Caseworker

The department is committed to keeping Queensland communities safe. Everyone deserves a life free from violence and fear. We are actively tackling the complex causes of youth crime and addressing serious repeat offenders and ensuring our systems and services not only meet but anticipate the needs of victims. We do this by providing:

• Early intervention, statutory Youth Justice, and detention services to ensure that young people are held accountable for their offending behaviour.
• Support to young people to become responsible members of the community through programs and community partnerships, which foster the achievement of positive life outcomes.
• Trauma-informed support and resources to victims to ensure they can recover and heal, whilst ensuring the voices and experiences of victims are heard and respected.

The role of the Caseworker is to deliver culturally appropriate casework and counselling services that promote the safety and wellbeing of young people in detention, facilitate their positive progression through the stages of their period in custody and assist their avoidance of further offending and successful re-integration with families and the community.

Key responsibilities

As Caseworker, you will specifically: 

• Demonstrate cultural capability and/or a commitment to developing cultural capability to ensure an inclusive culture that aligns with the Human Rights Act 2019 and supports departmental programs and community partnerships aimed at preserving cultural connections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• Work effectively within a statutory environment and undertake direct interaction within a secure youth detention environment with a caseload of complex high risk young offenders. This will include serious and high-profile cases. This will involve dynamic security assessments and regular contact with young people in sections ensuring adherence to the security and safety of the Centre.
• Deliver casework services to young people in youth detention to reduce re-offending using culturally appropriate, collaborative and evidence-based assessment and intervention skills, processes and programs including restorative practice principles.
• Identify individual case needs, appropriate programs and services to address those needs and ongoing management of cases to ensure young people have maximum opportunities to address their offending behaviour.
• Undertake record keeping and information management tasks to ensure accountability.
• Actively participate in a range of continuing professional development activities to continuously improve your ability to contribute to organisational goals, including training, supervision, and relevant accreditation and support the team leader with induction, mentoring/coaching and training of new caseworkers.
• Act as a point of contact and work collaboratively as part of a team with range of internal and external stakeholders for the purposes of assessment, case planning and transition.
• Prepare complex written reports, detailed risk assessments and other relevant documentation for high-risk young people. Complete comprehensive suicide risk assessments and actively participate in the suicide risk assessment process on centre for young people.
• Co-ordinate and manage all aspects of young person's case plan whilst in custody and be the point of contact for case planning and transition and development of an individualised case plan for each young person. This will include active involvement in regular stakeholder meetings and various high risk offender panels.

Applications to remain current for 12 months.