Lived Experience Peer Worker

Job overview

• Do you have personal lived experience of mental distress or vulnerability and direct experience of the serving a custodial sentence, time on remand or Immigration removal centre?

• Would you like to use your lived experience to support others to improve their wellbeing, recovery, and engagement with services
• Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) is expanding its peer support service within the Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Team and RECONNECT service

Peer support involves using personal lived experience to support individuals facing similar challenges. This role is designed for someone who has experienced mental health challenges or vulnerability and has personally experienced time in prison.

Your lived experience will help build trust and engagement with individuals who may struggle to access or remain engaged with services.

This role works across both the Liaison and Diversion service and RECONNECT service, supporting people within criminal justice settings and during transition back into the community.

Main duties of the job

Peer support is when people use their own lived experiences to support others who are having similar experiences.  This is an exciting opportunity for someone with personal experience of living with mental distress or vulnerability as well as being involved with the criminal justice system themselves. This could be that you have been arrested or been to prison before. Using personal lived experience to support our service users has been evidenced as gold standard care.

We have recruited a position within Liaison and Diversion and now are looking to recruit in RECONNECT.  The successful applicants will be required to work across both services, engaging with individuals offering support to set and reach recovery goals.

Important Eligibility Requirement

Applicants must clearly demonstrate the following within their application:

• Personal lived experience of mental health challenges or vulnerability • Personal lived experience of a prison environment

Applications that do not clearly demonstrate these experiences will not be shortlisted.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Safeguarding and Eligibility

This role involves working with vulnerable adults and individuals involved in the criminal justice system.

The successful applicant will be required to undertake an Enhanced DBS check including an Adult Barred List check.

Applicants must not be included on either the Adult or Children’s Barred Lists.

Being included on a barred list means an individual is legally prevented from working with vulnerable groups.

Having a criminal record does not automatically prevent someone from applying. Applications are considered individually in line with NHS safer recruitment guidance.

Information about barred lists and DBS checks can be found via the Disclosure and Barring Service:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/dbs-barred-lists

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-filtering-guidance

Applicants are encouraged to review this information if they are unsure about their eligibility.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Support service users directly including one-one or in small groups.
• Support service users with their integration into the community.
• Initiate, establish and maintain relationships with service users in a variety of settings (including, homes, NHFT sites and in the community)
• Share and discuss common experiences with service users in an appropriate manner.
• Work under the direction and leadership of registered professionals, undertaking duties using a recovery focus
• Support people with their emotional, personal, and physical needs.
• Develop a trusting and mutually beneficial rapport with service users
• Act as a coach and mentor to service users by providing information about support and services available to them within NHFT and the local community.
• Develop links across other organisations that support service users.

Please note, applicants who do not indicate that they have lived experience of mental health challenges or vulnerabilities plus experience of being within a custodial setting within application will not be considered for the role.

Please note we are unable to accept applications for those on the adult or child barred lists. This role will involve a DBS application prior to unconditional offer of employment.  These will be considered on an individual basis.

For further information on the advertised role, please refer to the job description located under the Supporting Documents heading. The full person specification can be accessed under the ‘About You’ Section of the document.