Title:Resource Assistant, Youth Court

Title:Resource Assistant, Youth Court

Group:Youth Justice Services

Reports to:Youth Court Supervisor

Location:Manukau/Otara Youth Justice

Direct Reports:Nil

Budget:No

OUR ORGANISATION

About us / Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children is a new Ministry dedicated to supporting any child in New Zealand whose wellbeing is at significant risk of harm now, or in the future. We also work with young people who may have offended, or are likely to offend. Our belief is that in the right environment, with the right people surrounding and nurturing them, any child can, and should flourish.
Our vision / Our vision is: New Zealand values the wellbeing of tamariki above all else.
Our purpose / Our purpose is: To ensure that all tamariki are in loving whānau and communities where oranga tamariki can be realised.
The Oranga Tamariki way / We’re introducing a new way of doing things. A way of looking at the world that guides everything we do:

Our core outcomes / Our core outcomes are:
-All children and young people are in loving families and communities where they can be safe, strong, connected, and able to flourish
-Improved outcomes for all children, especially tamariki and rangatahi Māori.

POSITION PURPOSE

The purpose of this role is to ensure the service we provide to the Youth Court is high quality, timely, accurate, and meets legal timeframes. This role has primary responsibility for activities in the following areas but is not limited to:
-Responding to inquiries and concerns from court stakeholders and Oranga Tamarikistaff, with the ability to resolve difficult and sensitive inquiries and complaints
-Managing, preparing and maintaining client files for court
-Recording outcomes and decisions from court and ensuring accurate and complete information is made available to appropriate Oranga Tamarikistaff in a timely manner
-Provides effective support to the Youth Court Supervisor(s) and Oranga Tamarikistaff.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Key Result area / Key Accountabilities
Youth Court services / Under the direction of Youth Court Supervisor(s):
-Gather and provide appropriate, accurate and timely information to clients, professionals, Oranga Tamariki sites; youth court stakeholders and others as appropriate, to maximise good decision making processes i.e. daily arrest notifications; bail and remand options; placement options; sentencing options etc
-Gather and distribute reports for court from sites and residences across the country, and liaise between court stakeholders and Oranga Tamariki sites around any issues or queries that may arise
-Coordinate and coach support staff i.e. escorts, to ensure that the young people and the courts’ needs are met and that Oranga Tamariki legal processes, policies, and procedures are followed
-Prepare and maintain court files; whilst also performing quality control audits in order to ensure accuracy of court records. Perform a variety of in-court duties as required
-Oversee the setting of court dates and confirm court arrangements; notify interested and concerned individuals regarding court proceedings
-Provide limited case management assistance in conjunction with the social worker/supervisor and other relevant parties
-Keep factual and timely formal records through the use of computer based and other information systems, e.g. CYRAS inputting and file summaries, under the guidance/direction of the youth court supervisor
-Co-operate and support any agreed quality assurance process operated by Oranga Tamariki
-Undertake whanau searching/genogram activities as instructed.
Administration / -Provide general support to the team, e.g. telephony and reception duties as required
-Follow legislative requirements and Oranga Tamariki policies and practices at all times
-Accurate data entry for court recording and Oranga Tamariki information.
Relationship and interagency Cooperation / -Make a positive contribution to the development of a co-operative relationship with the supervisor. This includes actively participating in supervision
-Maintain a positive work atmosphere by behaving and communicating in a manner that gets alongside the clients, Oranga Tamariki staff, external stakeholders and supervisors
-Work collaboratively with others within the workplace and wider communities.
Being part of the Oranga Tamariki team / -Actively and positively participate as a member of the team
-Proactively look for opportunities to improve the operations of Oranga Tamariki
-Perform any other duties as needed by Oranga Tamariki
-Comply with and support all health and safety policies, guidelines and initiatives
-Ensure all incidents, injuries and near misses are reported into our H&S reporting tool
-Comply with all legislative and regulatory requirements, and report any breaches as soon as they become known
-Adhere to all Oranga Tamariki procedures, policies, guidelines, and standards of integrity and conduct
-Demonstrate a commitment to and respect for the Treaty of Waitangi and incorporate these into your work.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Internal / -Youth Court Supervisor(s)
-Social Work Supervisors and Practitioners
-Senior Practitioners
-Other Social Work and Court Resource Assistants
-Practice Leaders
-Site Managers
-Youth Justice and Care and Protection Residence staff
-Legal Services
-Casual Workers Bureau Co-Ordinator and Escorts
-Placement Coordinator
-Call Centre staff (as appropriate).
External / -Ministry of Justice i.e. registrars
-Youth Court Judges (as appropriate)
-Youth Advocates
-Lay Advocates
-Ministry of Education
-Police Prosecutions
-Crown Solicitors
-Corrections
-Other court stakeholders.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Qualifications / -A minimum of four years’ secondary education
-An understanding of social work practice and operations within Oranga Tamariki would be beneficial but not essential
-An understanding of youth court processes and relevant legislations would be beneficial but not essential.
Experience / -Experience and understanding of, and experience in an administration role within in a public and/or state sector environment
-Some knowledge of the applicable legislation; Public Finance Act, Health & Safety, State Sector Act, Crimes Act; Oranga Tamariki Act; etc as well as experience in working with public service department policies, systems and processes
-Demonstrated successful experience in the provision of customer focussed financial, administrative support services to managers and staff
-Demonstrated ability to work in collaborative peer and other stakeholder relationships
-An understanding of social work practice and operations within Oranga Tamariki.
Skills / -Intermediate level competence in the use of the Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
-Well-developed written and verbal communication skills and effective interpersonal skills including ability to influence others in a non-directive manner
-Calm professional demeanour, with the ability to maintain performance under stress
-Effective organisation, planning and time management skills
-The ability to manage sensitive and confidential information in an appropriate manner
-Excellent Court Etiquette at all times
-Professional presentation at all times
-Builds and maintains rapport with others based on their own integrity and honesty, has the ability to collaborate with others, to achieve mutually agreed goals
-Works to resolve problems, conflicts or difference by finding areas of agreement that benefit the organisation and individuals
-Ability to be clear about one’s role and to evaluate the purpose of taking a particular action
-Commitment towards positive outcomes for children, young people and their families.
-Understanding and appreciation of cross cultural issues and concerns, in particular, knowledge of tikanga Māori, and Pacific peoples’ culture.

