17737- Family Support Worker in North East

The job holder will be responsible for coordinating visits, maintaining the essential link between the establishment, prisoners and their families, ensuring the visit is enjoyable for the prisoner and their family. The visits area is maintained, including a variety of refreshments for families available during the visit. This is a non-operational job with no line management responsibilities. This role is rotational.

Responsibilities:

• Manage the visitors’ centre ensuring visitors are made aware of all services available to them with clear guidance/protocols in line with HMPPS policies.
• Lead in the resettlement pathway “Families and Children,” delivering marriage courses, family support groups and assist with opening channels of communication between a prisoner and their child/children where appropriate.
• Liaise and work with other departments to discuss events held within the visits centre including children’s days, family days, visits with a difference, visitors days, social events.
• Promote and deliver good working practice, embracing the “Seven Pathways” which will contribute towards strengthening family ties and the resettlement of prisoners.
• Recruit volunteers and paid sessional staff ensuring they undertake appropriate courses to assist them in their job.
• Facilitate weekly inductions for all new prisoners informing them about legal and domestic visit procedures.
• Provide play and craft activities and themed visits in the establishment based around the seven pathways, offering information to families.
• Ensure the visits garden area and children’s play area is properly maintained, risk-assessed and suitable for garden visits.
• Contribute to risk assessments for legal and domestic visits in the establishments.
• Manage the selection criteria for prisoners to work in the visits hall.
• Produce the compact for them to work to and ensure they have the relevant training, e.g. Food and Hygiene.
• Ensure stock is checked and ordered as required.
• Log attendance and approve prisoner hours worked and wages in the visits hall.
• Assist in the arrangements for weddings, and source cake, flowers and anything else appropriate as agreed with the couple.
• Maintain and update information on notice board within visits.
• Utilise resources in the most efficient and effective manner within prescribed guidelines Waste Minimisation Policy.
• Represent department at regional and national meetings to ensure the maintenance of good practice, the sharing of information, helping to deliver positive family networking, and issues affecting the families of prisoners.
• Challenge any unacceptable behaviour and use correct reporting procedures.
• Assist in co-ordinating therapy visits for prisoners.
• Undertake other administrative tasks including: Organise, produce and maintain accurate records for the area of work.
• Act as contact point for all communications to the Team, prioritise and distribute to the appropriate person or relevant department in the establishment.
• Complete monitoring returns for the area of work.
• Input requisitions on the finance database for purchases in the area of work.
• Co-ordinate any awareness sessions for the area of work.
• Prepare paperwork for checking by their manager, conducting initial checks as required.
• Correspond with relevant stakeholders and agencies to ensure that they are aware of information and that it is adequately shared.
• Maintain and check establishment databases, manual filing systems and logs of information with responses within timescales, producing reports as required.
• Collate information on relevant Service Delivery Indicators (SDI’s).
• Arrange any meetings including the preparation of paperwork, minutes and action points.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

Qualifications:

An ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English or (where specified in Wales) Welsh.