environments.
• Able to maintain/forge good relationships with partnership agencies.
• Be IT literate to use email, intranet and Microsoft Word, data capture and statistics.