Restorative Justice Worker

Job Introduction

About Us

Oxfordshire’s Youth Justice and Exploitation Service (YJES) works with children between the ages of 10 and 18 who have committed offences. An important element of our work with children is to encourage them to consider the impact of their actions and think about what they may need to do to repair any harm caused through their behaviour.

The Restorative Justice team also meets with the people harmed by youth crime, to update them on the child’s progress, offer support and make them aware of the support available through our restorative justice interventions.

We are a friendly and supportive team committed to working to achieve the best possible outcomes for justice-involved children in Oxfordshire, and to provide the highest quality service to those harmed by youth crime. 

Oxfordshire Children’s Services has restorative practice as a core pillar of the way we work, providing opportunities for you to contribute to the development of innovative restorative work in wider contexts across the organisation. 

About the Role

The role involves:

• Working directly with people who have been harmed by youth crime and the children being supervised by youth justice case-managers on pre-Court and post-Court disposals.
• Meeting both parties individually to hear about what happened, exploring their needs and wishes, and offering opportunities for carefully facilitated communication to address the harm caused by the offence/s.
• Facilitating restorative meetings between children who have offended and those harmed by their crime, and for those who don’t wish to meet, supporting indirect forms of communication (for example through letters, shuttle mediation, practical reparation activities etc).

Most of the face-to-face contact is in people’s homes and the YJES works county-wide across Oxfordshire, so you will expect to travel around the county as part of this role. You will have the privilege of hearing both sides of deeply personal stories and will be uniquely placed to empower people to find their own way to resolve the issues leading to and arising out of crime.

Full training to Restorative Justice Facilitator level and Practitioner Registration will be provided, with future opportunities to join the pool of County Council trainers in Restorative Justice. This role would afford you the opportunity to provide support in wider contexts such as applying restorative approaches in children's homes between staff members in teams and schools.

About you

Restorative justice is based on a set of values with a specific ethos, language and skill set. When people in conflict come together in a restorative meeting it can be a very powerful and transformative experience for both participants and facilitators. We need someone who likes a challenge, who is passionate, persistent and highly self-motivated. You will need to be relational, have strong interpersonal communication skills and be lead by values of empathy, respect and inclusivity.

Rewards and benefits

• Culture of flexible working
• Technology to support agile working where the role permits
• Up to 33 day’s holiday p.a. plus bank holidays
• Option to ‘buy’ additional holiday
• Employee Assistance Programme including access to health and wellbeing support
• Membership of the Local Government contributory pension scheme, with an employer’s contribution of up to 19.9%
• Enhanced family-friendly policies
• Local and national discounts for shopping and travel
• Great learning and development opportunities to support your ongoing development

Our commitment to:
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Oxfordshire County Council we are proud of our diverse workforce. Everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or on maternity or family leave. We have a number of staff network groups, which provide peer support, education and safe spaces for all.

Our commitment to:
Guaranteed Interview Schemes

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job. We also guarantee interviews to care leavers who have completed further education and who meet the essential criteria for the job. For those leaving care without any further education, we guarantee an interview for our apprenticeships. We are also committed to helping and supporting those transitioning from HM Armed Forces to civilian life and guarantee an interview for those demonstrating the essential criteria for the role within three years of leaving the service.

Our commitment to:
Safeguarding

Oxfordshire County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect these commitments.

Our commitment to:
Flexible Working

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which can include flexi-time, part time working, job sharing, nine-day fortnights and annualised hours, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

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If you encounter any technical issues with the application system, please contact us at: careers@oxfordshire.gov.uk