12th May 2014

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your enquiry about the post of Senior Key Worker of Mentoring and Advocacy Service at Together Women.

Please find enclosed the supporting information, role profile and an application form.

The closing date for applications is 2nd June 2014 at 5pm.

We will write to you shortly after the closing date to inform you of the outcome of your application.

Please email your application to and ensure that you include ‘Senior Key Worker’ in your subject line.

Receipt of your application will be acknowledged.

If you would like further information on the role please contact Lieran Docherty on 01133808900 or by email

Please note this post exempt under section 7 (2) (e) and (f) of The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and therefore open to female applicants only. The successful applicant will be subject to an enhanced CRB check.

Role Profile
Title / Senior Key Worker
Team / Mentoring and Advocacy Service
Grade / Scale points 28-29 (£23,945 - £24,892)
Hours / 37
Leave / 30 days (plus public holidays)
Report to / Service Manager
Role summary
Together Women Project (TWP) supports females with multiple and complex needs and those facing social exclusion, with a particular focus on female offenders and those at risk of offending. TWP has centres in Hull, Sheffield, Bradford, Leeds, New Hall Prison and outreach services in Lincoln and Keighley. The ultimate aim is to help vulnerable women turn their lives around and address issues which are linked to offending or which place a woman at risk.
TWP has received a contract to deliver services to women offenders with personality disorder across the north of England. The aim of the service is to reduce repeat offending and improve health and well being through a flexible, holistic and gender specific service.
The Senior Key Workers willoversee a team of 3/4 Key Workers as well as hold a small caseload. The Senior Key Workers will focus on supporting women in approved premises as well as overseeing Key Workers working both in custody and the community. The Senior Key Workers will engage with and provide intensive support to women; offering needs-led, emotional and practical support around accommodation and finance, health and well being, motivation, family and relationships, accessing services and confidence and self esteem. They will also provide Key Workers with supervision and day-to-day management.
There will be a focus on staff training, reflective practice and supervision appropriate to the specialist nature of the service and staff’s individual roles and responsibilities.
Our core working hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm; however we offer flexibility around working patterns. On occasion there may be possible evening and weekend work.
Key accountabilities
  • Responsible for overseeing and supporting 3/4 Key Workers working in both custody and the community:
  • Respond to enquiries and referrals into the service and distribute accordingly.
  • Overseeing Key Worker’s caseload, monitoring, reporting and risk assessments.
  • To provide supervision to Key Workers and co-ordinate team meetings amongst the wider team.
  • Providing day-to-day management to Key Workers working in custody, community and often working through outreach.
  • To support Service Manager in maintaining partnerships with stakeholders across the region to enhance the holistic and responsive elements of the service.
  • Responsible for a small caseload of clients to whom you will provide high quality client support via the following:
  • Identifying and assessing individuals’ support needs including risk assessment and informed by relevant background information.
  • Building effective relationships with women; to encourage them to identify and respond to their needs, interests and personal development; and to provide guidance and support to enable them to deal with a wide range of issues affecting their lives.
  • Working within and alongside an integrated model of care involving Health, Criminal Justice System and Social Care professionals.
  • Providing continuous and consistent support to women,with particular emphasis on motivation and engagement; practical issues (including family); relationships (with family, staff and peers); navigating and accessing services (including education and employment); and self-esteem and empowerment.
  • Encouraging feedback from women using the service in order to promote quality assurance.
  • Supporting women to help them make progress feel more stable and remain motivated to access current and future support and treatment.
  • Contribute to measuring and monitoring systems as required.
  • Ensure all necessary records are properly maintained in line with policies on client files, finance and administration.
  • Work collaboratively with other providers of the Offender Personality Disorder pathway to enable decision making and problem resolution.
  • Use evaluation, learning, experience and use feedback to support service development.
  • Manage and update own skills base to ensure quality service delivery and personal development in role.

