Case Worker - Youth Justice Service

Reading Youth Justice Service (YJS) is located within Brighter Futures for Children and has strong links with partner services working with children and young people. The YJS is seeking to recruit 2 permanent Caseworkers to our vibrant and dynamic team at Grade 6 level or above. We are seeking Youth Justice Case Workers who hold a recognised professional qualification and have significant experience of supporting children within the Youth Justice system.

You will need to have a proven ability to engage and support children and young people who have offended or are at risk of offending as well as good assessment and risk management skills. You will also need to be able to work flexibly in managing a varied caseload and will also need to be prepared to work some evenings/weekends occasionally.

Role Responsibilities:

To manage a caseload of children and young people, delivering child focussed interventions.
To ensure appropriate assessments are undertaken with young people and to be able to prepare relevant reports of a high quality.
To act as a Court Officer and attend as a representative of the Youth Justice Service.
To work collaboratively with others in the YJS and partner agencies

Relevant Professional Qualification e.g. Social Work Qualification, Professional qualification in probation, Youth Justice Degree.

Essential knowledge, skills and experience:

Significant experience of working with children and young people in the Youth Justice System.
Experience of carrying out complex assessments of need and risk with children and young people.
Experience of Chairing multi-agency meetings and coordinating complex multi-agency work.
Managing high risk cases involving substantive work with families.
Knowledge of relevant legislation and initiatives in relation to working with children and young people., Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

Brighter Futures for Children is a not-for-profit company, owned by, but independent of, Reading Borough Council. Although we are independent, we are very much part of the Reading Family. Our people enjoy all of benefits as other Council employees including membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and continuous service.

We work closely with partners in the local community and key organisations including Reading Borough Council, policy, public health and voluntary groups. We are responsible for the delivery of children's social care, early help & prevention, education services (including SEND). This also includes fostering and adoption, the Youth Offending Service and traded services with schools.

Our main aim is to protect and enhance the lives of the children of Reading. We help families find long-term solutions to ensure children lead happy, healthy and successful lives.

We offer a supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to put your ideas across. Innovation and ambition are strongly encouraged, and you'll get a great feel for that working in our friendly and collaborative environment.

A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:

Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution
Incremental holidays starting with 26 days plus public holidays (rising to 33 after 10 years' service)
Discounted Childcare (on site nursery)
Cycle to work scheme.
Season train ticket loans.
Salary Sacrifice Car Lease Scheme
A range of local shopping discounts

Inclusion and Diversity

We want Brighter Futures for Children to be a great place to work and to ensure that our children, young people and families are represented in leadership roles and positions of power. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our children, young people and families so that equalities and justice remains at the heart of everything we do.

Asking for Adjustments

Brighter Futures for Children is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions.