Assistant Psychologist - Youth Justice - Oxford

Job overview

We, in Youth Justice Liaison and Diversion, are a team based within the Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) who work with children and young people that are involved in offending behaviour or suspected of a criminal offence.

We are looking to recruit an Assistant Psychologist to support the vital work our team do across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

We work in a variety of ways including consultation, assessment and intervention. We are looking for a motivated and passionate Assistant Psychologist to help our service delivery and support our ongoing development. The role supports the team whilst also being under the supervision of a consultant clinical psychologist, and contributes to the treatment of individuals as well as the service response more generally.

We'll need you to be able to travel across the counties to visit custody and come into our office base in Maple House, but we do also offer hybrid working  (working from office base for 2 days a week, including a Wednesday as this is currently our team day) and also some flexibility with hours (8am - 6pm) in alignment with service need - we know how important a good work/life balance is.

*This advert may close early once sufficient applications are received *

Main duties of the job

No day is the same in the Youth Liaison & Diversion Team, however a general overview of an Assistant Psychologist’s week would include the following:

Triaging new referrals with the clinicians, liaising, and assessments with a clinician. An assessment in the community is most frequently completed at the young person's home, school or the team’s office.

Following this, the Assistant Psychologist may complete risk assessments and a report of the assessment, as well as onward signposting including internal referrals within CAMHS, to charities, and meetings with professionals involved with the young person’s care.

For young people where potential neurodiversity is queried, this includes requesting, marking and presenting neurodiversity questionnaires. During the week the Assistant Psychologist would support young people currently in police custody, either through in-person or virtual screenings, or collaborative working with the team’s adult Liaison & Diversion colleagues.

On a case-by-case basis, the Assistant Psychologist may complete 1:1 CBT- informed sessions with young people, under the supervision of the consultant clinical psychologist. During the week the team office day allows for all members to meet in person, discuss new and ongoing cases, feedback regarding any training or service improvement, and a forum for clinical discussion.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are embedded within Specialist Services, so you will have unique opportunities to explore a career which spans across our teams who support children exposed to sexual harm, are at risk of harmful sexual behaviour and offending behaviour.

Across all these services and teams, you will be exposed to a range of professionals, such as Clinical Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Mental Health Nurses who will be willing to share their knowledge with you and develop your expertise.   We have plenty of learning opportunities and there are always projects available for you to get involved with to really help progress your career. You'll also be able to network within most services of the Directorate, meaning you'll be exposed to how we support mental health across Oxfordshire and the South West.

Your general key responsibilities will include:

• 1:1 Therapeutic Sessions with young people under clinical supervision
• Liaising with young people, their parents/guardians, and other professionals (including Social Care, Educational Professionals, other CAMHS teams etc)
• Accurate and timely record keeping of all clinical interactions (including screenings, risk assessments, reports etc)
• Onward signposting including completing internal referrals, record meetings etc
• Escalating any safeguarding concerns as they arise
• Accurately recording and reflecting Youth Liaison & Diversion Team data