Criminal Justice System - Community Support Worker

Trailblazers Mentoring is a passionate criminal justice charity that believes people can make lasting positive change when they have consistent, non-judgemental support at the right time. We work primarily with men aged 18-35 who are in prison, preparing for release, or rebuilding their lives in the community. Our purpose is to support safer communities by helping people move away from offending and towards stability, opportunity and hope.

Our model is built around carefully recruited, trained and supported volunteer mentors. Mentors work alongside mentees on practical and personal goals including education, training and employment, accommodation, finance, benefits and debt, health and wellbeing, family and relationships, confidence, motivation, attitudes, thinking and behaviour.

Trailblazers works in a challenging sector. Many mentees face overlapping barriers such as insecure housing, unemployment, poverty, trauma, substance misuse, mental health needs, licence conditions, limited support networks and the pressure of resettlement after custody. Prison regime pressures, transfers, high demand on statutory services and gaps in community provision can make consistent support difficult. Our role is to bring structure, relationships, persistence and safe practice into that complexity.

Despite these challenges, Trailblazers has a strong track record of delivering relationship-based mentoring across prison and community settings, supported by committed volunteers and staff. We support around 170 mentees each year through a network of approximately 100 volunteer mentors, and our recent impact reporting has shown strong outcomes in areas such as education, training and employment, accommodation support, confidence, wellbeing and reduced reoffending.

The Community Support Worker is an important part of this work. They provide practical, responsive support as mentees prepare for release and rebuild stability in the community, helping people navigate services, address immediate barriers, maintain engagement and make progress alongside their volunteer mentor.

Purpose of the role

The Community Support Worker will provide direct, practical and person-centered support to mentees approaching release from prison and after release into the community. Working under the direction of the Project Manager, the post-holder will help mentees identify priorities, develop and progress action plans, access appropriate services and maintain engagement during a period of significant transition.

This is a front-line resettlement and community support role. The post-holder will work alongside mentees, volunteer mentors, prison and probation colleagues and community services to reduce barriers to stability, support safe mentoring relationships and help mentees progress towards realistic goals.

The role requires someone who can build trust while maintaining clear professional boundaries, work confidently across prison and community settings, manage a varied caseload, respond proactively to changing needs and escalate safeguarding or risk concerns appropriately.

Key relationships

• Project Manager and Service Delivery Director.
• Other Trailblazers staff and project colleagues.
• Volunteer mentors and prospective volunteers.
• Mentees and, where appropriate, family members or other community support networks.
• Prison staff, including resettlement, offender management and other relevant departments.
• Probation practitioners and other statutory services.
• Community organisations, accommodation providers, DWP / Jobcentre Plus, employers, education and training providers, health and substance misuse services and other local partners.

Main duties and responsibilities

Pre-release engagement and support

• Visit the assigned prison(s) to engage mentees from around 12 weeks before release,  

           subject to prison access and individual circumstances.

• Work with each mentee to identify strengths, immediate needs, barriers and priorities and 

           support the development of an initial three-month action plan.

• Assess what support is already available in the community, including family, partners and 

           statutory or voluntary services where appropriate, and identify where additional support is   

           needed.

• Help mentees prepare for release by agreeing practical actions, appointments, referrals and 

           next steps and by maintaining proactive contact.

• Work with the mentee, volunteer mentor and Project Manager so that support plans are 

           clear, realistic and coordinated.

Community resettlement, practical support and advocacy

• Act as a consistent point of contact for allocated mentees in the community and take a 

           proactive approach to arranging appointments, meetings and follow-up.

• Support mentees to access accommodation and homelessness services, probation, DWP / 

           Jobcentre Plus, benefits support, education, training and employment opportunities, health    

           services, substance misuse services and other relevant provision.

• Attend appointments with mentees where this is necessary and appropriate to help them 

           understand processes, communicate their needs and access support.

• Advocate appropriately for mentees while promoting independence, informed choice and 

           personal responsibility rather than creating dependency.

• Support mentees to strengthen practical and daily living skills and identify specialist or 

           community services where additional support is needed.

• Recognise when a mentee's needs are outside the scope of Trailblazers and support an 

           appropriate referral or escalation.

Supporting mentoring relationships and volunteers

• Support the mentoring relationship as a mentee moves from custody into the community, 

           helping the mentor and mentee understand practical arrangements, agreed goals and    

           available support.

• Check that mentee and mentor support needs are being identified and raise concerns, 

           barriers or relationship difficulties with the Project Manager promptly.

