Assistant YOS Practitioner job with Essex County Council

Assistant YOS Practitioner

Permanent, Full Time

£23,456 to £29,933 per annum

Location: Countywide

Working Style: Community-based worker

Closing Date: 13th June 2023

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It’s an exciting time to join us. Not only have we been named Outstanding by Ofsted, we are delighted and at the same time humbled to have been crowned Social Work Employer of the Year for the second time in the last three years!

Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video here

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting the development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

The role:

The Assistant Youth Offending Service (YOS) Team Practitioner will be based within the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Team. We are a Countywide Team working with young people subject to Court Bail, Licence conditions or a Court Order. Our young people are often assessed as not only presenting a significant risk of harm to others, but also are considered highly vulnerable due to their experiences and circumstances.

This role will focus primarily on the creation and delivery of groupwork programmes and reparation sessions. However there will be opportunities to support both YOS Practitioners and Senior Practitioners to case manage young people and support their families, as part of a multi-agency YOS Team to reduce the risk of re-offending/harm to the public.

You will contribute to the overall aim of the YOS, to reduce offending by young people, through working closely with family, schools and other relevant key agencies to address the factors leading to offending. You will co-produce effective intervention plans that evidence input from young people and parents/carers and utilise all YOS resources and liaise with other partnership providers to access additional services to support the young person and prevent further offending.

Skills, Knowledge, and Experience:

• Qualified to RQF Level 2 (GCSE) or equivalent by experience.
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Demonstrable experience of working directly with young people and skills to engage hard to reach young people
• Previous experience of working in a Youth Offending Team is desirable
• Previous experience of creating/delivering groupwork to young people
• Excellent communication skills and IT literate and ensure high quality recording on YOS case management system
• Ability to undertake manual work, organising and prioritising a busy workload.
• A good understanding of Health and Safety principles and experience of undertaking risk assessments.
• Experience in direct work with children, with the ability to evidence positively promoting children’s welfare and understanding of Child Protection procedures.
• Demonstrate an understanding of anti-discriminatory practice and is imaginative and flexible.

There is a requirement to be flexible in working outside office hours (e.g. evening home visits or emergencies) and weekends.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wide operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

Why Essex? Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us here.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees. More information can be found here pay and reward

To view our Organisational Behaviours information please follow this link.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you.

Please apply via the Working for Essex website.

As part of employment with Essex County Council should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please visit:

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email [email protected]