Restorative Justice Volunteer

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Job Title: Restorative Justice - Volunteer

Type: Volunteer

Closing Date: Wednesday 14th June 2023

Employee Type: Permanent

Location: Birmingham (Location can be flexible)

Restorative Justice is a victim focused resolution to crime or non-crime. It brings the harmed and those responsible for the harm into communication, enabling everyone affected by the incident to repair the harm and agree a way forward.

It provides the opportunity for the harmed, harmer(s) and other affected people to meet in a controlled environment led by a trained facilitator.

It holds the harmer personally to account and allows them an opportunity to repair the harm.

Role Purpose:

Restorative Justice are looking for volunteers to support the team to offer Restorative Practices and Interventions in the community. Volunteers will act as RJ facilitators to help assist in creating a resolution for a crime or non-crime. We would like you to support The RJ Hub creating a safer community and supporting people to recover from harm.

The team consists of, West Midlands Police, Remedi, Housing Providers and a range of multi-agency partnerships for onward support and specialist advice or information. Your skills and abilities will support the functioning and outcomes for people to find a positive way forward. For more information about the service you can visit www.rjwestmidlands.co.uk

Key Responsibilities:

We are looking for a team of enthusiastic volunteers to assist us with the following:

• Making contact with Victims and suspects to offer Restorative Justice (RJ) as a resolution to their incident
• Visiting victims and suspects to discuss the incident they were involved in
• Assessing victims and suspects for suitability to take part in any RJ intervention
• To co-ordinate, arrange and conduct Restorative Justice Interventions and Meetings
• To follow up any opportunities for engagement through referrals to other agencies
• Ensuring customer satisfaction is at the heart of their work
• Be ambassador for West Midlands Police and the WM Restorative Justice Service
• Work with the West Midlands Restorative Justice Supervisor and other stakeholders to help create a safe and secure environment for all those using our service
• Provide an outstanding victim led service at all times in line with the Restorative Justice Council 6 principles of RJ.

What we can offer you:

While volunteering is unpaid, there are a number of benefits our volunteers gain from their time with us:

• Be a part of our Policing family
• Opportunities to develop and share you skills and expertise
• Gaining valuable work experience and new skills
• Enjoyment in doing something you like while meeting new, like-minded people
• Contributing to the local community by helping in the work West of Midlands Police (WMP)
• On-going training related to these roles
• Additional opportunities to become involved with other organisations that partner with WMP.

Essential Information:

• Applicants are considered on their merits and regarded equally
• We will induct and train you to carry out the role
• For relevant roles, we will apply for an Enhanced Disclosure Barring Service check - having a criminal record isn't a barrier to volunteering, this is simply to protect children/vulnerable people we work with
• Where appropriate, volunteers should use public transport. We will cover travel expenses to a maximum daily limit of a 1 day network Zones 1-5 Unlimited regional bus*, tram and train travel within the specified West Midlands rail zones (https://ticketing.networkwestmidlands.com/Home/ShowTicket/38)
• Mileage will be in reimbursed at 45p per mile using the Michelin guide https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/
• Volunteers are eligible to claim £5.00 towards their lunch if they volunteer over 4 hours on given day.
• This role description is intended as an indicator of general areas of activity and will be amended with any changing needs of West Midlands Police It is expected that the volunteer will be flexible, using this document as a framework.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Friendly and approachable
• Good communications skills & a good level of written and spoken English
• Reliable with good time-keeping skills
• Happy to work independently or as part of a team
• Attention to detail and good observational skills
• Administration skills (Microsoft Office, Internet)

Vetting: Successful candidates will be expected to pass security & DBS checks; a thorough vetting process is in place for all volunteer roles.

Hours: A minimum of 4 hours per week, for a minimum of 6 months.

Location: Birmingham (can be flexible).

Contact: For more information, please contact Louise Brazier (Citizens in Policing Co-Ordinator) at louise.brazier@westmidlands.police.uk.

West Midlands Police is a Disability Confident Leader - the highest level an organisation can achieve under the scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions. As part of our commitment we operate a 'Disability Confident Interview Scheme' - all candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview.

It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. In these circumstances, the employer could select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job, as they would do for non-disabled applicants.

"Diversity and Inclusion Vision: Maximise the potential of people from all backgrounds through a culture of fairness and inclusion to deliver the best service for our communities"