Youth Justice Support Officer

West Sussex County Council; Horsham; Hybrid; GBP 29,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

A county council in the UK is seeking a Youth Justice Support Officer in Horsham. This pivotal role supports vulnerable children in the Youth Justice System, helping them positively change by engaging with their needs while working collaboratively with families and educational settings. Candidates should have experience with complex young people and possess strong assessment, organizational, and communication skills. This full-time fixed-term position offers competitive salary and hybrid working conditions.

Qualifications

• At least one year's previous experience of working with complex and vulnerable children and young people.
• Experience of carrying out assessments and writing reports.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to explain information to others.
• Good literacy, numeracy and sound IT skills, to write reports to a high standard.
• Able to research, assess, analyse and interpret information and data from varying sources.
• Good organisational skills and the ability to prioritise your workload.
• Able to act in an appropriate manner, with discretion, whilst hearing confidential or sensitive information.

Responsibilities

• Supervise vulnerable children and young people presenting a risk of re-offending.
• Use creative and effective techniques to engage children and young people.
• Work with families and educational settings to help achieve positive outcomes.

Skills

Experience with complex vulnerable children

Assessment and report writing

Interpersonal communication

Literacy and numeracy skills

Analysis and interpretation of information

Organizational skills

Discretion and sensitivity

Education

GCSEs with A-C passes, including English and Maths

Job description

About the Role

Salary: £29,540 to £32,061 per annum
Contract Type: Fixed Term or Secondment to cover maternity leave
Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week
Location: County Hall North, Horsham with hybrid working and countywide travel

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our Community Supervision Team as a Youth Justice Support Officer. The Community Supervision Team work with children involved with the Youth Justice System who are subject to Out of Court Disposals and statutory Court Orders. They aim to address young people's needs, support their aspirations and goals and help them repair the harm caused by their offending behaviour.

As a Youth Justice Support Officer, you will be responsible for supervising vulnerable children and young people presenting a risk of re-offending and serious harm. You will use creative and effective supervisory techniques to engage children and young people to enable them to make long term sustainable change and promote best outcomes. You will work with their families, educational settings and more, with the support from the wider team, to help achieve their potential and contribute positively to their community.

We are looking for people who have experience working with vulnerable children and young people, who can listen and bring a holistic approach to those they support. You will have good assessment skills with strong organisational and literacy skills to complete written reports. Motivation and resilience are key to plan and provide effective interventions, while reflecting and adapting your own practice.

The role is based within a supportive team environment with access to specialists and colleagues from the wider service. You will receive regular support and supervision from your team manager, with access to relevant and specialist training to build and develop your skills and support your future aspirations.

Internal candidates wishing to apply for this role will be considered for a secondment position. Please can you therefore discuss and agree this with your manager before applying for this position.

Experience and Skills

Just some of the skills and experience you will need include:

• At least one year's previous experience of working with complex and vulnerable children and young people (e.g. CYPS, police, probation, schools, criminal justice, youth work).
• Experience of carrying out assessments and writing reports.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to explain information to others and use advisory, negotiation and persuasion skills to influence the actions of others.
• Good literacy, numeracy and sound IT skills, to write reports to a high standard and present information clearly and accurately.
• Able to research, assess, analyse and interpret information and data from varying sources in order to interpret and plan over the medium term to make judgements based on the needs of the client.
• Good organisational skills and the ability to prioritise your workload to effectively respond to unanticipated problems.
• Able to act in an appropriate manner, with discretion, whilst hearing confidential, sensitive or disturbing information.
• GCSE's with A-C passes including English and Maths, or equivalent qualification or experience demonstrating that level of numeracy and literacy.
• You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars available.

For full list of keys skills, experience and qualifications required for the role please refer to the job description attached.

About Us

West Sussex Youth Justice Service (YJS) is a high performing multi-agency statutory partnership which provides services before and after court to meet the statutory requirements of the youth justice system. Its primary aim is to prevent offending and reduce reoffending by children. The service works in partnership with a variety of agencies to ensure children are offered appropriate intervention to address their risks, meet their needs and build on their strengths. Further, the service seeks to repair the harm caused to victims and communities by addressing the root causes of offending and reoffending by children.

For more information about West Sussex County Council, please visit our WSCC About Us page.

Rewards and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, you can find this at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06080.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and complete our short application form. In your application please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.