Youth Justice Volunteer / Referral Order Panel Member Volunteer

Aim of volunteering placement:

As a volunteer with the Youth Justice Service, there will be a variety of different roles that you can get involved with. Examples of the opportunities you can get involved with are acting as an Appro-priate Adult, undertaking reparation, assisting with prevention group work, supporting children and young people on statutory orders as well as trying to divert young people from further criminal behaviour and preventing offending.

Another element of Youth Justice are Referral Order Panels which are a way in that the community can work together to achieve local justice. The Referral Order is a unique sentence directly involving the local community by means of Panel Members helping the young person acknowledge their of-fences and make amends to their victims in their community.

Tasks: - Volunteer

1. To supervise and support young people to carry out activities in the community to repair the harm caused by their offending behaviour (reparation). This will also include support-ing any ISS contacts.

2. To act as an appropriate adult for young people in the Police Station to safeguard their welfare and rights.

3. To assist with delivery/co-delivering on group interventions to divert children away from entering the criminal justice system.

4. To record and feedback all relevant information to the Youth Justice Service.

5. To act as a ‘positive role-model’/ mentor to the young people and parents, when appropriate.

6. Ensure that safeguarding procedures are adhered to.

Tasks: Referral Order Panel Member Volunteer

1. To sit as a Panel Member and steer the meeting together with other Panel Members with the support of a Youth Justice Service (YJS) staff representative

2. To consider confidential reports on behalf of the young person and the victim in readiness for the panel meeting. Use the report to inform the content of the panel meetings.

3. Contribute to the creation of individual programmes of intervention contracts with young people and their parent(s) / carer(s) which will address the causes of the young person’s offending behaviour and the factors associated with that behaviour.

4. Ensure that contracts drawn up with young people are based on restorative justice princi-pals, enabling young people to take responsibility for their behaviour, repair the harm and achieve reintegration in the community.

5. To communicate the content of those contracts in writing to, and in terms easily under-stood by, young people, their parents, and carers.

6. To attend training, supervision sessions and meetings, as required.

7. To maintain records of work undertaken in accordance with YJS requirements.

8. To perform relevant administrative tasks in relation to the duties of this post.

Please outline the areas that you would be interested in becoming involved with as a volunteer when completing the application form.

Time Required:

Flexible time commitment, with work taking placing during the day, evening and on weekends.

Volunteers should be available for at least 2 days per month.

Please note: Due to the resources required to train volunteers, applicants must be able to give at least 12 months service to the Youth Justice Service once they have completed their training.

Place of work:

The majority of activities will take place in the communities of Newport.

Referral Order Panels now take place virtually via Microsoft Teams.

Skills required:

1. To be passionate about helping young people to succeed despite adversity

2. Interest in and ability to work with children on educational/community projects and activi-ties

3. Interest in and commitment to support the rehabilitation of children and young people who offend or are at risk of offending.

4. Ability to communicate appropriately with young people, parents/carers, members of the community, professionals and project providers.

5. Reliable and a team player

Benefits offered:

Transport needed:

Volunteers do not require own transport during volunteering hours however access to a car is de-sirable, especially when interested in supporting interventions that take place within the communi-ty.

If you use your vehicle whilst volunteering, the vehicle is required to be insured for business use and have a current MOT certificate.

References:

Minimum of two references required.

Volunteers working directly with children or vulnerable adults will be required to undergo a DBS check.

Application Process:

Complete the Council’s volunteer Application Form and return to either:

JTheo Wharton - Restorative Justice Lead Officer - theo.wharton@newport.gov.uk

Joshua Woodham – Diversion Project Officer – joshua.woodham@newport.gov.uk

We welcome applications for all our jobs in either Welsh or English

Newport City Council is committed to working towards its workforce being more representative of the population that we serve and particularly welcomes applications from people from the minority ethnic communities represented (or living) in the city. Selection will be made on ability and skills to undertake the role.