Band 7 Criminal Justice Senior Practitioner-Swindon

Job overview

AWP is seeking a compassionate Senior Practitioner to provide clinical leadership within our Integrated Non-Custodial Service.

Working across police custody, courts and community settings, you will lead the Liaison and Diversion pathway, identifying and supporting people with mental health needs, neurodivergence, learning disabilities, substance misuse issues and other vulnerabilities at their first contact with the criminal justice system. You will provide day-to-day clinical leadership and supervision to a multidisciplinary team while maintaining a clinical caseload. You will oversee trauma-informed screening, assessment, risk management, safeguarding and onward referral, ensuring safe, evidence-based and person-centred practice. Working with police, courts, probation, health, social care and voluntary-sector partners, you will strengthen pathways and continuity of care.

You will be a Registered Mental Health Nurse or registered Social Worker with current professional registration, relevant post-registration experience and knowledge of legislation. You will have experience of complex assessment, care planning, clinical supervision and multi-agency working, supported by strong communication, leadership and analytical skills. Flexibility and frequent travel are required. If you share our PRIDE values and are committed to outstanding care for vulnerable people, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

• Provide day-to-day clinical leadership and oversight of the liaison and diversion pathway. This will include ensuring we have the right processes in place that adhere to safe governance principles and policy.
• Offer clinical supervision and managerial supervision to the Intensive team and other members of the MDT as required
• Develop and disseminate packages of care which may include a variety of evidenced based interventions that work with women
• Hold a clinical caseload as appropriate, with adherence to professional registration as well as attending your own clinical supervision.
• Provide first line support for staff in managing clinical risk and safeguarding concerns ensuring appropriate escalation and multi -agency collaboration.
• Work closely with Team Managers to support effective triage, assessment and allocation of referrals.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Provide inclusive, compassionate and effective leadership for your team by setting clear vision and direction.
• Develop a culture and environment in which members of staff are encouraged and supported to deliver high- quality services and are supported to innovate and improve services where appropriate.
• Encourage your team to feel able to raise concerns openly and safely.
• Promote equality of opportunity in service delivery and employment, ensuring that no person receives less favourable treatment than another on the grounds of gender, marital status, race, religion, creed, colour nationality ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation or disability.
• Support prompt recruitment by identifying vacancies to the AWP Recruitment Team as soon as they arise, and participate in the selection and effective induction and onboarding of new joiners to the team.
• Ensure that all team members have a very positive introduction to the team and a well-supported first year.
• Take responsibility for encouraging people to stay with AWP, ensuring that you are aware whenever a member of your team is considering leaving, seeking to understand their reasons and encouraging them to stay.
• Ensure that key messages are cascaded in your team and that your team are encouraged to put forward suggestions.
• Show appreciation to your team when they do good work and support them when they are struggling.
• Consider the individual needs of team members for a healthy work-life balance and think about how their needs can be supported by providing flexible ways of working.
• Support all team members to keep their mandatory and statutory training up-to-date and identify the learning and development needs of all team members of the team ensuring that everyone has an up-to-date personal development plan (PDP).
• Ensure that every team member as at least an hour of supervision (one-to-one meeting) each month, this may include both managerial and clinical supervision.
• Ensure all team members receive a constructive assessment of their performance each year and set SMART objectives for the coming year.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.