Essential Requirements / Desirable Requirements
  • Experience of the delivery of services for women
  • Experience of overseeing staff or volunteers in leadership or management capacity
  • Knowledge and understanding of the issues faced by women offenders with personality disorder
  • Experience of working with women in a support role
  • Experience of working with offenders
  • Experience of case management and recording
  • Experience of building positive partnerships with other agencies
  • Strong IT skills (PC literate and competent in using MS Office)
  • GCSE (or equivalent) in Maths & English - Grade C or above
  • Satisfactory Criminal Records Bureau Check
/
  • Relevant NVQ or equivalent at Level 3 or 4
  • Experience of working with women with personality disorder
  • Experience & competence in report writing
  • An understanding of the particular problems faced by women offenders with dependants
  • Experience of outreach work
  • Knowledge of child protection issues
  • Experience of running training sessions and workshops

Qualities we are looking for in candidates – Our Competency Framework
Client focus / Service Provision
  • Commitment and enthusiasm for working with our client group
  • Empathy with client group
  • Manages caseload and delivers support as per the requirements of the service contract and the internal quality audit framework requirements
Recording & monitoring
  • Maintain case files and administrative/monitoring systems effectively

Interpersonal
Skills / Working with others:
  • Builds and maintains effective working relationships, with clients and stakeholders; within the organisation and external to it
  • Manage and ensure that clear professional and emotional boundaries are established
  • Demonstrates a keen understanding of the ability to adapt one’s approach when working with different groups (e.g. clients, partner agencies, stakeholders and colleagues)
Communication
  • Presents spoken and written information clearly and appropriately and to a high standard
Diversity
  • Builds trust and demonstrates respect for others, showing an awareness of the impact on own behaviour on others
  • Treats everyone fairly and consistently

Personal effectiveness / Risk management
  • Works in line with policy and procedure
  • Applies and promotes risk management
  • Aware of the need for confidentiality in dealing with information; of when confidentiality should be preserved and of the circumstances when it is right to reveal confidential information and to whom to is right to do so
Approach to work
  • Willing to learn and develop
  • Plans, organises and implements work, on own initiative with minimum direct supervision
  • Flexible and creative approach at work; able to adapt to the changing needs of the program
  • Ability to manage time, prioritise and meet deadlines
  • Organised approach, with keen admin skills and attention to detail
  • Makes clear decisions and deal positively with challenges

The post holder is expected to work within policies and procedures of Together Women and be committed to its ethos and values. This includes promoting and demonstrating the principles of equal opportunity (including encouraging diversity and tackling discrimination) and sensitivity to the environment.
Application Form
Vacancy (Job Title): / Senior Key Worker
(Please complete using a black pen/ink)
1) Personal Details
Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Other:
Name: / Known as: / Any previous names:
Address:
Postcode:
Home Telephone: / Mobile:
Work Telephone: / May we telephone you at work? Y/N
Email Address:
Do you hold a full valid driving licence? / YES / NO
Do you have a vehicle available for work? / YES / NO
2) Current or Last Employment
Name of present or last employer: / Post Held:
Address: / Salary: / Notice Required:
Postcode: / Telephone:
Date you began employment: / Date you left:
Reason for leaving/wanting to leave:
3) Education/Qualifications & training relevant to post
Dates / Qualification/Course
4) Employment History (for the past ten years or since full time education)
Date started
and left / Employer and type of organisation / Position held, main duties and reason for leaving
5) Convictions
Please state any convictions you have had for criminal offences. Most of our posts are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. If the post you are applying for is not exempt, this will be stated in the covering letter and you need only declare unspent convictions. If none state “none”. If necessary attach a separate sheet giving details of dates, offences and sentences, place in separate envelope marked Private and Confidential. All exempt post will be subject to criminal record checks via the criminal records bureau. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you form working with Together Women.
6) References
Please give the names and addresses, one of which should be your present or most recent employer. State in what capacity you are known to each referee. Where you have been in post with your current or last employer (if currently not working) for less than 12 months, we will automatically take up references from your last two employers. Please provide their details.
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Email:
May we contact them prior to interview? YES / NO / Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Email:
May we contact them prior to interview? YES / NO
7) Role Requirements – part 1
With reference to the role profile, please outline how your skills and experience enable you to meet the key accountabilities for this role. Use additional sheets if required. Please limit the additional sheets to 1 sheets of A4.
7) Role Requirements – part 2
With reference to the role profile, please describe how you meet each of the essential requirements and comment on the desirable items if you wish. Please also outline how you meet the competencies required. Use additional sheets if required. Please limit additional sheets to 1 sheets of A4.
8) Declarations
Are you related to or a partner of a Together Women customer, worker or Board member?
YES / NO
(If yes give brief details on a separate sheet)
To the best of my knowledge there is no reason in respect of my physical or mental health why I would not be able to carry out fully the tasks described for this post. I confirm that the information I have given on this form is correct and complete and that I understand misleading statements may be sufficient grounds for dismissal.
Signed: ______Date: ______
Please return the completed form to the address/ email stated in the covering letter by the date specified.

