Forensic Mental Health Practitioner

Together UK; London Borough of Lambeth; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Personal development training

Career progression opportunities

Supportive culture & supervision

22 days annual leave

Job summary

Together UK is recruiting two Forensic Mental Health Practitioners to deliver assessments and 1:1 psychological interventions across London under the Integrated Offender Management (IOM) framework.

Two locations: South London Quadrant and North London Quadrant. The role is a full-time fixed-term contract ending 31 March 2027, with potential extension, requiring mental health qualification and experience in mental health and/or criminal justice settings.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 2 years’ experience as a Mental Health practitioner.
• Qualification in mental health or degree relevant to the area of work or equivalent.
• Experience delivering low-intensity psycho-education interventions.
• Experience using psychometric tools (e.g. CORE-10).
• Understanding of assessing vulnerable adults with mental health and social care needs.
• Experience with high-risk clients presenting violent or challenging behaviour and safeguarding.

Responsibilities

• Assess mental health and social care needs and provide bespoke holistic support.
• Empower people to lead on their support plan.
• Provide low-intensity psycho-education interventions and other techniques such as CBT or Compassion Focused Therapy.
• Contribute to prevention and management of harmful or violent behaviour.
• Help people build self-esteem and motivation.
• Dynamically assess and manage risk and share relevant information with agencies.

Skills

Mental health practice

Psychoeducation

Risk assessment

Community outreach

Offender work

Diversity & equality

Independent decision making

Education

Mental health qualification or related degree

Experience with offenders/criminal justice

Job description

Forensic Mental Health Practitioner

Application Deadline: 6 November 2026

Department: Operations

Employment Type: Fixed Term Contract

Location: Integrated Offender Management (IOM)

Reporting To: Mischa Gwaspari

Compensation: £ 38570.67 per annum

Description

This job is an opportunity to make a difference and shape lives!

Collaboration. Choice. Integrity. Resilience. Continuous improvement.

These are our values that we hold as an organisation. Aligned with yours? Then keep reading…

We are seeking two Forensic Mental Health Practitioners to provide assessments and 1:1 psychological interventions within our new Integrated Offender Management (IOM) mental health service across London.

We currently have two positions available for the following locations in London:

• South London Quadrant – Kingston, Richmond and Hounslow, Merton and Sutton
• North London Quadrant – Brent, Barnet, Harrow and Hillingdon

Contract

• Fixed term - 31st March 2027 - with a possible extension

Integrated Offender Management (IOM) is the national multi-agency arrangement that manages the most persistent, repeat offenders. In London the recently revised London IOM framework focuses partner agencies on repeat offenders who also pose at least a medium risk of violent reoffending. The aim of this framework is to improve the consistency and effectiveness of this work to reduce the number of victims in London, especially those of serious acquisitive and violent crime.

You will be part of a dedicated and dynamic team with a specific focus on delivering tailored support to individuals currently on licence with HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).

This is a full time (37.5hrs per week) permanent position and the successful applicant will have a mental health qualification and experience working within mental health and/or criminal justice services, as well as experience delivering 1:1 interventions.

We hope to recruit a staff team reflective of the population we serve and welcome applications from those with protected characteristics, including women and minority ethnic groups.

We are committed to fair chances for all and making sure everyone can access the support they need to make positive changes in their recovery journey. You really can make a difference by believing in our service users and their ability to make changes, when they do not always believe in themselves.

The Criminal Justice service has multiple projects working within courts, prisons, probation and the community, aiming at providing mental health support in all these stages of the criminal justice system. We’ve seen impressive growth over the last two years extending our remit of work and this is something we’re highly motivated to continue.

What you need to know about Together:

Together is England’s oldest mental health charity and since we were formed in 1879, we have believed that people with mental health issues have the right and the abilities to lead independent, fulfilling lives as part of their communities.

We offer a wide variety of support to help people deal with the personal and practical impacts of mental health issues. The services we provide include supporting people in criminal justice settings who’ve experienced mental distress, one-to-one support in the community, supported housing and 24 hour accommodation services and advocacy.

Our core principle at Together is service user leadership as we believe that benefits those people who are accessing support and has positive impact on all aspects of Together, and wider society.

We want to be able to learn from people who have a range of views and who have experienced mental distress. By learning from the people who use our services in that way we aim to inform and influence Together from a Lived Experience perspective.

You can read more about Together on our website www.together-uk.org

Functional Responsibilities

As a successful candidate you will be able to:

• Assess mental health and social care needs and provide a bespoke holistic support package
• Empower people to lead on their support plan
• Provide low-intensity support interventions of psycho-education and using different techniques, for example Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy
• Contribute to the prevention and management of harmful and violent behaviour
• Help people to build self-esteem and increase motivation
• Dynamically assess and manage risk, sharing need to know information with the relevant agencies

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

Essential:

• A minimum of 2 years’ experience as a Mental Health practitioner
• A qualification in Mental health (e.g. mental health nurse, clinical/ forensic psychology, psychotherapy) or degree relevant to the area of work or equivalent experience e.g., forensic psychologist trainee working toward their stage 2 qualification
• Experience of delivering low-intensity support interventions of psycho-education
• Experience of using psychometric tools (e.g. CORE-10)
• A sound knowledge of assessment of an vulnerable adults with mental health and social care needs
• Experience of delivering low intensity psychological interventions to adults who have traits or diagnosis indicative of personality disorder
• Experience of working with a high risk client group presenting violent or challenging behaviour as well as experience of safeguarding
• Experience of working in a community or outreach setting with offenders in relation to supporting their health, emotional and social needs
• Experience of engaging adults with complex needs in the community to address their presenting needs
• Good understanding of agencies working within the following sectors; criminal justice, secure estate, social care, housing, health and voluntary sector and the relevant referral processes
• Experience of developing safety and crisis plans
• Ability and a willingness to take appropriate evidence-based decisions about adult offenders in complex cases and an ability to work independently
• A commitment to valuing diversity and implementing equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice
• Experience of working in a multi-racial community and/or knowledge of race equality issues and an understanding of, and commitment to, equalities & diversities and a proven ability to translate equality principles into service delivery

Desirable

• Registration with the Health Care Professional Council (HCPC) – desired
• Experience of designing and delivering training (desirable)

Benefits

What We Can Offer You

• You will be part of an organisation that values you. We will seek your input, encourage effort and facilitate growth and opportunity whilst caring about you and your wellbeing
• You will gain worthwhile personal development training, where you are encouraged to stay and grow to further your career progression with Together
• A Positive culture – we are proud of our leadership and management style that encourages teamwork, open and honest communication and has a strong purpose
• One-on-one supervision/manager meetings, peer learning groups, career or talent management guidance and dedicated learning time