JOB DESCRIPTION
Post: Family Engagement Worker (Scale 1) - HMYOI Aylesbury
Reports to: Family Services Manager
Purpose: To deliver family services in HMYOI Aylesbury in line with the establishment’s requirements, involving visit, play and catering services. This role may undertake family casework and potentially family enrichment activities.
May be required to deputise and provide cover for other roles in the team.
Aim: To develop and maintain positive relationships between prisoners and their loved ones, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of prisoners reoffending through supporting and maintaining family contact. The service will provide support to ensure that children, families and prisoners are treated with respect and dignity. The service will also help ensure families are able to gain greater access to support and early help within their local community and services and families work together to decrease the chance of intergenerational crime.
Hours of work: 18.75 hours per week
Introduction
Pact, together with its subsidiary, Pact Futures, a Community Interest Company, work across England and Wales to develop and deliver a range of innovative services, providing practical and emotional support to prisoners’ children and families, to prisoners, and to people with convictions. We enable active community engagement in criminal justice work through facilitating volunteering. Our work is founded on core values, the first of which is a belief in the innate dignity of every human being. Our focus is on human relationships, family and community. We are committed to achieving high standards of quality in all that we do.
KEY TASKS, DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
Visitors Centre
1. To offer a friendly and welcoming environment within the Visitors Centre, where people visiting the prison, can spend time before and after their visit including ensuring there is accurate information about the prison in appropriate formats; and that the centre is child-friendly (appropriate displays, availability of toys etc);
2. To assist in the operation of the Centre, including ensuring the Centre is open at the specified times; assisting with the booking in of visitors; liaison with prison staff to ensure the smooth reception of visitors and that the Visitors Centre is clean and maintained and when on duty, being responsible for the security of the Visitors Centre and ensuring fire regulations and health and safety regulations are observed.
Casework and support
3. To encourage families to access support for their needs by interacting with visitors, offering advice, guidance and support including referral to other agencies as appropriate on a confidential basis.
4. To identify first time visitors and ensure they are provided with enhanced support and reassurance.
5. To work with an allocated caseload ensuring identified prisoners, their children, carers and other relatives have access to appropriate advice, guidance, learning opportunities, care and support to better enable them to maintain or enhance positive relationships;
6. To provide warm, human support and ensure that children, families and prisoners are treated with respect, dignity and courtesy;
7. To carry a caseload of family support work relating to prisoners, and carry out detailed assessments to inform further work with the family unit;
8. To advocate for families dealing with imprisonment, promoting their human rights and ensuring their needs are considered, and views are heard at all levels;
Play Area
9. When required, to provide age appropriate play activities within the prison visit hall to ensure that children feel comfortable, safe and secure while visiting their parent in prison
10. To promote opportunities for children to engage with their mother/father who is in prison in an appropriate way during a visit and family days.
11. To ensure the play equipment is safe, clean and able to fulfil its requirements, storing and restocking as required
Other responsibilities
12. To support the team with developing and delivering activities for strengthening family relationships such as family days, homework clubs, play activities, peer support groups etc.
13. To support the team by working in the Visitors’ Centre, the Visits hall and in the prison on a regular basis, as dictated by the rota. This may include cover of the play area and tea bar if necessary to ensure contract compliance.
14. To attend relevant security training and adhere to prison guidelines and regulations at all times.
15. To adhere to best practice in child protection and to ensure that Pact’s safeguarding policy and procedures are complied with at all times.
Employee Responsibilities
16. To behave at all times in a professional manner and to be a good role model to other staff, volunteers, students and our service users, and when requested, supervise and support volunteers and students;
17. To adhere to Pact’s policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safe working practices, equal opportunities, child protection & safeguarding, and health and safety;
18. To be pro-active in keeping up to date with good practice and policies.
19. To promote Equality of Opportunity and Diversity through own work;
20. To attend relevant internal and external meetings;
21. The post-holder is responsible for their own self-development on a continuous basis, which should be regularly reviewed with their line manager through supervision and appraisal.
22. To maintain flexibility in the approach to the job to support the team and ensure the best service is delivered to prisoners and their families.
23. To be flexible i.e. work weekends, weekdays and travel as and when required.
24. To carry out any other duties which may be reasonably requested.
Pact Standards
Equal Opportunities: Pact is committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all, and expects all employees to implement and promote our policy in their own work.
