Lived Experience Support Worker

Job overview

This post is for a Lived Experience Support Worker (also referred to as a Peer Support Worker or an Expert by Experience Support Worker) who will be embedded with the Primary Mental Health Requirement Treatment Team within the wider Liaison and Diversion Service.

Our team provides psychoeducation based interventions over twelve weeks for service users who have had a Community Order for primary care mental health treatment. We do this work one-to-one in person, by video, or by telephone and we offer a skills-based group virtually to all service users. Your role will be to work with us to provide additional lived experience support to service users going through the criminal justice system to help them to overcome challenges in their journey to recovery and wellbeing. You will do this holistically, being flexible in the way you work in order to provide tailored support to our service users. You may provide support by meeting service users for a coffee, joining them on their journey into their sessions, providing additional out of session support for their interventions, or developing different activities that suit their needs and your skills. You will work independently with service users, jointly with an AP, or as part of a drop-in clinic.

Applicants MUST have experience with receiving mental health treatment and it is preferred that they have experience of the criminal justice system.

Main duties of the job

Peer support is delivered through promoting empowerment and choice and giving the opportunity for the exploration of meaning and purpose.

You will have a caseload of service users who are benefiting from your contact; you will work with the treating AP to develop a treatment plan that works for their needs and their goals. You will also help to establish and run drop-in clinics at the different Probation sites where you and the APs will work jointly to offer skills and support on an ad hoc basis. You will join the rest of the team in giving presentations about our work, ensuring that the Lived Experience role is communicated effectively. You will gather feedback from service users you have worked with so that we are able to effectively evaluate the impact of your work. You will take up other tasks that interest you and benefit the service user, as well as develop your own projects of interest.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To support people who are experiencing vulnerabilities which include: mental health, learning disabilities, substance misuse and other psychosocial vulnerabilities. and challenges:

• To support individuals and groups using a peer-oriented approach
• Establishing therapeutic relationships with individuals navigating the criminal justice system. Respect confidentiality whilst recognising that there are circumstances where information may need to be shared with other professionals, particularly if there's a risk to the service user or others, or if the service user discloses details of a crime.
• To be a positive role model for other people overcoming vulnerabilities, other workers and members of the public
• To use parts of your recovery story to inspire hope in others where appropriate

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.