Caseworker (YJ006)

Role overview

We are looking to recruit an additional Caseworker in our Youth Justice Team on a permanent basis. You will help with covering gaps in the team by providing casework support to young people who are impacted by violence and/or the criminal justice system. Both full and part-time working will be considered, but you must be able to commit to a minimum of three days per week. You should be a quick learner, able to work flexibly, and committed to delivering the best possible outcomes for young people.

Key objectives:

• To contribute to the delivery of our Youth Justice service, delivering a holistic service to young people involved with the criminal justice system or impacted by violence, enabling them to move on to independence.
• To build and maintain a network of relationships with external relevant agencies and internal specialists.
• To take a consistent and high-quality approach to building relationships with young people and enable delivery of a psychologically and trauma-informed practice-based service.

Reporting to: Head of Youth Justice and Youth Justice Service Manager

Main tasks and responsibilities

Young people's services

Developing and delivering a holistic service to young people involved with the criminal justice system or impacted by violence.

1. Working within the Youth Justice team to ensure young people receive a high-quality service from the point of initial contact to move-on.

2. Holding and managing a caseload of young people and helping individuals achieve their goals as well as working with them to live a life away from the criminal justice system.

3. Working towards enabling young people to move-on into safe and suitable accommodation.

4. Referring young people to the Jobs, Education and Training team to support progression into appropriate opportunities.

5. Working with colleagues at NHYC and external partners to enable young people to develop skills for independent living as well as enabling young people to develop coping mechanisms to enable a change of lifestyle.

6. Establishing, developing, and delivering innovative programmes of activities that responds to clients’ changing needs, to keep them safe, and enable them to move on independently – including work around housing.

7. Providing expert coaching and guidance to clients and monitoring and evaluating their progress as well as providing key working sessions.

8. Continued use of feedback and showing a commitment to a service that is sensitive and responsive to clients’ needs, involving completing Initial Contacts Forms, needs assessments, risk assessments and action plans with clients.

9. Contributing to the management and development of the service, including attending daily briefings and ensuring that Health and Safety issues are addressed at all times, attending reflective practice and team meetings.

10. Taking a hands-on approach to dealing with complex or difficult situations young people face.

Sharing best practice

To proactively share best practice with internal and external stakeholders in order to maximise the impact of the work of NHYC. This will include:

11. Seeking out and responding to opportunities with specialists and agencies who might offer resources, funding, or individual services relevant to client needs e.g., Local Authorities, Social Services, the DWP, health services, and other voluntary sector agencies.

12. Contributing to research and innovation projects that ensure NHYC remains a leading organisation within the sector.

13. Promoting and representing NHYC at relevant forums and meetings.


Information Management

To produce and maintain accurate and useful information in a range of formats in order to promote effective service delivery and evaluation. This will include:

14. Recording all contacts with clients appropriately and maintaining all relevant files and recording systems up to date.

15. Producing written reports in a variety of formats to meet the requirements of New Horizon, external service providers and funders, e.g., project reviews and assessment reports.

16. Inputting and extracting information from client monitoring systems other accounting and database systems. Utilising other relevant software for the production of correspondence and reports.

17. Being self-servicing in day-to-day administration and following team and NHYC’s administrative procedures.

Reviewing Personal Performance and Development Needs

To be proactive in reviewing and evaluating own performance and identifying and acting upon areas for improvement. This will include:

18. Continuously reviewing own working practices in line with client feedback and current best practice.

19. Reviewing and evaluating own performance to identify strengths and areas for development. Identifying own learning and development needs and opportunities.

20. Undertaking development and training opportunities and being responsible for obtaining maximum benefit through review, reflection, and practice.


Other

To contribute positively and constructively to the development of the teams, service and NHYC. This will include:

21. Covering for other members of the team, as necessary.

22. Following and implementing New Horizon’s policies, procedures, and performance expectations in all functions of the post.

23. Undertaking, as required, any other duties compatible with the level and nature of the post and/or reasonably required by the line manager, Head of Services, Director of Operations or CEO.

Person specification

We are looking for an individual who can demonstrate the following competencies to a high level and want to use these to the full in their work.

E: Essential

D: Desirable

Qualifications, experience and track record

1. Ability to work effectively with young people with experience of the criminal justice system to identify personal goals and support mechanisms for change. (E)

2. Experience enabling young people to access housing, education, training, and employment outcomes. (E)

3. Experience of planning and delivering work with young people on both a 1:1 and group basis, which meet the diverse and varied needs of these young people. (E)

4. Experience of working with young people who have experienced violence, trauma and/or involvement in the criminal justice system in a casework setting. (E)

5. Ability to create and maintain external partnerships to support organisational aims and objectives including representation of the organisation at external meetings and events. (E)

6. Experience of using IT systems (including knowledge of databases) to support the achievement of personal and collective work goals. (E)

7. The ability to multitask in a pressured environment. (E)

8. Existing relationships with relevant partners, particularly housing providers, probation services, youth justice services, custodial establishments, and other supporting services (D)

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

9. Ability to hold and manage a case load of clients, from assessment and engagement through to maintenance of the relationship, initiating regular contact and building a positive attachment with these young people. (E)

10. Understanding of the kinds of challenging behaviour that clients might demonstrate and the ability to be resilient to working in crisis situations, delivering strategies for dealing with such behaviour and working within set boundaries that enable the client to move on with their lives. (E)

11. Thorough and up-to-date working knowledge of:
• Local and National Government policies and housing legislation with particular attention to the criminal justice cohort (D)
• Relevant organisations and their role/responsibilities in providing support to young people (D)

12. Knowledge of working to performance indicators, including monitoring and reporting on service outputs/outcomes, client tracking, analysing performance information, and identifying corrective action. (E)

13. A high level of knowledge of health and safety issues in a working environment with particular attention to the criminal justice cohort. (E)

14. Experience and knowledge around safeguarding policy and procedures for children and young adults. (E)

15. A working knowledge of and commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as it applies to a supportive service and in the workplace. (E)

16. The confidence to work independently in the community and across various secure and prison settings. (E)

17. An understanding of trauma informed practice in the youth and adult justice sector and the challenges for young people impacted by serious youth violence. (E)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

18. Willingness and ability to work outside of normal office hours on occasion (within New Horizon’s flexible working hour’s arrangements) and over the Christmas period. (E)

19. Willingness to work flexibly in response to changing organisational requirements. (E)

20. Willingness to work from different sites including our day centre in Camden and some flexible homeworking. (E)

Timescales and how to apply

Dates

• Closing date for applications: 9am, Wednesday 16 April 2025
• Shortlisted candidates will be informed: 22 April 2025
• Interviews: Monday 28 April 2025

Application process

1. Complete the application form below
2. Upload your CV setting out your career history, education or qualifications, and other key responsibilities or achievements. DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME OR INITIALS IN THE DOCUMENT FILE NAME
3. Write a supporting statement (no more than 1500 words) highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the ESSENTIAL criteria listed on the Person Specification, and any additional relevant desirable points you wish to share. This is an important part of your application so must be completed. We recommend you work on this in another text file (such as Word) and copy and paste it into this box when you are ready to submit.

We do not consider incomplete applications.

You will be notified if you have not been shortlisted. However, we are unfortunately unable to provide each individual application with feedback.

If you have any questions or would like to arrange a call to discuss the role, please feel free to email us at recruitment@nhyouthcentre.org.uk or call 0207 388 5560.

Click here to see the job pack in PDF format or the job pack in Word format.