Job overview

An opportunity has arisen within the Liaison and Diversion Team for the role of Liaison & Diversion Practitioner based in Workington Police Station, Cumbria.

Essential Criteria:  A minimum of NVQ Level 3 in relevant subject OR Diploma in Health and Social Care AND/OR Experience of working with people with complex needs for a minimum of 2 years 

Desirable:  Professional recognised qualification such as RMN, Learning Disability Nurse, Social Worker, and Occupational Therapist. Psychology Degree CBT Diploma, Substance Misuse Diploma

Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services identify people who have substance misuse, mental health, learning disability or other vulnerabilities when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system as suspects, defendants or offenders.

The service can then support people through the early stages of criminal system pathway, refer them for appropriate health or social care or enable them to be diverted away from the criminal justice system into a more appropriate setting, if required.

This is an ‘all age’ service and so you will be required to work with people from the age of 10 years upwards.

Main duties of the job

The main things that L&D services do for the people we see are identification, screening, assessment and referral to other services.

We work in Police Custody Suites and Courts throughout Lancashire & Cumbria and offer assessments to individuals within the Criminal Justice system including Voluntary Attendees

We look to identify unmet need and vulnerabilities that often lead to or exacerbate offending behaviour, offer onward referral and signposting as appropriate

We liaise across agencies to support onward planning and intervention to address needs

We offer some brief community based intervention to maximise service user access and engagement with those appropriate services

We help to inform decision makers with relevant and timely information to support sentencing and disposal outcomes.

Important: This post is requires successful candidates to undergo NPPV Level 2 (full) Vetting from Cumbria Constabulary, of which clearance is essential in order to fulfil the role.

Working for our organisation

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you’d like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.