Family and Engagement Worker

Family and Engagement Officer

G4S Care and Rehabilitation Services

HMP Parc, Bridgend, CF35 6AP

Salary £31,225.14 per annum

Permanent, Full Time, 40 hours per week

Benefits: Company Pension, free on-site parking, on-site canteen, ongoing training and development and access to High Street Shop discounts.

Within Care and Rehabilitation Services, the philosophy of our prisons is to rehabilitate offenders and equip them to re-integrate into mainstream society on release. We seek to normalise prison conditions as far as possible to reflect life in the outside community. Our aim is to create an environment in which staff and prisoners feel safe and causes of prison stress are minimised. Central to our philosophy is the relationship between staff and prisoners. Our training and operational practices emphasise the need to treat prisoners with dignity and respect and G4S staff build positive and supportive relationships with the prisoners in their care. HMP & YOI Parc accommodates 1800 convicted male adult prisoners and remand/ convicted young offenders and young people in a secure but modern environment.

We now have an opportunity for a Family and Engagement Worker to join our team at HMP Parc.

The post holder will assist in taking forward the wider agenda of motivation, engagement and behaviour management focussing particularly on the role of family, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing in promoting change within young people. As part of a progressive team, we are looking for an individual who can innovate and generate motivation for improvement and development, from young people, their family/significant other, and as a team. As a motivated self-starter you will coordinate, engage, encourage and support individuals to take responsibility for their health, wellbeing and development, sustaining this change into the community. You will develop person-centred and family interventions for lifestyle, wellbeing and personal development. The job includes face-to-face work with the young people (15-18yrs old) as well as the family members / significant others in the young person’s life. This will be achieved in collaboration with prison staff, managers and prison departments and regimes, NHS services, Youth Offending Teams (YOT), community and voluntary sector agencies.

Direct work with young people

• Maintain a proactive response to young people, continuously providing positive options for behaviour change throughout their time in custody.

• Use a combination of motivational work, relationship building and a broad range of behaviour, lifestyle and therapeutic skills to engage young people to address their identified behaviours.

• Motivate and support young people to address the broad range of needs that may contribute to the risk that they pose to themselves or others. Supporting them in addressing that risk e.g. Violence, Substance Misuse, etc.

• To plan and deliver work specifically tailored to young people and their families (either jointly or separately) to both challenge harmful behaviour and encourage motivation to change.

• To ensure young people understand that the young person’s community at Parc will hold them accountable for their actions and any abusive behaviour towards others.

• Ensure that there is appropriate consistent delivery of services to young people, including support planning, education, employment & training and health.

• Develop strategies that will reduce the risk posed by young people.

• Ensure that risk assessment and risk management procedures are followed at all times.

• Respect and value the diversity of the community of young people at Parc, providing a service that recognises the different needs of service users and their families.

• Ensuring the health, welfare and safety of young people is considered in every aspect of your work, address parenting needs where appropriate and taking action to safeguard children.

Inter-agency work

• Work to embed the role into multi-agency responses to managing young people in the criminal justice system.

• Effective understanding and implementation of institutional advocacy by pro-socially challenging partner agencies, acknowledging best practice and striving for change to benefit the young person, the service and the sector.

• Support other professionals in responding to young people in a way that supports the desired outcomes for the young person.

• Working closely with other professionals to ensure that risk management and safeguarding duties are met.

• Develop and maintain effective partnership working with statutory, private and voluntary agencies to address the identified issue and areas of risk/development for young people.

• Represent the service at operational multi-agency meetings, feeding back initiatives and outcomes to the team and contribute to the evaluation of the quality of activities these services offer.

• Provide a single point of proactive and regular contact for a range of professionals involved in the case of the young person and their family members for matters of family support, engagement and related initiatives.

• Liaise with Social Services to ensure the identified needs of looked after children are met and maintained

• Work in an integrated way across various sectors with both internal and external agencies.

Family Support and Engagement

• To act as a point of contact for family members and significant others of the young people residing on the Young Person’s Unit alongside others in the Family, Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion Team.

• Co-ordinate / facilitate group work and individual sessions with young people and their families as and when required

• Establishing and sustaining positive engagement between young people and their families / significant others where appropriate

• To inform next of kin and Local Authority professionals of incidents and concerns relating to young people on the YPU, ensuring any external communication is in line with GDPR, legislation and local policy.

• To take an active role in the planning and facilitation of community / family engagement events taking place on the unit and within the visits hall (e.g. family days, mental health awareness week, etc.).

• To promote the role and needs of the family when working with children internally and with agencies working across the criminal justice sector as part of the Invisible Walls initiative.

• Chair monthly parenting forums alongside community partners and youth custody service representatives

• Comply with child protection and information sharing policies, ensuring that young people and colleagues understand and comply with the service’s safeguarding framework.

• Support and motivate young people to take advantage of opportunities such as healthy living, ETE, Lifestyle and Resettlement.

• Use motivational and cognitive behavioural principles to implement basic problem solving strategies

• Attend monthly supervision meetings with your Line Manager.

• Take appropriate steps to safeguard where there is an imminent risk to the young person or another person.

