Legal Assistant jobs in United Kingdom

Department: Children’s Services

Division: Integrated Children’s Commissioning & Youth Services

Business Unit: Youth Justice Service

Grade: PO3

Reports to: Team Manager (YJS)

The Youth Justice Service (YJS) is a multi-disciplinary service which works with children, young people and families to address vulnerabilities, risks and factors that lead to offending behaviour. The service sits alongside the Contextual Safeguarding and Engagement Services to deliver an integrated response which supports children and young people to fulfil their potential and make positive contributions to society.

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; their families and other professionals to assess, develop and deliver interventions and activities that support their personal and social skills and participation in society. The role will be directly contributing to youth justice service outcomes by creatively engaging young people who are subject to youth justice orders and interventions. Best practice in equality, diversity and inclusion will feature throughout the work.

• Effectively engage with young people from diverse backgrounds at all stages of case management including during assessment, review and delivery of interventions/programmes.
• Gather information, analyse and assess 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.
• 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.
• Work within a multi-disciplinary team, 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.
• Convene, prepare for and attend professional meetings such as strategy meetings and child protection conferences, presenting information in a clear and concise manner.
• Undertake regular Court duty, providing advice and support to young people, their families and the judiciary.
• Write reports to a high standard and within tight timeframes for Youth Magistrates and Crown Courts and confidently present these reports to the Court in person as required.
• 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.
• Work 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.
• Adopt a strength based restorative approach in engaging young people and work together with colleagues to support opportunities to repair harm.
• 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.
• Contribute to the development of team/project/service plans and procedures to ensure these reflect the needs of young people.
• Attend and represent the team at internal and external meetings where relevant to the role.
• Undertake other duties that might be reasonably requested from time to time including being available for weekend cover arrangements and on occasion working evenings and weekends.
• 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.
• Work flexibly in undertaking the duties and responsibilities of this job and participate as required in multi-disciplinary cross-department and cross-organisational groups and task teams.
• Take responsibility, relevant to the post, for ensuring that Council statutes and government legislation is upheld. This includes, amongst others, Management Compliance Charter, Environmental Policy, Data Protection Act, Race Equality Action Plan, Quality Assurance Plan, Health & Safety, Sustainable Construction and Recycling.
• Implement the Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies and work actively to promote inclusion and overcome discrimination on grounds of age, disability, gender, race, religion/belief, sexuality or status in the Council’s service. Take responsibility appropriate to the post held for tackling racism and promoting good race, ethnic and community relations.

It is essential that you can meet the following requirements for the role and be able to give evidence or examples of your proven experience in each of the short-listing criteria marked Application (A). All areas listed below will be assessed as part of the interview and assessment process should you be shortlisted. If you are applying under the Disability Confident scheme, you will need to give evidence or examples of your proven experience in the areas marked with “Ticks” (✓) on the person specification when you complete the application form.

• K1: A detailed working knowledge of the legislation that underpins the Youth Justice System. ✓A
• K2: Good understanding of approaches to young people’s development; the purpose and methods of social and informal education within the context of youth justice system. A
• K3: Good understanding of youth justice systems including national standards and scaled approach and evidence of effective practice that build desistance and resilience. A
• K4: A very good understanding of the factors that impact educational and personal achievement for young people. ✓A
• K5: A very good knowledge and understanding of the youth justice principles and practices, along with safeguarding and child protection and data protection regulations. ✓A
• K6: Comprehensive knowledge of the role of the YOS in Youth Court and Crown Courts. ✓A
• K7: Understanding of the Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies and legal requirements for antidiscriminatory practice within all practice. A

• E1: Experience of direct work with young people, their families in formal and informal networks i.e. one to one, group work, outreach and detached basis. ✓A
• E2: Substantial experience of working with vulnerable young people who are at risk, of crime, ASB, NEET, SEND, exploitation etc. ✓A
• E3: Experience of case recording using a formal IT system. Proficiency in IT skills. A
• E4: Experience of successful partnership working with a wide range of agencies including Health, Police, Education, Crime Reduction, Youth Justice and children’s social care. A
• E5: Experience of working with children, young people and their families within a diverse community. ✓A
• E6: Proven experience of case management within youth justice system and working with young people at risk of offending and their families in a statutory setting. ✓A
• E7: Experience of delivering group interventions with young people, families and victims of crime. A
• E8: Experience of preventative and post‑court elements of Youth Offending Service work. A

• Q1: A degree, Certificate in Effective Practice in Youth Justice (PCEP) and continuing professional development, or a recognised professional qualification in Social Care or Probation and evidence of demonstrable post qualification experience. ✓A

• S1: Proven ability in engaging with young people, setting and maintaining clear boundaries, building relationships and positively influencing change. ✓A
• S2: Ability to plan, monitor and evaluate work against national inspection frameworks and national/local performance indicators, and take direct action to address and improve work that does not meet quality standards. A
• S3: Proven ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences, verbally and in writing and an ability to write clear and concise reports within a youth justice environment to fixed timescales. A
• S4: Ability to contribute to an integrated team approach and demonstrate strong personal initiative. A
• S5: Ability to work with victims of crime and assess and engage them in restorative interventions. A

• R1: Able to work outside normal office hours including evenings and weekends. Evening work is a core component of the post. In addition, a commitment to be able to work at weekends is essential. ✓A
• R2: This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check.