Youth Justice Support Officer

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. The service also seeks to repair the harm caused to victims and communities by addressing the root causes of offending and reoffending by children.

For more information, please visit our Education, Children and Familiespage, and our WSCC About Uspage on our West Sussex County Council (WSCC) website.

Salary: £27,334 to £29,777 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week

Location: Based at Bridge House, Worthing, with countywide travel

Interviews: 25/04/2024

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the West Sussex Youth Justice Service for a Youth Justice Support Officer in the Restorative Justice Team, based in Worthing. The Restorative Justice Team give victims of youth crime a voice and create opportunities for children involved in the Youth Justice system to repair the harm caused by their offending behaviour.

As a Youth Justice Support Officer, you will be responsible for delivering reparation projects as well as planning and delivering Unpaid Work programmes for young people in the community. You will also be responsible for supervising children assessed as presenting a low to medium risk of re-offending and serious harm, who are subject to Out of Court Disposals and statutory Court Orders.

You will have a passion for and resilience to working with complex children. Knowledge or skills of practical tasks such as gardening, building, painting/decorating or use of tools would also be beneficial for this role. There may be times that you are required to support the young person to deliver direct reparation to the person harmed by their behaviour and so an understanding of restorative processes is desirable. You will need good assessment skills, as well as the ability to use creative and effective supervisory techniques, to engage children and their families and then enable them to develop long term sustainable change and promote best outcomes. The ability to form positive and constructive relationships with vulnerable children will be crucial, to enable them to develop resilience, achieve their potential and contribute positively to their community.

The role is based within in 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, as well as access to relevant and specialist training to build and develop your skills.

Key Skills:

• 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, concisely and accurately in ways that promote understanding.
• 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.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• 4 GCSE’s with A-C passes including English and Maths, or equivalent qualification or experience demonstrating that level of numeracy and literacy.
• At least one year’s previous experience of working with challenging children and young people (e.g. CYPS, police, probation, schools, criminal justice, youth work).
• Experience of carrying out assessments and writing reports.
• Previous experience of working in a criminal justice setting e.g., Youth Offending Team, Probation, Police (Desirable)
• Experience of case management (Desirable)
• Experience of working in a multi-agency setting (Desirable)
• Experience of using CVYJ (Youth Offending Service databases) (Desirable)
• Experience of outside project / practical skills, e.g. gardening, painting, woodwork, low level building (Desirable for Restorative Justice and Communities Team YJSO)
• 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 and pool bikes available.

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.

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05092.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact sally.pescott@westsussex.gov.uk or for general queries please reach out to harriet.long@westsussex.gov.uk.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter 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.