• Ensure that case files and records are accurate and complete. That all files are kept and in compliance with Data Protection Act requirements. Including entering all the required information into electronic case management system. Maintain an accurate and secure audit trail of all relevant communication, complying with the data protection and information sharing protocols.

Service development work

• You will engage with staff and young people with the aim of developing and delivering behaviour management and wellbeing programmes within a rehabilitative and child focussed setting.

• You will apply skills in health behaviour change and motivational interviewing techniques. This will include sourcing, developing and delivering appropriate interventions.

• Develop an approach to promote and support young people to live healthier more productive lives, and ensure continuity of support in the community.

• Develop and implement ways to reach at risk individuals who do not normally engage with Health, development and Wellbeing services

• Develop and implement tools and new ways of working that can be rolled out quickly and effectively on the YPU.

• Develop programmes that will engage young people and encourage compliance with health promotion, treatment and care regimes.

• Work flexibly and innovatively with the young people to help them find their own solutions to anger, health, lifestyle and wellbeing problems/barriers.

• To use health behaviour change principles to determine the young person’s willingness to change their behaviour.

General

• Remain up-to-date and compliant with all relevant legislation connected to your work, including organisational procedures, policies and professional codes of conduct and practice guidance, in order to uphold standards of best practice. Representing the YPU at local events; deliver training and presentations as required.

• Feed into the learning process via the Manager to improve services to young people ensuring that the experiences of service users and other agencies inform this process.

• Be confident to evidence reflective practice in all aspects of work, sharing learning and committed to reviewing individual and team practice, undertaking regular training.

• Act with integrity and respect when interacting with young people, employees, agencies and individuals. Competent in defensible decision making, recording and being held accountable

• Show initiative in tackling issues within the service and in relation to other agencies.

Responsibilities specific to prison environment

• Be familiar with and comply with Prison Standards, Prison Orders, Circular Instructions, Notices to Staff, Prison Rules, Health & Safety, and any other relevant material, in order to function as an informed practitioner within a custodial setting.

• Be familiar with the Establishment Business Plan/Health Delivery Plan/Health Needs Assessment/Reducing Re-offending strategy and Drug Strategy.

• To assure adequate levels of security in line with security requirements as mandated by the Governor and Home Office instructions.

Communication and key working relationships

• The post holder must be able to demonstrate excellent and proven communication and interpersonal skills at all times, and build and maintain good working relationships with all stakeholders. Represent HMP Parc YPU at local and regional events.

Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

HMP Parc is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff and volunteers are therefore expected to behave in such a way that supports this commitment. You will be responsible for safeguarding the interests of children and adults who you come into contact during your work. To fulfil these duties, you will be required to attend training and development to recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse or individuals at risk, to follow local and national policy.

Essential

• Demonstrable experience of working within the public health, criminal justice, health, wellbeing, sport and recreation, education, or social care sectors with a clear understanding of the need for and ability to deliver quality services.
• A high level of adaptability and passion for delivering excellence.
• Ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders, staff, service users, families and professionals.
• Demonstrable knowledge of the Criminal Justice System.
• Access to own transport.
• The ability to respond flexibly to the demands of the post.
• The ability to work as a member of a team.
• The ability to work alone and the ability to keep calm under pressure.
• The ability to understand and have a commitment to the principles of equality and diversity.

Desirable

• A relevant professional qualification e.g., Behaviour Analysis, Sports and Recreation, Social Work, Health, Probation, Community Work, Management.
• Understand the principles of Health, Behaviour Change, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
• Knowledge of local services and geography.
• Educated to degree level / can demonstrate sound and relevant academic/research based knowledge.
• Welsh Speaker

If you join us, you can be sure that you’ll find a secure, friendly and professional working environment and be given all the support, training and encouragement you need to build and develop a successful career with us.

HMP Parc encourages applications from Welsh speakers.

We are committed to being a bilingual organisation and any application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application made in English.

For more information on HMP Parc, please visit

Equality and Diversity is an important part of G4S Care and Rehabilitation Services. We actively encourage applications from all backgrounds and are a fully inclusive employer who aims to support all employees to be their true selves. We are happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments for either the role or during the recruitment process.

G4S Care and Rehabilitation Services is committed to safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of children and adults at risk and each employee is expected to support these goals.

Please note that these vacancies are subject to a 5 year checkable history and the strict vetting standards set by G4S and the Secretary of State for the Home Office and are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

You must be eligible to work in the UK and you will need to provide full details of your employment and education history for the last 5 years as part of the security screening process for this role.

G4S is the International business of Allied Universal, the world’s leading security and facility services provider and trusted partner to more than 400 of the Fortune 500. Allied Universal delivers unparalleled customer relationships, innovative solutions, cutting-edge smart technologies and tailored services that enable clients to focus on their core businesses. With operations in over 100 countries and territories, Allied Universal is the third largest private employer in North America and seventh in the world. Annual revenue is approximately $23 billion. There is no greater purpose and responsibility than serving and helping to safeguard customers, communities and people. For more information, visit g4s.com. In the UK, the company has an extensive network of offices and more than 31,000 employees.