Senior Family Engagement worker

To lead a small team to deliver the family services in HMP Wealstun in line with the establishment’s requirements, which will involve the following family services: a welcoming visitor centre facility; play and children’s services, family engagement case work, family support to families of prisoners and Family Learning.

To develop and maintain positive relationships between prisoners and their loved ones, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of prisoners reoffending through supporting and maintaining family contact.

The service will provide support to ensure that children, families and prisoners are treated with respect and dignity.

The service will also help ensure families are able to gain greater access to support and early help within their local community and services and families work together to decrease the chance of intergenerational crime.                                                                                                                                                  

Reports to: Jigsaw Director        

Scale: SCP scale 16

Key Tasks, Duties & Responsibilities of all Family Engagement Co-ordinator

Support to families

1. To lead and deliver a service that ensures children, carers and other relatives have access to appropriate advice, guidance, learning opportunities, care, and support to better enable them to maintain or enhance positive relationships.

2. To assist in developing referral pathways for families and other professionals to access the service, as well as pathways into other relevant services and appropriate signposting processes.

3. To advocate for families dealing with imprisonment, promoting their human rights, and ensuring their needs are considered, and views are heard at all levels.

Visitor Centre services

1. To provide support for the visitors before and after visiting; ensuring the centre is open and staffed at the agreed times throughout the year, and that accurate and up-to-date information (in appropriate formats) about the prison, the assisted visits scheme and other relevant agencies is available to visitors. To hold responsibility for creating monthly rotas in advance and to adhere to the annual schedule of family events, in accordance with the needs of the prison.

Services for children

2. To lead and deliver high quality services that provide a safe and welcoming place for the children of prisoners, taking in to account their needs and the difficulties they face; ensuring the service provides play opportunities in the Visitors’ Centre, facilitated play sessions in the visit hall at the agreed times, family days in accordance with the planned schedule, and agreed enrichment activities such as homework clubs, baby groups and children only visits.

3. To oversee other aspects of the children’s services including sessional risk assessments, the provision and maintenance of safe and clean toys, books, materials, and the play area facilities (in conjunction with the prison), in line with Jigsaw standards

Services to prisoners

1. Oversee the deliver one to one case work by the Jigsaw Family Engagement workers using the ECINS case management system including carrying a small case load.
2. Deliver Jigsaw parenting programme/Family Learning Programme in accordance to the Contract requirement

People Management

1. To lead, by outstanding example, a dedicated Family Engagement/Support and Play work team comprising paid staff, volunteers, student placements and [where agreed with the prison], prisoner Jigsaw Champions in supporting prisoners and their families;

2. To co-ordinate staff resource to ensure the smooth running and high performance of a comprehensive service which runs alongside, and complements, that provided by the prison, being prepared to personally cover for roles across the team in response to operational need.

3. To provide warm, encouraging, person-centred management to a team of Jigsaw staff (including volunteers and student placements) and through support and supervision, training, and appraisals as required;

4. To encourage team development through regular team meetings and training opportunities, and foster collaborative working particularly between different services to enable the sharing of best practice and enable the seamless support of service users.

5. To lead, with support, the recruitment, and induction of staff, student placements and volunteers as required.

6. Record and monitor the team’s annual leave

7. Record and monitor sickness levels within the team

8. Provide support to Jigsaw at HMP Leeds as required in the absence of the Jigsaw Director

Operational planning and performance monitoring

1. To develop and implement the local operational plan for the service, in line with prison and contractual requirements, and with support from the Jigsaw Director; and ensure the service meets the key performance indicators of the contract and the establishment;

2. To develop local service processes and procedures to enable the team to provide a consistent and high-quality service.

3. To produce and collate statistics and effectively monitor services, provide regular reports for the Jigsaw Board and Governors at HMP Wealstun and use the information to identify ways to improve the service.

4. Collate and report feedback from all Family Interventions delivered by Jigsaw at HMP Wealstun

Health and Safety

To promote and manage the health, safety and welfare of all personnel, workers and volunteers within the team and service, and for the effective implementation and achievement of the Jigsaw Health and Safety policy including ensuring there are up-to-date risk assessments; Jigsaw staff have received adequate training and are competent; accidents and incidents are correctly reported; and regular safety inspections are carried out and improvements implemented in conjunction with the prison.