Equal Opportunities

This form will be detached from your application form upon receipt and the selection panel will not have access to the information during the Short listing or interviews.

Together Women provides support for single people regardless of their background and therefore intends to ensure equality of opportunity in our recruitment process. People seeking employment will not be refused on the grounds of gender, ethnic origin, colour, sexuality, disability, religion, appearance or HIV status.

To ensure that this policy is effective, we monitor our Job Applicants according to the categories below. Completion of this form is voluntary, but it does help us provide a better service if this information is given. Thank you.

THE INFORMATION YOU GIVE ON THIS FORM WILL BE CONFIDENTIAL TO TOGETHER WOMEN AND USED FOR MONITORING PURPOSES ONLY.

______

Name:Post applied for:

I define my gender as:

FEMALE

MALE

I define my ethnic origin as:

WHITEMIXED

BRITISHWHITEANDBLACK CARIBBEAN

IRISHWHITE AND BLACK AFRICAN

OTHER (please give details)WHITE AND ASIAN

OTHER (please give details)

ASIAN AND ASIAN BRITISHBLACK

INDIAN AFRICAN

PAKISTANICARIBBEAN

BANGLADESHIOTHER (please give details

KASHMIRI

OTHER (please give details)

CHINESE OR OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS

CHINESE

OTHER (Please give details)

I define my sexuality as:

LESBIAN/GAY

BISEXUAL

HETEROSEXUAL

Do you define yourself as having a disability?

YES

NO

If yes, please specify: ______

Age:

20 - 30

31 - 40

41 - 50

51+

Where did you see the advertisement? ______DIVA website ______

Guidance Notes on Completing this Application Form

If you would like this application form to be supplied in large print, Braille or disc format, please telephone the person on the covering letter who will arrange this.

For any post in Together Women, the application form plays an essential part in choosing the right person for a job. It is only the information contained in your application form that will decide whether or not you are shortlisted for an interview.

The following will help you complete the form:

  • Think about the job you are applying for and exactly what it involves.
  • Read through the application form so that you know exactly what information is required.
  • Read through the Job Description, Person Specification and (where povided) the project profile so that you know exactly what the job is and the skills and abilities you require to do the job.
  • Make a rough list of all your skills and experiences. Choose those you think are relevant to the job.
  • No assumption will be made about your skills and experience so it is essential that you tell us how you meet the criteria - e.g. if you are a secretary tell us what is involved, do not assume the title "secretary" explains everything.
  • Complete the Application Form legibly, ensuring you cover all the essential criteria from the Person Specification. If you wish, add any evidence of how you meet the desirable criteria. If there is insufficient space, you may like to photocopy page 3.
  • Check you have signed the declaration at the end of the application form.
  • Make sure you know the closing date and return the form in plenty of time.
  • Ensure that you have paid the correct postage. We will not be responsible for collecting any under paid correspondence from the sorting office.

Word Processing

We will be happy to accept your own version of the form provided it covers all of the questions and is signed. CV’s are not accepted.

What happens next?

  • Your completed application form will be used to decide whether or not you are selected for an interview. If you are shortlisted, you will hear within 15 days of the closing date.
  • The interview panel is normally made up of 3 people who will ask pre-determined questions based on the person specification. The questions are intended to allow you to expand on your application and to show the panel how well you meet the requirements of the post. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about the job, conditions of service or anything else about the orrganisation. The panel has to keep a record of their assessment of each candidate so that the reasons for their decision are clear, consistent and justifiable.

Complaints

If you feel you have been treated unfairly, please write to us and we will investigate.

We are trying very hard to ensure that every stage in our recruitment process is fair and properly thought out. We have a duty to ensure that everyone is treated without discrimination. We hope that you have been treated fairly and helpful even if you are not appointed. If you wish to discuss why you have been unsuccessful, please contact the relevant manager who will be pleased to talk to you.

Equal Opportunities

Enclosed with this form you will find our equal opportunities statement and overleaf, a voluntary monitoring form to send in with your application form. This is not made available to the interview panel and is used to monitor whether we are reaching all sections of the community and to check that our recruitment process operates fairly.