FAMILY PARTICIPATION & SUPPORT OFFICER - JOB DESCRIPTION

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1 FAMILY PARTICIPATION & SUPPORT OFFICER - JOB DESCRIPTION ROLE: FAMILY PARTICIPATION & SUPPORT OFFICER Reporting to: Operations Director Hours: Full time (35 hours) Salary: 35,000/annum, including London Weighting which is currently 3,405k Salary Grade: NJC Point 36 Contract: 3 years (funding by the Big Lottery Fund- Reaching Communities) INQUEST will consider the option of a job share, depending on the outcome of interviews and the profile and circumstances of applicants. Other benefits: INQUEST offers a very generous package of staff benefits, including 30 days of annual leave and an annual employer pension contribution of 8%. INQUEST is an equal opportunities employer. We actively promote diversity and strongly encourage applications from people from BAME communities and other under-represented groups. ABOUT INQUEST Founded in 1981, INQUEST is the only charity in England and Wales providing expertise on contentious deaths and their investigation to bereaved people, lawyers, other advice and support agencies, media, parliamentarians and the general public. Its range of cases includes custody and detention, multiagency failings or where wider issues of state and corporate accountability are in question. Our integrated model of working covers: Family casework: We support bereaved families to navigate the complex investigation and legal process and work with them to establish the truth concerning the circumstances of the death. Policy change: We use the evidence we gather from our casework, alongside research and statistical data, to expose failures and achieve systemic and legislative change. Campaigning: We exert pressure on government and public bodies to ensure accountability and reduce the numbers of deaths. We work with the media to shine a light on failings. Social Justice, Social Change: We work in partnership with our supporters and families to set the agenda and create a movement for change.

2 In addition, we manage an Inquest Lawyers Group for lawyers who provide legal services to many families going through the inquest process. The group shares best practice and legal knowledge, and receives a copy of Inquest Law, a publication produced by INQUEST, three times a year. INQUEST s authoritative voice is achieved through its model of combining specialist casework with parliamentary work, policy influencing and campaigning. A fundamental principle underpinning all its work is the empowerment of families to effectively participate in the legal process and influence policy and practice change. The INQUEST team is currently eleven staff members, who work closely and collaboratively to ensure its work is strategic and has significant impact on changing systems and practices. This includes a casework team that manages a heavy caseload to address the complexities and constantly changing challenges that families face. The policy work is led by the Executive Director with the support of a highly skilled communications and policy team. All our work is supported by dedicated volunteers with a diverse range of experiences and expertise. The whole team is multi-skilled and all staff members are expected to contribute to all aspects of the organisation s work. This makes for an exciting and engaging working environment, which is also highly pressured as we work to keep on top of an ever-changing policy landscape. ABOUT THE PROJECT AND THE ROLE Underpinning all our work is our commitment to supporting families to seek the truth and feel empowered to hold others to account and become self-advocates for systemic change. As such, we provide additional support for families who wish to engage with INQUEST s wider work, including events and online forums. We also support families in engaging with media and policy work. Through the evaluation of our work and consultation with the bereaved families we support, we have identified a need for a Family Participation and Support Officer and have secured three-year funding from the Big Lottery Fund to fund the role. The overall purpose of the role will be to develop and strengthen our work with families, building capacity and support through the inquest related processes. The role will support and develop INQUEST s work providing families with platforms to raise issues and draw public focus to family experiences and concerns. The primary role of the post is twofold: To enhance, strengthen and develop family input and involvement into INQUEST s work and strategic development and ensure families are at the heart of our work; To strengthen and develop support and guidance for the families we work with and their family members. This new role is a key strategic priority for INQUEST, reflected in our strategic plans for 2017/20. Working closely with the staff team, senior management and an external evaluator, you will be involved in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the project, and will play an active part in shaping its family participation component.

