Caseworker

In 2019 'Victim Support' for Surrey was brought in house to Surrey Police and the Witness Care Unit became the Victim & Witness Care Unit. We have a team of caseworkers and volunteers supporting victims and witnesses throughout Surrey. The Role You will be required to act as a single point of contact for victims. Provide practical advice, support and assist victims in the cope and recovery phases of their experience. The nature of service required will vary depending on the needs and circumstances of each individual victim. This will range from shorter term interventions to deal with specific issues, to longer term, on-going support addressing a range of needs and/or supporting individuals through the criminal justice process. You will manage and maintain contact throughout the victim's journey, where victims have identified support needs. This includes face to face visits, incoming and outgoing phone calls, text messages and emails in order to ensure the victim is supported, informed and updated, via agreed timescales and their preferred method of contact. As a caseworker, you will ensure compliance with the minimum requirements of The Victims Code of Practice. Key Responsibilities You will ensure appropriate and dynamic risk assessments are conducted throughout the lifespan of all support cases and escalate any issues of concern or risk matters to the Victim Liaison Team L You will carry a caseload and provide direct support to victims who have been affected by crime against an agreed support plan, recording progress and monitoring outcomes achieved. You will establish and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders, both statutory and third sector in both formal and informal interactions in order to achieve the highest standard of service and support for victims, share data and open lines of communication. You will liaise with and respond to queries from other support agencies and parties involved in supporting victims of crime (i.e. housing/social services). You will support victims through the criminal justice system. This will include support in attending court and liaising with witness service. You will be responsible for prioritisation of your own workload and effective time management in order to ensure the needs of the victim, and partner agencies are met. You will proactively identify knowledge gaps and training opportunities, as well as attending core refresher training to ensure skills are kept up to date. You will deliver any training, as necessary to key stakeholders or peers to raise awareness of the service. You will proactively research local support agencies to develop new links/referral pathways to meet the needs of victims, attending regular team meetings and bring local issues, feedback and learning to share with the team, When required, you will coach and train new members of staff in aspects of the caseworker role. You will be flexible in your approach and adapt to the changing demands of the Victim and Witness Care Unit, legislation and technology. You will maintain awareness of support services available to victims and witnesses and ensure current understanding of how external organisations can assist with support. You will contribute to the implementation of initiatives within the Victim and Witness Care Unit. Proactively suggest ideas in order to improve the experience of, and service provided to, victims and witnesses and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes and performance. You will be responsible handling and sharing of sensitive information in accordance to policy., We are only as good as our people. It's important that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we know that as an organisation we'll grow from the variety of thinking, approach, and the skills that diversity brings; all of which help us to deliver a better policing service. We strive to ensure how we deliver our services, provide information and how we recruit is open and accessible to all. We have multiple staff support groups who help to improve our understanding of minority issues and ensure they are reflected in our work. We are proud members of Disability Confident, hold Race Equality Matters Trailblazer status, are a signatory of the Race at Work Charter and are aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement. We are committed to being an anti-racist police service. We promise to challenge injustice, ensure fairness and to uphold anti-racist principles in both our organisation and our communities. For more information, you can read our full anti-racism statement here. We value the differences that people bring from all backgrounds and communities. Regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, social status, or religious belief, we would love to hear from you. Please use the following links to find out more on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Surrey Police and Sussex Police

Essential skills and experience required for the caseworker role:

• Demonstrable experience in dealing with people in a customer focused environment or supportive network for at least a period of approximately 12 months.
• Demonstrable experience of supporting and encouraging customers to take personal action, along with the ability to adapt communication accordingly is critical. Ideally, including experience of dealing with vulnerable victims / witnesses.
• Excellent case management and administrative skills and ability to assimilate a thorough knowledge of practices and procedures that relate to the work involved
• Demonstrable well-developed interpersonal and verbal communication skills to liaise courteously with internal colleagues and partner agencies whilst maintaining confidentiality.
• Experience of being self responsible for decision making.
• Demonstrable experience of having an awareness of risks and the ability to know when to escalate them.
• Attention to detail combined with the ability to work to strict timescales as stipulated by the Victims Code.
• Ability to cope with pressure, work unsupervised and manage time effectively with the skill to deal with several issues at once.
• Demonstrable experience of working within a team of people and sharing knowledge.
• Good working knowledge of computer and the ability to produce clear, concise and accurate records.
• Ability to maintain professional knowledge and expertise to remain current as procedures and technology advance with a willingness to embrace and make suggestions for improvements in relation to criminal justice legislation, policy and initiatives.
Additional Requirements:
• You will be required to be vetted for security clearance.
• You will be required to undertake training in the use of secure communications systems
• This role may involve travel to meetings and locations within and beyond the counties of Surrey and/or Sussex for which public transport may not be suitable, therefore you must have access to your own transport and be insured for business use.
  
  We really welcome your interest in joining our Police Force. It is a privilege to lead the teams in Surrey Police and Sussex Police who continuously work selflessly and tirelessly in order to keep people in our counties safe.
We are looking for talented and inspirational people who put the needs of the public at the heart of everything that they do and who want to make a difference. If you feel you are that person then we want to hear from you. We wish you all the very best with your application. Chief Constable Tim De Meyer & Chief Constable Jo Shiner, Policing is an exciting 24/7 business and we all have commitments outside work. We're invested in supporting people to balance their life with work and we encourage flexible working. We are open to conversations about job shares and part time working. We encourage agile working, giving you the opportunity to manage your own diary and work wherever you give the best service to the public. This may include flexi-time and home working. We take pride in looking after our people and offer a variety of benefits;
• career progression
• contributory pension scheme (LGPS)
• generous annual leave allowance
• discounts for everyday spend
• on-site gyms and a range of sports clubs
• generous and supportive parental leave
• financial and mental wellbeing guidance and support
• discounted contributory healthcare scheme, We recognise that our people are balancing demanding careers with commitments and interests outside of work. We welcome applications and discussion with candidates who want to work full-time or part-time/flexible hours., Following submission of your application you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your application attached. Occasionally emails from this address can fall into spam/junk folders so please ensure this is checked regularly. You may wish to consider adding noreply@surreysussexpolice.as.recruitmail.com to your address/contact list to ensure you receive all communications.
This post is being advertised in parallel with Force redeployment processes. Any redeployees who are identified will be given preference. This may result in the post being withdrawn at any point during the recruitment process. Please note that not all jobs are available for internal candidates across both Forces, the current agreed recruitment principles are;
• vacancies in collaborated units are available to all officers and staff across both Forces
• vacancies in non-collaborated units are only available to officers and staff within the Force with the vacancy unless it is advertised externally
• if the vacancy is advertised externally and an officer or member of staff from the other Force is successful it will result in a transfer of employment