Clinical or Forensic Psychologist - Youth Justice Service
We have an exciting opportunity to join our Somerset Youth Justice Service as a Clinical or Forensic Psychologist.
Somerset Youth Justice Service (YJS) aims to reduce youth offending through early intervention and providing holistic, multi-agency support. Most of the work of the team is with children and young people aged 10 to 18 who have been arrested by the police for a crime. Psychologists play a key part in offering professional consultation, embedding trauma-informed practices, and working with Youth Justice and partner agencies to formulate complex presentations and underlying needs.
The team includes social workers, police, a probation officer, restorative justice workers, an education worker and volunteers. We work in a child centred approach, recognising young people as children first and offenders second. You will also work very closely with Forensic CAMHS and the wider Psychology CAMHS networks for peer support, supervision and service development needs.
We are committed to working with all children, young people, their parents and carers and victims without discrimination through race, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
We want to help support each child and young person living in Somerset to have the best possible chance of achieving their potential. What we know is that our children and young people are some of the most socially and educationally vulnerable in the county.
Somerset YJS is a high performing service with a low custody level.
Main duties of the job
To provide a qualified clinical or forensic psychology service to the Youth Justice Service (YJS). This will involve:
1. Working with children and young people (and their families) who come to the attention of the YJS and are subject to court or out of court disposals, or preventative / diversionary programmes;
2. Working to embed trauma-informed ways of working and promote psychological formulation to support the wellbeing needs of young people accessing Youth Justice and those who support them;
3. Providing specialist assessment, formulation and direct therapeutic intervention;
4. Offering advice and consultation on the children and young people's psychological care to multi-disciplinary colleagues;
5. Working autonomously within professional guidelines and the overall framework of the team's policies and procedures;
6. Using research skills for audit, policy and service development and research within the area served by the YJS.
About us
At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, we're committed to supporting our employees with a range of benefits designed to enhance your professional and personal life. We offer:
* Flexible working options to help you balance work and life
* NHS pension scheme for long-term financial security
* Generous annual leave allowance to recharge and relax
* A strong focus on career development to help you grow and achieve your potential
We are proud to foster a diverse, skilled, and inclusive workforce, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds.
Job responsibilities
Clinical responsibilities
1. To provide specialist psychological assessments of children, young people and their families referred to the Youth Justice CAMHS Psychology Service.
2. To formulate and implement plans for the formal psychological treatment and/or management of a child or young person's mental health or forensic problems.
3. To be responsible for implementing a range of psychological interventions for individual children and young people, carers, families, and groups.
4. To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options considering both theoretical and therapeutic models.
5. To exercise autonomous professional responsibility for the assessment, treatment, and discharge of clients.
6. To provide specialist psychological advice guidance and consultation to other professionals.
7. To contribute directly and indirectly to a psychologically based framework of understanding and care.
8. To undertake risk assessment and risk management for individual clients.
9. To be an active core panel member of YJS led Multi-Agency Panels.
10. To offer psychological support to staff when a distressing or traumatic event has occurred at work.
11. To act as a keyworker, where appropriate.
Management, Recruitment, Policy and Service Development
1. To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team's operational policies and services.
2. To advise both service and professional management on those aspects of the service where psychological and/or organisational matters need addressing.
3. To manage the workloads of assistant and graduate psychologists.
4. To be involved, as appropriate, in the shortlisting and interviewing of assistant / graduate psychologists.
Research and Service Evaluation
1. To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice.
2. To undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff.
3. To undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation.
Teaching, Training, and Supervision
1. To receive regular clinical/forensic professional supervision from a more senior psychologist.
2. To develop skills in professional post-graduate teaching, training and supervision.
3. To provide supervision to other MDT staff's psychological work.
4. To contribute to the pre- and post-qualification forensic teaching.
5. To provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Post-graduate doctoral level training in Clinical or Forensic Psychology.
* Current registration with the HCPC under the appropriate domain specific title.
* Evidence of regular post-qualification development.
* Evidence of continuing professional development as recommended by the BPS/HCPC.
* Formal training in supervision of other psychologists.
Experience
* Experience of working with a wide variety of client groups, particularly children and young people.
* Experience of delivering NICE adherent interventions for psychological problems.
* Experience of maintaining a high degree of professionalism.
* Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care and treatment.
* Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.
* Post qualification experience of working with BME children, young people and their families.
Additional Criteria
* To have a full driving licence and vehicle for work purposes.
* Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology.
* Knowledge of the Criminal Justice System and of legislation in relation to children and young people with mental health needs.
* High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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