Family Support Worker

Role Responsibility:

Family Support Worker

G4S Care and Rehabilitation Services

HMP Five Wells, Wellingborough, NN8 2NG

Salary £23,861.00 per annum

Permanent, Full-Time (40 hours per week)

G4S Care & Rehabilitation Services (CaRS) successfully manages five prisons, one secure training centre and a number of community contracts in England and Wales. The philosophy of our business is to rehabilitate offenders and equip them with the skills needed to re-integrate back into society. Our aim is to create an environment in which our staff and our service user feel safe.

We are looking for a Family Support Worker to join our energetic and proactive team to assist with supporting prisoners and their families on a range of family related issues.

The successful candidate will deliver high quality family support services through the dedicated helplines, play area and other areas within the department including the refreshment bar, to reduce re-offending by developing and strengthening family ties.

Some of the key responsibilities are;

• Deliver high quality support to prisoners and their families through our family support and prisoner support helplines.
• Provide 1-2-1 support to prisoners on family related matters.
• Support prisoners through domestic visit processes.
• Work in collaboration with volunteers and student placements.
• Make appropriate referrals to other relevant agencies or organisations.
• Establishing and sustaining communication links between offenders and their families / relatives whilst they are in custody following the correct processes.
• Informing families of events as appropriate.
• Ensure accurate sharing of information between the secure environment, offender’s families and the community as appropriate.
• Supporting children and families whilst on a visit i.e. visits department, play area, refreshment bar.
• Undergo training as deemed appropriate to the position.
• Assist in daily, weekly and monthly collation of all relevant data for the purpose of monthly returns / KPIs / KPTs.
• Communicate effectively at all times with the general public and internal departments, ensuring company policies and procedures are followed at all times.
• To work in partnership with other agencies to include local volunteer bureaus, statutory bodies etc.
• Promote the adoption of models of good practice and quality standards with relation to children and families, including good practice as identified by HMIP, HMPPS, COPE, etc.
• To maintain positive and effective working relationships with prison staff including: Visits, Visitor Centre, Resettlement, Security, Offender Management etc.   
• To establish good relationships and lines of communication with Chaplaincy, Probation, IMB and others involved in the life of the establishment.
• Assisting in the delivery of the refreshment bar provision including stock taking and cash handling.
• Assisting in the delivery of Family Intervention Programmes as required.
• Assist in the promotion of creating a positive Health & Safety culture across the site leading by example, this includes reporting accidents and near misses in a timely manner & follow the applicable safe systems of work for the role

The Ideal Candidate:

Essential Skills

• Knowledge of the Family and Significant Others agenda.
• Delivery of great customer services.
• Excellent communications skills and organised in managing daily tasks.
• Knowledge of data protection and GDPR.
• Supporting and managing others.
• The successful candidate must be able to work on one’s own initiative as well as part of a proactive team in a challenging environment

Desirable Skills

• Experience of working within the criminal justice sector
• Relevant vocational/voluntary/life experience
• Ability to use software applications such as Google, Word, Excel, etc
• Individuals should be well motivated and innovative in their approach to work.
• A belief in the ability of people to make positive life changes.

Equality and Diversity is an important part of G4S Care and Rehabilitation Services. We actively encourage applications from a diverse range of backgrounds.

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 HMPPS and are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

You must be eligible to work in the UK and must have been resident in the UK for a minimum period of 3 years. You will also 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.