Professional Practitioner - Youth Justice Team

• Flexible working available, using a hybrid model - working from home and your contracted work base. 
• 30 days annual leave
• Permanent for 37 hours per week

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Somerset Youth Justice Team as a Professional Practitioner, covering the West of the county in Somerset.

Somerset Youth Justice Team (YJT) aims to reduce youth offending through early intervention and providing holistic, multi-agency support. Most of the work of the team is with children and young people aged 10 to 18 who have been arrested by the police for a crime.

The team includes social workers, police, a probation officer, a psychologist, restorative justice workers, an education worker and volunteers. We work in a child centred approach, recognising young people as children first and offenders second.

We are committed to working with all children, young people, their parents and carers and victims without discrimination through race, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

We want to help support each child and young person living in Somerset to have the best possible chance of achieving their potential. What we know is that our children and young people are some of the most socially and educationally vulnerable in the county.

Somerset Youth Justice Team (Somerset YJT) is a high performing service with a low custody level.

We’re working to improve the lives of people in Somerset – and you’ll be a key part of that.

You will:

• Act as a specialist practitioner within the team, providing support and guidance to colleagues and other professionals.
• Act as a case holder for complex cases who have come through the police or criminal courts; complete holistic assessment using the Youth Justice Boards framework AssetPlus and undertake tailored interventions to promote desistance from offending.
• Identify and manage risks and safety and well being through timely response and effective collaboration with other agencies and professionals.
• Represent the Youth Justice Team in different arenas including criminal court, police custody and other professional multi- agency meetings.
• Help drive service improvements and embed corporate values to improve outcomes for the children you are working with.
• Take on lead responsibility for some areas of on-going, or time-limited work.
• Set an example of professional conduct for all staff that places the welfare of children and families we work with, and the communities they live in, at the heart of what we do.

You will need to be a motivated and experienced professional practitioner with the ability to build robust professional relationships both within and external to the Youth Justice Team, which will include police, education and Children’s Services and critically with families supporting our children and young people.

A solution focused and motivational approach is vital, as is energy: this role can include county wide travel and the successful candidate will need to have strong time management skills and a willingness and ability to travel within a large operational area whilst minimising resource implications.

You will need to be able to engage with children and families in a variety of office and home settings.

You will need to be able to utilise ICT to undertake this role – you will use our case management system for recording your work and completing holistic assessments as well as Microsoft office applications such as Word and Teams.

The vulnerability of the children and young people we work with is increasing, the society we live in is changing and the structures and frameworks within which we operate can be expected to alter and evolve at an increasing pace. We therefore need staff who are prepared to learn and adapt rapidly to these changing contexts, as demands arise.

Educated to Degree level or equivalent qualification such as NVQ Level 6 in a relevant thematic area (such as social work, probation, teaching, psychotherapy, psychology, youth work, health professions, education, domestic abuse, family work)

and

Significant experience working with children and families with multiple and complex needs whilst maintaining an outcomes focus.

Evidence of a commitment to on-going professional development in their specialist field and to the principles of evidenced based practice.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more.

The salary range for this role is £36,124 to £40, 476 per annum

We are proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve. We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team.

For an informal discussion please contact our Team Leaders Lynne Pickup on 07946442029 and Lara Mellor on 07855285701

Please note this role requires access to a vehicle with business insurance as some of your time will be spent in the community completing direct interventions with children, young people and families.

Interviews will take place on 13^th and 14^th March 2025.

When completing your application/CV please provide your full employment history and ensure that any gaps in employment are explained. Please start with your current or most recent employment.

If you have all the information you need, just hit the apply button - we can’t wait to hear from you.

This post requires a criminal background check via the Disclosure procedure.