Safeguarding

To promote and implement the Jigsaw Safeguarding policies, ensuring staff are trained and competent to identify safeguarding concerns and that any concerns are reported in line with the policy.

Data protection and data security

To promote and implement the data protection and data security policies and ensuring prisoner and family information is held securely, and where data breaches occur, that correct reporting procedures are implemented and improvements are made to avoid future breaches.

Service user engagement and involvement

To engage and involve service users, by identifying the needs of prisoners, children and families and opportunities for involvement through a process of on-going consultation and to use this process to inform and develop strategies to enhance engagement and involvement.

Equal opportunities and diversity

To promote diversity and Jigsaw’s values by ensuring the services are available to all service users, that no service user or Jigsaw person is discriminated against because of a protected characteristic, that the services are responsive and sensitive to the needs of service users through, for example, cultural and religious awareness.

Jigsaw’s policies, procedures and standards

To ensure Jigsaw staff are aware of and correctly implement all Jigsaw’s policies, procedures and standards relating to their roles.

Prison security and procedures

To ensure prison security and other prison policies are adhered to by the Jigsaw team, and ensure that the team is aware of any changes to local prison arrangements, and that Jigsaw staff attend appropriate training provided by the prison.

Partnership Working

1. To be the lead for Jigsaw family services within the prison, attending operational review meetings, stakeholder groups, focus groups and reviews as required;

2. To work collaboratively with other Jigsaw services that may be operating in other prisons and/or local community.

3. To build strong links with prison staff and departments to enhance the family services

4. To develop and maintain good, pro-active working relationships with agencies both in the prison and in the community, including promotion of Jigsaw and development of referral procedures;

5. To work closely with the prison and other case managers/key staff as appropriate, to provide support to prisoners in custody regarding family issues;

6. To liaise with key departments to signpost prisoners to other support in custody;

7. To promote Jigsaw in the prison and in the community in order to attract support from additional statutory and third sector partners.
8. Organise and facilitate the Jigsaw School’s Project

Jigsaw is a developing organisation and this role is likely to develop over time. Consequently this job description may not be comprehensive and some specific duties may change in accordance with organisational needs.

Person Specification: Family Engagement Co-ordinator

• The knowledge, skills and abilities required for this post are set out below.
• You will be required to set out how you meet some of these requirements in your application, and others will be assessed during the remaining selection process (interview and other assessment methods) and/or during the probation period. 

Knowledge and Education

Essential

• Knowledge of the criminal justice system, particularly the prison establishment, and an awareness of the impact of custody on prisoners and on their children and families
• Clear understanding of professional boundaries which will enable you and your team to work with prisoners and their families.

Desirable

• Knowledge of health and safety, risk assessments

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrable ability to work with diverse group of staff and service users
• Experience of supporting individuals with multiple and complex needs to overcome barriers in a multi-agency environment
• Interagency work, building partnerships particularly with prisons but also other agencies, promoting positive relationships between different agencies, and developing new approaches to service delivery
• Casework with clients/service users, and of maintaining clear, up to date records in accordance to the Data Protection Act (1998).

Desirable

• Experience of managing a service and delivering against contract requirements
• Experience of managing people and ideally experience of recruiting and supervising volunteers
• Experience of operational management
• Experience of working in a prison setting with an awareness and understanding of the challenges it brings
• Experience and knowledge of safeguarding, health and safety, data security
• Delivering training to groups or staff

Skills & Abilities

Essential

• Ability to motivate and lead others, and offer pastoral support
• Good negotiation and advocacy skills.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage a demanding work load and use initiative
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work in partnership with a range of agencies, at both strategic and operational service delivery level.
• Ability to work in a challenging environment and remain calm.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.

Personal Qualities & Attitudes

Essential

• Results orientated with a “can do” attitude
• Effective personal and professional boundaries, able to recognise, resist and manage grooming/conditioning behaviours.
• Committed to continuous personal development and learning, and responsive to constructive feedback
• A methodical and disciplined approach combined with initiative to thrive and succeed in a very challenging environment
• Commitment to the inclusive culture of Jigsaw and to the active promotion of equal opportunities
• Empathy with the children and families of prisoners