Criminal Justice Worker

Make a real difference in your community

Are you passionate about helping people build confidence, reduce harm and move towards lasting recovery? Do you enjoy facilitating groups, engaging with people from diverse backgrounds and working in partnership with criminal justice agencies?

Join our team at North Yorkshire Horizons as a Criminal Justice Worker, where you'll deliver innovative therapeutic group programmes that support adults affected by drug and alcohol use, with a particular focus on people involved in the criminal justice system. This is an opportunity to help individuals develop new skills, improve wellbeing and achieve meaningful, sustainable recovery.

About the Role

North Yorkshire Horizons is the county's drug and alcohol recovery service, providing advice, support and treatment for adults, young people and families affected by substance use.

We're looking for a Criminal Justice Worker to join our team. You'll design and facilitate structured and unstructured therapeutic group programmes that promote recovery, reduce offending and help individuals address the issues linked to substance use.

Working closely with colleagues across the service and partner organisations including Police, Probation, HM Courts, Liaison & Diversion, Housing providers and HM Prisons, you'll ensure people receive coordinated, person-centred support throughout their recovery journey.

You'll also identify individuals who would benefit from group work, deliver evidence-based psychosocial interventions, and contribute to creating a visible culture of recovery across the service.

What You'll Do

As a Criminal Justice Group Worker, you will:

• Design and deliver engaging therapeutic group programmes and psychosocial interventions that support recovery from drug and alcohol use.

• Facilitate structured and unstructured group sessions using approaches such as Motivational Interviewing (MI), ITEP, CBT-informed interventions and Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET).

• Support people involved in the criminal justice system to reduce offending and achieve positive recovery outcomes.

• Build effective partnerships with Police, Probation, HM Courts, Liaison & Diversion, Housing, Community Organisations and HM Prisons to improve access to treatment and recovery support.

• Liaise with referring agencies regarding attendance, engagement and progress where appropriate.

• Assess individuals for suitability for group programmes and identify the most appropriate interventions to meet their needs.

• Promote harm reduction, visible recovery and peer support opportunities across the service.

• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary colleagues to coordinate care and improve outcomes for individuals and families.

• Complete safeguarding assessments, risk management plans and referrals where required.

• Maintain accurate and confidential electronic case records and contribute to service quality and performance standards.

• Promote the benefits of group work across the service and encourage referrals from colleagues.

• Participate in supervision, training and ongoing professional development.

About You

We're looking for someone who is passionate about recovery and enjoys helping people build confidence, resilience and lasting change.

Qualifications: NVQ Level 3 in Health & Social Care (or equivalent), or a willingness to work towards this qualification. A relevant professional qualification in addiction studies, counselling, social work or a therapeutic discipline is desirable.

Experience: Experience delivering therapeutic or structured group work, ideally with people affected by substance misuse or multiple disadvantage.