Position Description
Position Title: Community Work Supervisor
Reports To: Service Manager
Service/Group: Community Probation & Psychological Services
Location: Community Work Centre
Date: December 2007
Purpose of Position
The sentence of community work provides:
- reparation to the community
- a pro social and culturally responsive environment
- an opportunity for offenders to acquire or improve work and social skills.
The purpose of this position is to supervise offenders assigned to community work group placements and to manage work projects.
Functional Relationships
Internal: Service Manager, Senior/Probation Officers, Senior Community Work Supervisors, Administrative Staff
External: Offenders, Iwi, Community Groups and Agencies, Service Providers, Electronic Monitoring provider
Key Accountabilities
Supervise and manage offenders assigned to work projects.
- Supervise work parties on allocated duty days.
- Complete daily attendance sheet at the end of the day, record hours completed and comment on performance. May be required to enter attendance information into IOMS.
- Contribute to the development of work skills and work habits of offenders through pro-social modelling and coaching the skills required for the project.
- Instruct/coach offenders in the correct use and storage of tools and equipment.
- Identify and action appropriate incentives so that offenders comply with the sentence.
- Manage situations requiring discipline with appropriate use of authority and in accordance with organisational requirements, recommending to Probation Officers/Senior Community Work Supervisors the appropriate action to be taken in response to matters such as lateness, sickness, incidents and breaches of the Chief Executive’s rules.
- Complete incident reports in a concise, factual manner, and in the correct format for presentation as evidence.
- Ensure all records relating to work party supervision are accurate and completed in accordance with organisational requirements.
- Monitor offender behaviour throughout the day and use appropriate strategies to deal with issues as they arise.
- When not directly supervising work parties, may be required to carry out daily inspections of other work parties to ensure those parties are operating safely and no significant issues have been encountered.
- Ensure that everyone involved with the offender has all of the relevant Community Work information to allow for the consistent and integrated management of that offender.
- Ensure any issues about offender management are brought to the attention of the SCWS/PO in a timely way.
Manage work projects
- Review health and safety requirements on a daily basis and ensure projects meet appropriate health and safety standards. Ensure that offenders are aware of health and safety procedures and their obligations.
- Plan and organise project requirements and tasks.
- Record hazards on project site, and identify means of eliminating, isolating or minimising these prior to work starting.
- Organise tools and equipment.
- Allocate tasks to each offender on work party.
- Ensure project tasks are completed to a standard that is acceptable to the agency, that a good service is delivered and agency concerns are dealt with as they arise.
Monitor electronic curfews for offenders sentenced to Community Detention
- Install monitoring equipment at approved address at the commencement of a community detention sentence
- Hook-up and unhook offenders at the beginning and end of an electronic monitoring period
- De-install monitoring equipment at the completion of a community detention sentence
- Move monitoring equipment as required by variation to curfew address
- Complete required documentation (installation checklist) relating to installation/deinstallation and hook-ups/unhooks of monitoring equipment.
- May be required to review monitoring reports from monitoring provider.
Support the smooth operation of the community work centre
- Ensure work centre area is kept tidy and any potential hazards are eliminated, isolated or minimised.
- Ensure tools are stored in a clean, tidy and safe manner.
- Ensure tool and vehicle maintenance schedules are adhered to.
- Assist with the purchase and preparation of stores and rations as required.
- Follow-up no shows via telephone and/or collecting from home.
- May be required to carry out agency liaison and placement checks.
Support other areas of probation work
- May be required to deliver summons
- May be required to drive offenders to and from programmes
Health and Safety
- Ensure that a safe working environment is maintained for colleagues and offenders by:
-
- reporting any hazards,
- reporting any accidents or near misses that occur,
- adhering to safety standards and processes set down by Corrections aimed at preventing harm, and
- participating in health and safety programmes as required, including own rehabilitation should the job holder sustain a work injury.
Job Description and Scope of Duties
The job holder will be expected to perform such other duties as can reasonably be regarded as incidental to the job description, and such other duties reasonably within his or her experience and capabilities as may be from time to time be assigned.
Person Specification
Communication, supervision and relationship skills
- Communicates confidently, clearly and articulately
- Modifies communication style to reflect the needs of the people and situation
- Listens attentively to others
- Develops rapport and an environment of trust and respect
- Uses a range of strategies to influence and motivate people.
Patient and flexible while able to enforce the rules
- Manages offender behaviour issues including aggressive behaviour
- Models pro-social behaviour
- Maintains self-control when under pressure.
Openness and willingness to learn
- Is motivated to continually learn and develop new skills
- Is open to and constructively deals with feedback
- Is willing to apply learned techniques to practical situations
- Knows when to seek further information/guidance or refer issues to others
Problem solving and judgement
- Collects sufficient information to establish the nature of the issue/problem
- Identifies inconsistencies in information
- Develops a range of options in order to solve problems and develops appropriate criteria against which to weigh options
- Makes decisions in accordance with organisation policy and procedures and within appropriate timeframes.
Cultural awareness
- Understands the relevance of the Treaty of Waitangi to service delivery in the Department of Corrections
- Is able to apply the principles of partnership in the relationship between Crown and Maori
- Demonstrates cultural sensitivity in all dealings with Maori, Pacific Island people and people of other ethnic groups
- Demonstrates sensitivity to people’s religious or cultural practices and beliefs
- Demonstrates the ability to relate effectively and in a culturally sensitive manner with Iwi and community groups
Teamwork
- Works co-operatively with a range of people to achieve positive results
- Participates willingly in team situations and supports team decisions
- Is proactive at sharing information and ideas with other team members
- Supports the Department’s philosophy and values
Practical Skills
- Possesses the ability to impart manual skills to offenders in a practical setting.
Personal Integrity
- Ensures that the highest standards of conduct, professionalism and integrity are demonstrated in all interactions with offenders, Community Agencies, and in all dealings when representing the Department
- Acts consistently with the Department of Corrections Code of Conduct
Qualifications
- Community Work Supervisors must hold a current drivers license
- Maintain a current First Aid Certificate.
- Basic knowledge of MS Office applications is desirable but is not essential
