Custody Lead

Job overview

L&DS is a service in Bedfordshire and Luton that work in partnership with Bedfordshire Police and the Local Courts to identify, screen and assess vulnerable people coming into contact with the criminal justice system. We provide an all age service and screen children and young people outside of the youth offending team working hours. We are based in Kempston Custody, Luton Custody and Luton Courts.

Our clientele are those who present with mental health illness, learning disabilities, substance misuse, neurodiversity and other vulnerabilities such as domestic violence, acquired brain injuries or homelessness.

We aim to provide a seamless service to those involved in the criminal justice system and to support and assist both clients and our many partnership agencies to achieve fair and proportionate criminal justice outcomes by addressing health and social care inequalities with the aim of ultimately reducing the risk of offending behaviour.

The Deputy Manager/ Police Custody Lead will provide oversight and support to the L&DS Practitioners to ensure the provision of high quality screening and assessment of individuals who have come into contact with the criminal justice system.  You will also be active in the provision of these assessments.

Main duties of the job

The assessments provided will look to identify a wide range of health and social care vulnerabilities including, but not restricted to:  mental illness, physical health needs, trauma/ personality disorder, acquired brain injury, alcohol and/or substance use, homelessness, learning disabilities or low IQ, autism, speech and language and communication needs, ADHD. Women and veterans are offered assessments as a priority, as are service users who may have committed high shame crime such as taking and distributing indecent images of children and child sexual exploitation. Outside of the Youth Offending Service (YOS) operating hours, Practitioners will also assess the needs of children and young people.

There will be times when you will deputize for the Operational Lead, attend meetings, chair meetings, complete audits, etc. You will support the Operational Lead in the day to day management of the service, provide supervision, support with data collation and interpretation, write reports for commissioners, provide training to partner agencies, etc. You will work alongside the Deputy Manager/ Court Lead and support each other during times of annual leave and high service demand, etc. You will also provide supervision and support to the STR Workers.

You will be required to work a 37.5 hour week and this may include 12 hour shift patterns between the hours of 8am and 8pm. You will also be expected to work at least one weekend in four subject to service needs.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Main roles  Provide supervision

 Lead on the induction and the development of new staff to provide quality screening and assessment of adult and children and young people.  Support all staff in the development of assessment skills, writing assessments for RiO and Athena, completing letters to relevant professionals and referrals to relevant agencies, etc

 Develop the knowledge and skills of new and existing staff in relation to the role of police custody and associated legislation  You will begin to develop Practitioner knowledge and understanding of the role of the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court, including completion of court reports giving consideration for reasonable adjustments and special measures, the role of the Primary and Secondary MHTR’s, understanding when to request a psychiatric and/or psychology report.  Support staff understanding of Part 3 of the Mental Health Act   Compile and interpret data, complete monthly audits of work  Support the ongoing development and transformation of the wider service, willingness and ability to travel across various sites   Lead on QI and the development of the service   Improve access to healthcare and support services for children and adults in contact with the criminal justice system with a view to reducing health inequalities, whilst also valuing the aims and wishes of service users   Actively seek to embed service user consultation and involvement in every aspect of service delivery, including leading on stakeholder meetings and small feedback groups   Actively demonstrate the core values of the Trust: we care, we respect, we are inclusive   And anything else that may be identified in relation to the role.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Communication and Relationships

 Provide and ensure Practitioners understand the etiquette and protocols required to work in a police custody setting.   Ensure Practitioners have the ability to use a variety of skills to engage with individuals who are difficult to engage with or who may be in a crisis; recognise and respond to communication barriers and .impairment in order to maximise engagement.  Provide and ensure Practitioners actively listen to service users to establish an understanding of their needs to help make informed choices about the support which may be available; and to advocate where required.   Provide guidance to staff in order to anticipate and manage unpredictable and/or volatile situations, including the ability to undertake a risk assessment before making contact.   Provide, supervise and independently undertake face to face and electronic screening of individuals referred to the L&DS with a view to identifying health and social care vulnerabilities and inequalities.   Provide and ensure the provision of timely, high quality verbal feedback to relevant partners and involved professionals, followed by high quality written reports.   Provide and ensure referrals are made to relevant health and social care services and optimise engagement by being creative and innovative and/or referring to STR Workers. Where individuals may be recalled back to prison, ensure referrals are made to Prison In Reach Services and Safer Custody as required.   Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with the police, the courts, Probation, Health Care Professionals (HCP), Serco, community alcohol and substance misuse services, etc. Able to provide high quality training to these partners.  Maintain professional, responsible and appropriate relationships with team members, colleagues, external agencies, patients and their family/friends, and other services. Undertake the investigation of complaints as required.   Ensure systems and understanding is in place to ensure all information remains confidential and is shared as required; able to consider the role of a Public Authority and when and where information should or should not be shared and how.  Provide supervision and oversight to B6, B4 and B3 workers; undertake HR processes and address the potential for conflict within the team.