POSITION COMPETENCIES

Competency / Description of success profile behaviour
Teamwork and co-operation
Self-confidence
Resilience
Conceptual thinking
Analytical thinking
Interpersonal understanding
Achieving the task
Relationship building
Influencing others
Computer systems
Communication
Information seeking and interpretation
Listening and responding
Role clarity
Service orientation / -A demonstrated ability to contribute as a member of the team and to an environment of co-operation. This includes the ability to be adaptable and responsive within a changing work environment.
-Demonstrate confidence in own judgement on matters of integrity, confidentiality, flexibility and initiative.
-A demonstrated ability to persevere though periods of heavy workload and stressful situations.
-The ability to identify patterns or connections between situations; identify key or underlying issues in complex situations and resolve these by using creative, conceptual and inductive reasoning.
-The ability to understand a situation by breaking it into smaller pieces, to be systematic, to trace cause and effect implications, and to set priorities.
-A desire to understand the structure and protocols of other cultures and a willingness and aptitude to utilise these for the benefit of clients of the Service.
-Ability to organise work through an efficient use of time, working independently as required, setting targets and achieving them.
-A demonstrated ability to establish working relationships with individuals, social work teams, caregivers, voluntary agencies and others stakeholders
-Ability to influence others in a non-directive manner
-Familiarity with and skills in the range of computer systems used by Oranga Tamariki
-Ability to influence others through persuasive written and oral communication and clear logical presentation of facts
-An ability to elicit basic information and record/relay accurately through a wide range of information gathering skills
-An ability to listen, clarify and respond appropriately
-An ability to be clear about one’s role and to evaluate the purpose of taking a particular action
-An ability to work within the framework of Oranga Tamariki(and where appropriate, Iwi Social Service) toward meeting the desired outcomes for clients.

Position Description – Resource Assistant, Youth Court1