Family Support Worker in North East

Responsibilities

• 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, and that the visits area is maintained including a variety of refreshments for families available during the visit.
• 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 the resettlement pathway “Families and Children,” delivering marriage courses, family support groups and assisting 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, visitor days, and social events.
• Promote and deliver good working practice, embracing the “Seven Pathways” to strengthen family ties and the resettlement of prisoners.
• Recruit volunteers and paid sessional staff, ensuring they undertake appropriate courses to support them in their role.
• Facilitate weekly inductions for all new prisoners, informing them of legal and domestic visit procedures.
• Provide play and craft activities and themed visits based on the Seven Pathways, offering information to families.
• Ensure the visits garden area and children’s play area are properly maintained, risk assessed and suitable for garden visits.
• Contribute to risk assessments for legal and domestic visits in the establishment.
• Manage the selection criteria for prisoners to work in the visits hall, producing compact registers for them to work to and ensuring they have 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 arranging weddings, sourcing cake, flowers and other appropriate items 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 and the Waste Minimisation Policy.
• Represent the department at regional and national meetings to maintain good practice and share information, supporting positive family networking and addressing issues affecting the families of prisoners.
• Challenge any unacceptable behaviour and use correct reporting procedures.
• Assist in coordinating therapy visits for prisoners.

Administrative Tasks

• Organise, produce and maintain accurate records for the area of work.
• Act as a contact point for all communications to the team, prioritising and directing them 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 the manager, conducting initial checks as required.
• Correspond with relevant stakeholders and agencies to ensure they are aware of information and 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 (SDIs).
• Arrange any meetings, including the preparation of paperwork, minutes and action points.

Qualifications & Requirements

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

Benefits

• Standard full‑time working hours are 37 hours per week excluding unpaid breaks.
• Flexible working patterns, including part‑time, flexible and job‑sharing, are considered where they meet the demands of the role.
• You are entitled to 9 days (66 hours 36 minutes) of bank, public and privilege holidays added to annual leave.
• Work on some public and bank holidays may be required subject to shift pattern and operational needs.
• The Civil Service offers a choice of two pension schemes for staff.
• Benefits include access to training and development opportunities, equal and diverse workplace support, and security training and an individual induction programme.

EEO Statement

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members with settled or pre‑settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members who have made a valid application for settled or pre‑settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
• Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EU Settlement before 31 December 2020.
• Turkish nationals and certain family members of Turkish nationals who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service.