Health and Safety: Pact is committed to a healthy and safe working environment and expects all our employees to co-operate to implement and promote our policy in all aspects of their work.
Conduct: All staff are required to conduct themselves in a lawful, professional, courteous and respectful manner, in accordance with the charity’s values and ethos and code of conduct.
Our work within prisons and other secure establishments, with ex-offenders in the community, and with children and adults with multiple and complex needs, requires all staff to operate at all times with due regard to security, protecting & safeguarding children and adults at risk, and public protection.
Pact staff are expected to provide supportive, caring, and non-judgemental services, in accordance with our charitable ethos, but within a clear framework of professional boundaries and conduct which must be maintained at all times.
All staff are required to conform with policies and procedures detailed on the Pact intranet, which are outlined to you during induction. It is your responsibility to ensure that you remain familiar with these and are aware of any changes that may occur to them from time to time.
You are also required to comply with all rules and regulations as required by the Ministry of Justice, National Offender Management Service, and local rules which may be in force at individual public or private sector prisons or other commissioning bodies.
Staff are also required to comply with detailed policies and guidance regarding confidentiality, Data Security and use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology), and maintaining privacy of all its staff and service users. Staff are required to ensure that they maintain an up to date awareness of all relevant policies and procedures, and to take a positive approach to their own learning and development.
Service User Participation: People who use our services are at the heart of everything we do. We strive for a culture in which prisoners, ex-offenders and their families are listened to, their opinions are respected and they are actively involved in decision making which leads to change. This change can be in prisoners, ex-offenders and their families (skills, knowledge, development or attitude), the services they get and use and the wider society.
Pact is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
PERSON SPECIFICATION: Prison Visits Catering Manager
The knowledge, skills and abilities required for this post are set out below. You will be required to set out how you meet some of these requirements in your application, and others will be assessed during the remaining selection process (interview and other assessment methods) and/or during the probation period.
Knowledge and EducationClear understanding of professional boundaries which will enable you to work with prisoners and their families.
An awareness of the impact of custody on prisoners, and on children and families.
An awareness and understanding of the challenges facing those working in a custodial setting
Good understanding of safeguarding
Good understanding of confidentiality and data protection / Essential
Desirable
Desirable
Essential
Essential
Experience
Experience of working directly with children, young people and their families using an appropriate range of techniques
Good experience and skills of planning creative, relevant play activities for children
Experience of working in a team and also of using own initiative with limited supervision.
Experience of working in a Tea-bar environment or other retail outlets or working in an environment where customer service is important.
Knowledge and experience of good practice in promoting diversity and making services accessible to all.
Experience of working in a prison environment and demonstrable understanding of how prisons operate is desirable
Experience of casework with service users / Essential
Desirable
Essential
Desirable
Essential
Desirable
Desirable
Skills & Abilities
The ability to offer a warm welcome to visitors, to smile and treat people with dignity and respect.
Ability to work in a challenging environment and remain calm.
Ability to support and coach volunteers
Good interpersonal skills and the ability to relate sensitively to the needs of prisoners’ families
Good communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to communicate effectively to a range of people including prison staff, other agencies, colleagues and service users
Computer literate and ability to use basic packages and internet / Essential
Essential
Desirable
Essential
Essential
Essential
Personal Qualities & Attitudes
Empathy with the children and families of prisoners
Diplomatic and able to deal with issues sensitively and with discretion
Organised and able to use initiative
Flexible and responsive to change
Honesty and reliability
Committed to the vision, mission, values and ethos of Pact and a respect and sensitivity to Pact’s heritage as a Catholic charity.
Committed to continuous personal development and learning, and responsive to constructive feedback
Committed to the inclusive culture of Pact and to the active promotion of equal opportunities / Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Other Requirements
· This post is subject to a 6 month probationary period, verification of identity and proven right to work in the UK, satisfactory HMPPS/MoJ Security Vetting and satisfactory employer references covering a minimum of 3 years. / Essential
Terms and Conditions:
Length of contract: Permanent Contract
Salary: £9,000 per annum (FTE £18,000)
Hours of work: 18.75 hours per week (flexible working including weekends as required)
Place of Work: HMYOI Aylesbury
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