3 SUMMARY OF MAIN DUTIES A- WORK WITH FAMILIES 1. Working closely with families and INQUEST staff, to evaluate the current INQUEST provision and systems of family participation and support (including family forums, family reference group and family listening days); 2. Working closely with families and INQUEST staff, to develop and implement new systems, enabling family participation, guidance and support, and strengthen/develop existing arrangements already underway; 3. To coordinate and facilitate new sources of support and assistance to families, both internally and externally, online and face to face; 4. To review the needs of families INQUEST works with through the casework process and, as far as possible, develop resources and support services to better meet those needs; 5. To develop a family network to share confidential communication and resources in order to relieve isolation, enhance support and develop family knowledge, expertise and strength - this will include developing an online community and online resources; 6. To plan, organise and coordinate group activities with bereaved families, for example social events and an INQUEST AGM; 7. To develop and implement specific projects and/or activities to address needs identified by families (for example support services for children and young people) 8. To plan, organise and coordinate training sessions with bereaved families; 9. To support families in planning and running successful fundraising events, when appropriate; 10. To co-ordinate and assist families with identifying and accessing other sources of support and assistance; 11. To review current family peer to peer buddy arrangements and design, set up and coordinate a formal buddy scheme of bereaved family support; 12. To devise a participation toolkit (campaigns and family engagement); 13. To actively liaise with the Casework Team on issues related to the support of the families you will work with; 14. To support Operations Director in recruiting project volunteers; 15. To induct, train and support project volunteers.

4 B-PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND EVALUATION 16. To manage and review family feedback mechanisms for all our projects, including feedback forms, individual meetings, focus groups and monitoring of media and social media; 17. To capture information and feedback from events involving families, including family forums and family listening days; 18. To evaluate what works and what does not work and adapt family participation model accordingly; 19. To take part in evaluation meetings with key staff, senior management, external evaluators and the funder; 20. To ensure project feedback feeds into regular review processes, including yearly reviews and internal strategic meetings; 21. To develop relationships with stakeholder organisations; 22. To demonstrate learning and good practice, and present, both internally and externally; 23. To ensure that policy evidence identified through the project work feeds into internal processes, including team and strategic meetings, and funding reports; 24. To liaise and work in partnership with groups INQUEST works with, including the Inquest Lawyers Group and the United Families and Friends Campaign; 25. To support the management of INQUEST s database and resource libraries, and regularly alert the staff group to developments that are relevant to individual cases. C-GENERAL 26. To ensure implementation of the Equal Opportunities Policy in all areas of work; 27. To abide by the polices on health and Safety, Confidentiality, Code of Conduct and Employee Handbook; 28. To abide by financial control procedures; 29. To participate with other staff in general filing and administration duties; 30. To produce additional written information on family participation and support as requested; 31. To attend regular staff meetings and other internal meetings as required; 32. To attend relevant training sessions as agreed with the senior caseworker; 33. To attend meetings of the Board of Trustees where requested and to provide a written report on your work in advance of each meeting;

5 34. To carry out other duties as required by the Executive and Operations Directors. (E- essential; D- desirable) EXPERIENCE PERSON SPECIFICATION Minimum 2 years experience of providing support to individuals or families having experienced significant trauma, violence or discrimination (through paid or voluntary position) E Minimum 2 years experience of participation work involving individuals or families (through paid or voluntary position) E Minimum 3 years experience of project management in charity sector (including planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation)- E Minimum 2 years experience in facilitating issue based/participation group work or training E Experience/confidence in working with a range of people, some of whom may be distressed E Experience/confidence in giving advice and information E Experience of drafting material for service users, including information sheets, toolkits, training material E Experience and confidence in facilitating online communities and discussion forums - D KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING Understanding of trauma and the impact of trauma on wellbeing, relationships and family dynamics E Understanding of the impact of state violence - E Understanding of the impact of direct and indirect discrimination linked to ethnic background, class, gender, sexual orientation, beliefs, health status and other identityrelated circumstances. E Understanding of the social and political context of INQUEST s work - E Understanding of issues relating to social and criminal justice E

6 Commitment to INQUEST s aims and objectives E Commitment to social justice and the alleviation of poverty and discrimination E Understanding of the equality of opportunities framework and commitment to tackle direct and indirect discrimination. E Ability to access and present procedural and other information in a clear and concise form written or verbal E IT literate (including databases) and experience in recording accurate information from clients and others. E Applied understanding of online resources and social media E Understanding of the basics of delivering fundraising events -E HOW TO APPLY Please download an application form from our website: Once completed, please send the application to: recruitment@inquest.org.uk, marked to the attention of Arnaud Vervoitte, Operations Director. Closing date: Interviews: Tuesday 3 rd October, 5pm Monday 16 th October