Mentoring and Advocacy (MAS) Key Worker
Doing Good Leeds
Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Join Our Team
We are an award winning organisation, led by and for women. You can become part of the Together Women team if you are driven and passionate about working within a women-centred support service which advocates for systems change. We are seeking someone with excellent interpersonal skills, a can-do attitude, and the confidence to manage a wide range of duties. We are looking for a dynamic individual with strong analytical skills and a proven capacity to manage detailed processes.
We offer 25 days annual leave increasing by one day per year to a max of 30 days, plus bank holidays, flexible working, Pension Scheme, access to employer assistance programme and the opportunity to work as part of a dynamic and growing organisation!
We actively encourage applications from women from a variety of backgrounds, and with a range of skills and experiences. We are particularly interested to hear from Black, Asian and minority ethnic women and women who have personal experience of the criminal justice system. The role is only open to women, in accordance with the sex-based exemptions of the Equality Act 2010 pursuant to Schedule 9, Part 1support
Closing date: 12pm on 28th March 2023
Interview date: tbc
About Us:
Together Women is a regional, award-winning charity which provides independent, holistic, gender-specialist support to women facing multiple disadvantages, including women involved in (or at risk of being involved in) the criminal justice system. We work in prisons, the community and ‘through the gate’, supporting women leaving prison and in the community to address the root causes of offending. We run Women’s Centres and ‘hubs’ for services across Yorkshire and Humberside.
Our Mentoring and Advocacy Service is a provider within the NHS/HMPPS Women’s Offender Personality Disorder pathway, employing a gender-specific approach to support women offenders with personality difficulties, working with women for up to 2 years.
Role Summary
The role will provide a mentoring and advocacy service to women affected by the criminal justice system who are experiencing personality difficulties.
The role will include supporting women on a 1:1 basis both in the community and HMP New Hall. You will actively engage and support a caseload of up to 25 women, which will include women who are transitioning from custody into the community.
The role will also include proactively building a network of partners who can offer specialist support to the women, developing a knowledge of relevant service provision to enable women to access the services they need. You will work collaboratively with external agencies including probation, clinical teams and other voluntary services and build professional working relationships.
The post holder will be based at HMP New Hall for 2 to 3 days per week and support women from across the West Yorkshire in the community for the rest of the week. The community base will be located in Wakefield.
Together Women’s core working hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. However, we expect some flexibility in this as we respond to the needs of our customer group.
Key Accountabilities
Responsible for a caseload of women to whom you will provide high quality customer support via the following:
Promoting, receiving and processing referrals in line with current practice guidelines.
Identifying and assessing individuals’ support needs including risk assessment and informed by relevant background information.
Building effective relationships with women; to encourage them to identify and respond to their needs, interests and personal development; and to provide guidance and support to enable them to deal with a wide range of issues affecting their lives.
Working within and alongside an integrated model of care involving Health, Criminal Justice System and Social Care professionals.
Providing continuous and consistent support to women, with a particular emphasis on: motivation and engagement; practical issues (including family); relationships (with family, staff and peers); navigating and accessing services (including education and employment); and self-esteem and empowerment.
Encouraging women who use the service to provide honest and open feedback in order to promote quality assurance.
Encourage women to access support and treatment, where needed.
Contribute to measuring and monitoring systems as required.
Ensure all necessary records are properly maintained in line with policies on client files, finance and administration.
Work collaboratively with other providers of the Offender Personality Disorder pathway to enable decision making and problem resolution.
Use evaluation, learning and feedback to support service development.
Participate in regular one to one supervision and group reflective practice.
General Responsibilities
Represent and be an ambassador for TW.
Support and embody the mission, ethos and values of TW.
Be flexible and carry out other associated duties as may arise, develop or be assigned in line with the broad remit of the position.
Maintain and improve competencies through continuous professional development.
Abide by all organisational policies, codes of conduct and practices.
Support and promote inclusion, diversity and equality of opportunity in the workplace.
Treat with confidentiality any personal, private or sensitive information about clients, other organisations, staff and projects.
Role Requirements
Essential
Experience of the delivery of frontline services
Knowledge and understanding of the issues faced by women with personality disorders
Knowledge and understanding of the issues faced by women affected by CJS
Experience of working with women in a support role
Experience of case management and recording
Experience of building positive partnerships with other agencies
Strong IT skills (PC literate and competent in using MS Office)
GCSE (or equivalent) in Maths & English – Grade C or above
Satisfactory DBS check
Desirable
Relevant NVQ or equivalent at Level 3 or 4
Experience of working with women affected by CJS
Experience of working with women with personality disorder
Experience & competence in report writing
An understanding of the particular problems faced by women affected by CJS with dependants
Experience of outreach work
Knowledge of child protection issues
Experience of running training sessions and workshops