Job summary
Due to increased funding this is an exciting opportunity to work at the Sexual Assault and Referral Centre (SARC) in Lincoln.
SARC helps any victims/survivors of sexual violence or abuse who are over the age of 18. The Independent Sexual Violence Advisor role is an interesting and varied role which asks the candidate to provide compassionate support to victims who may or may not choose to report their crime to police and the court system. The candidates work closely with police and voluntary support organisations across the county to provide the best possible support to their clients through this traumatic period.
The centre is based in Lincoln LN2 and post holders will work from this site with travel across Lincolnshire to support clients with appointments and court hearings.
Successful applicants will be able to partake in accredited ISVA training via Lime Culture as well as mandatory and essential training offered by LPFT. The Lime Culture training cost is subject to clawback if the successful candidate leaves within a certain time period.
Please note that when filling out your application form, to avoid delay in appointment the details of your references should be accurate, up to date and provide work postal and email addresses to enable Employment services to be timely in their request for your reference.
Main duties of the job
Our independent sexual violence advisors (ISVA) are highly skilled and trained to an accredited standard. They work with survivors of:
o rape
o sexual assault
o sexual abuse
whether they wish to go legal or not.
They are independent of the criminal justice system and can therefore give accurate and impartial advice. They support everyone in a non-judgemental way and will work with clients to assess their needs.
Excellent caseload management and diary management is required to ensure the needs of the clients are met.
During appointments, the ISVA will carry out risk assessments, careplans, safeguarding and other actions as required to meet the needs of the client.
ISVA`s will attend both internal and external meetings either with the client or without.
About us
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health services and a number of learning disability, autism and social care services in the county of Lincolnshire. Employing around 2,800 staff, and serving a population of over 766,000, our people lie at the heart of everything we do.
You could be part of a Trust rated by staff as one of the best mental health and learning disability trusts in England, in an area heralded as a fantastic place to live and work. We firmly believe the key to high quality care is a contented workforce. This is reflected in our Care Quality Commission rating of 'outstanding' for well-led and 'good' overall. In the most recent National NHS Staff Survey, our staff rated us as the number one trust nationally for staff morale and one of the top scoring NHS Trusts in the Midlands for being compassionate and inclusive. We're really proud of this!
We are also leading the way in transforming care, with multi-million-pound transformation of patient environments and radical redesign of community services.
This is the time to join and help redesign our services of the future. We offer options for flexible working and provide a wide range of training and promotion opportunities in all professions. We support and celebrate diversity, have active staff networks groups and are always looking at what more we can do to support our staff.
Job description
Job responsibilities
As an ISVA you will be expected to carry out the following:
- Manage a caseload of clients throughout the county.
- Support clients if they decide to report a rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse to the police, whether it happened recently or in the past.
- Discuss the criminal and civil options with clients, including giving any intelligence to the police anonymously.
- Support clients further in a police investigation that they may already be involved in.
- Help clients arrange to attend a sexual health clinic, to be screened for sexually transmitted infections or to get contraception.
- Provide referrals or signposting to other specialist support services they may benefit from.
- Help with any safety planning or protection they may need for themselves or others, including children.
- Assist in other matters of concern such as housing, benefits etc.
- Listen to what clients want and provide practical and emotional support.
- Help clients develop a support plan to address their risks and needs.
- Support clients in making their own choices
- Support in court when giving evidence
- Arrange pre-trial visits
Job description
Job responsibilities
As an ISVA you will be expected to carry out the following:
- Manage a caseload of clients throughout the county.
- Support clients if they decide to report a rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse to the police, whether it happened recently or in the past.
- Discuss the criminal and civil options with clients, including giving any intelligence to the police anonymously.
- Support clients further in a police investigation that they may already be involved in.
- Help clients arrange to attend a sexual health clinic, to be screened for sexually transmitted infections or to get contraception.
- Provide referrals or signposting to other specialist support services they may benefit from.
- Help with any safety planning or protection they may need for themselves or others, including children.
- Assist in other matters of concern such as housing, benefits etc.
- Listen to what clients want and provide practical and emotional support.
- Help clients develop a support plan to address their risks and needs.
- Support clients in making their own choices
- Support in court when giving evidence
- Arrange pre-trial visits
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree or equivalent professional qualification or experience
Experience
Essential
- Proven relevant experience working with victims of rape and sexual abuse in a professional work environment, preferably in a facilitative/advocate role
- Thorough knowledge of impact of sexual violence on victims, families and society.
- Experience of client face to face and telephone support work, excellent communication skills.
- Experience of working with vulnerable adults.
- Experience of conducting needs assessments and risk assessments
- Working in a confidential setting
- Experience of Safeguarding issues, legal responsibilities, working with Clinical Risk including making a safeguarding referral
- Previous experience of working in a multi-agency setting
- Organisational skills, Autonomous Working
- Strong crisis management skills
- The ability to represent clients and advocate on their behalf
Desirable
- Previous experience working with victims going through the criminal justice system.
Skills
Essential
- Sound clinical reasoning skills.
- Highly motivated and able to engage with service users and professionals such as police officers to improve outcomes.
- Ability to work independently and collectively.
- Computer literate
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Degree or equivalent professional qualification or experience
Experience
Essential
- Proven relevant experience working with victims of rape and sexual abuse in a professional work environment, preferably in a facilitative/advocate role
- Thorough knowledge of impact of sexual violence on victims, families and society.
- Experience of client face to face and telephone support work, excellent communication skills.
- Experience of working with vulnerable adults.
- Experience of conducting needs assessments and risk assessments
- Working in a confidential setting
- Experience of Safeguarding issues, legal responsibilities, working with Clinical Risk including making a safeguarding referral
- Previous experience of working in a multi-agency setting
- Organisational skills, Autonomous Working
- Strong crisis management skills
- The ability to represent clients and advocate on their behalf
Desirable
- Previous experience working with victims going through the criminal justice system.
Skills
Essential
- Sound clinical reasoning skills.
- Highly motivated and able to engage with service users and professionals such as police officers to improve outcomes.
- Ability to work independently and collectively.
- Computer literate
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 (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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 (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
