Vacancy Information
Division / Department - Criminal Justice
Grade - Grade E
Status - Part Time
Contract Type - Permanent
Salary Grade Range - £26,109 - £29,654
Working Hours - 18.0 Hours per Week
Shift Allowance -
Politically Restricted -
The starting salary for this role will usually be at the bottom of the salary range and will be pro-rata if the working hours are less than full time.
The Role
You will be required to act as a single point of contact for victims. Provide practical advice, support and assist victims in the cope and recovery phases of their experience. The nature of service required will vary depending on the needs and circumstances of each individual victim. This will range from shorter term interventions to deal with specific issues, to longer term, on-going support addressing a range of needs and/or supporting individuals through the criminal justice process.
You will manage and maintain contact throughout the victim journey, where victims have identified support needs. This includes face to face visits, incoming and outgoing phone calls, text messages and emails in order to ensure the victim is supported, informed and updated, via agreed timescales and their preferred method of contact. As a caseworker, you will ensure compliance with the minimum requirements of The Victims Code of Practice.
You will undertake a detailed needs assessment with all victims upon referral. You will establish their needs, identify appropriate support mechanisms and deliver a tailored needs led support package. This may include making subsequent referrals to specialist support agencies, signposting or working with peers in other agencies who are engaged in supporting service users. As a caseworker, you will work with a range of external partners, including statutory agencies and other third sector organisations, developing strong links in the community to meet the needs of service users.
Key Responsibilities
You will ensure appropriate and dynamic risk assessments are conducted throughout the lifespan of all support cases and escalate any issues of concern or risk matters to the Victim Liaison Team Leader, to ensure that necessary or proportionate steps are made to manage and deal with the risk. Ensure safeguarding issues are appropriately dealt with and local safeguarding procedures followed.
You will carry a caseload and provide direct support to victims who have been affected by crime against an agreed support plan, recording progress and monitoring outcomes achieved. Undertake ‘distance travelled’ assessments at the closure of support to ensure the identified needs have been met, where able to do so. Maintain an awareness of victim progress and respond appropriately, by amending support plan and/or liaising with other service providers/statutory agencies. Input case notes and client information on case management system according to agreed timescales.
Where required, you'll support the unit, undertake initial victim needs assessments as part of a support triage process. To identify any needs to support victims through the cope and recovery stages following a crime.
You will establish and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders, both statutory and third sector in both formal and informal interactions in order to achieve the highest standard of service and support for victims, share data and open lines of communication.
You will liaise with and respond to queries from other support agencies and parties involved in supporting victims of crime (i.e. Housing/Social Services).
You will support victims through the criminal justice system, where support needs have been identified. This will include support in attending court, explaining the benefits of attendance at court, as well as the statutory consequences of not doing so. Listening to victims and witnesses to recognise issues which prevent court attendance at short notice and working with victims to overcome these. This may include attending court as an advocate on the day.
You will be responsible for prioritisation of your own workload and effective time management in order to ensure the needs of the victim, and partner agencies are met. Ensure your own knowledge and expertise is maintained and developed in to victim care, policy and initiatives.
You will proactively identify knowledge gaps and training opportunities, as well as attending core refresher training to ensure skills are kept up to date.
You will participate in appropriate and relevant local meetings, as necessary to represent the needs and interests of victims and the service.
You will deliver any training, as necessary to key stakeholders or peers to raise awareness of the service.
You will proactively research local support agencies to develop new links/referral pathways to meet the needs of victims,attending regular team meetings and bring local issues, feedback and learning to share with the team,
When required, you will coach and train new members of staff in aspects of the caseworker role.
You will be flexible in your approach and adapt to the changing demands of the Victim and Witness Care Unit, legislation and technology.
You will maintain awareness of support services available to victims and witnesses and ensure current understanding of how external organisations can assist with support.
You will contribute to the implementation of initiatives within the Victim and Witness Care Unit. Proactively suggest ideas in order to improve the experience of, and service provided to, victims and witnesses and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes and performance.
You will be responsible handling and sharing of sensitive information in accordance to policy.
You will undertake other duties appropriate to the grade and character of work as may be reasonably required.
Skills & Experience
ESSENTIAL
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:
• Demonstrable experience in dealing with people in a customer focused environment or supportive network for at least a period of approximately 12 months.
• Demonstrable experience of supporting and encouraging customers to take personal action, along with the ability to adapt communication accordingly is critical. Ideally, including experience of dealing with vulnerable victims / witnesses.
• Excellent case management and administrative skills and ability to assimilate a thorough knowledge of practices and procedures that relate to the work involved
• Demonstrable well-developed interpersonal and verbal communication skills to liaise courteously with internal colleagues and partner agencies whilst maintaining confidentiality.
• Experience of being self responsible for decision making.
• Demonstrable experience of having an awareness of risks and the ability to know when to escalate them.
• Attention to detail combined with the ability to work to strict timescales as stipulated by the Victims Code.
• Ability to cope with pressure, work unsupervised and manage time effectively with the skill to deal with several issues at once.
• Demonstrable experience of working within a team of people and sharing knowledge.
• Good working knowledge of computer and the ability to produce clear, concise and accurate records.
• Ability to maintain professional knowledge and expertise to remain current as procedures and technology advance with a willingness to embrace and make suggestions for improvements in relation to criminal justice legislation, policy and initiatives.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
• You will be required to be vetted for security clearance.
• You will be required to undertake training in the use of secure communications systems
• This role may involve travel to meetings and locations within and beyond the counties of Surrey and/or Sussex for which public transport may not be suitable. Therefore you must have access to your own transport and be insured for business use.
DESIRABLE:
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:
• Experience in assisting with on the job training and coaching.
• Experience of working for a public funded body and responsibility for small expenditure and the impact that this has for overall budgets.
• Awareness of the impact of crime on a victim and the needs of victims.
Further Information
We recognise that our people are balancing demanding careers with commitments and interests outside of work. We welcome applications and discussion with candidates who want to work full-time or part-time/flexible hours.
For further information regarding this vacancy please contact:
sam.mcarthur@surrey.police.uk
Beata.szczurowska@surrey.police.uk
This vacancy will be based at Guildford police station.
Additional Information
Following submission of your application you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your application attached. Occasionally emails from this address can fall into spam/junk folders so please ensure this is checked regularly. You may wish to consider adding noreply@surreysussexpolice.as.recruitmail.com to your address/contact list to ensure you receive all communications.
This post is being advertised in parallel with Force redeployment processes. Any redeployees who are identified will be given preference. This may result in the post being withdrawn at any point during the recruitment process.
Please note that not all jobs are available for internal candidates across both Forces, the current agreed recruitment principles are;
- vacancies in collaborated units are available to all officers and staff across both Forces
- vacancies in non-collaborated units are only available to officers and staff within the Force with the vacancy unless it is advertised externally.
If the vacancy is advertised externally and an officer or member of staff from the other Force is success it will result in a transfer of employment
Surrey Police and Sussex Police Special Constables, Volunteers and Agency Staff (excluding self-employed workers) covered under the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) are eligible to apply for internal advertised posts.
Diversity Statement
We are only as good as our people. It's really important that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we know that as an organisation we'll grow from the variety of thinking, approach and skills that diversity brings; all of which help us deliver a better policing service. We strive to ensure how we deliver our services, provide information and how we recruit is open and accessible to all.
We have multiple staff support groups who help to improve our understanding of minority issues and ensure they are reflected in our work. We are proud members of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and Disability Confident, a signatory of the Race at Work Charter and aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement.
We value the differences that people bring from all backgrounds and communities. Regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, social status or religious beliefs, we would love to hear from you.