• Provide appropriate practical information and guidance to volunteer mentors while 

           maintaining clear distinction between the CSW role and the mentor role.

• Support the Project Manager with volunteer recruitment, induction or training activity when 

           required.

• Contribute to a positive volunteer experience by communicating reliably, respecting 

           boundaries and ensuring agreed actions are followed through.

Risk, safeguarding and safe delivery

• Work within Trailblazers safeguarding, risk assessment, lone working, confidentiality, 

           information-sharing and professional-boundaries procedures at all times.

• Contribute relevant information to risk assessments and support plans and follow the control 

           measures agreed for prison, community, remote and partner-based activity.

• Remain alert to changes in behaviour, circumstances, licence arrangements or other factors 

           that may affect safety, wellbeing or engagement and report these promptly.

• Escalate safeguarding concerns, incidents, significant risk changes or situations outside 

           delegated authority to the Project Manager or appropriate safeguarding lead without delay.

• Use sound judgement in day-to-day delivery, including dynamic risk awareness, safe 

           meeting arrangements and knowing when an activity should not proceed.

Prison, probation and community partnership working

• Research services and agencies available in the local area and maintain up-to-date 

           knowledge of referral routes that can support mentee needs.

• Build constructive operational relationships with probation, accommodation, education, 

           training, employment, DWP / benefits, health, substance misuse and other community 

           services, in coordination with the Project Manager.

• Attend and contribute to relevant meetings about resettlement, rehabilitation and 

           coordinated support when required.

• Communicate Trailblazers' role clearly to partners and work in a way that complements 

           rather than duplicates statutory or specialist services.

• Identify gaps, recurring barriers or useful new local opportunities and feed these back to the 

           Project Manager.

Case management, records and outcomes

• Maintain accurate, timely and professional case records on Salesforce or any other 

           approved Trailblazers case management system.

• Record contacts, actions, appointments, referrals, outcomes, risk or safeguarding updates 

           and relevant changes in circumstances in line with organisational requirements.

• Keep action plans and support information up to date and use them to review progress with 

           mentees.

• Provide clear information to the Project Manager about engagement, barriers, emerging 

           needs and progress against agreed outcomes.

• Handle personal and sensitive information appropriately and in accordance with data 

           protection, confidentiality and information-sharing requirements.

Team contribution, administration and continuous improvement

• Manage an allocated caseload effectively, prioritising work according to need, risk, release 

           timescales and agreed project priorities.

• Participate in supervision, team meetings, training, reflective practice and organisational 

           learning.

• Work collaboratively with colleagues so that practice is consistent and learning is shared 

           across projects.

• Embed equality, diversity and inclusion in day-to-day work, including communication, 

           reasonable adjustments, support planning, referrals and partnership working.

• Complete project administration, communications, travel planning and other agreed tasks to 

           a high standard and within required timescales.

• Contribute ideas about what is working well, where barriers are recurring and how front-line 

           processes can be improved.

• Undertake any other reasonable duties in line with the level and purpose of the role.

What success looks like

• Mentees approaching release have clear, realistic action plans and know what support is 

           available to them.

• Mentees receive timely, practical support in the community and are helped to access 

           appropriate statutory and community services.

• Volunteer mentors are supported to maintain safe, purposeful and well-boundaried 

           mentoring relationships.

• Safeguarding and risk concerns are recognised, recorded and escalated promptly.
• Mentee contacts, actions, referrals and outcomes are recorded accurately and on time.
• Prison, probation and community partners experience Trailblazers as responsive, 

           professional and clear about its role.

• The post-holder manages their caseload reliably, follows through on agreed actions and 

           contributes positively to project delivery.

Person specification

Applicants should use their application to show how their experience, knowledge and skills meet the requirements below. Because this is a front-line role supporting people before and after release from prison, applicants must be able to demonstrate relevant experience of working with people who may face multiple barriers, require persistent engagement and need support across several services.

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

Additional role requirements

• The post-holder must be willing and able to work in prison and community settings, subject 

           to successful vetting and security requirements.

• The post-holder must comply with Trailblazers policies and procedures, including 

           safeguarding, data protection, confidentiality, health and safety, equality and diversity, lone    

           working and risk assessment.

• The post-holder will be required to handle sensitive information appropriately and maintain 

           accurate records on approved systems.

• The role involves regular travel to assigned prison(s), community locations, appointments, 

           meetings and occasional charity-wide events.

• Occasional evening work may be required, with time off in lieu in line with 

           Trailblazers policy.

• Flexibility around contracted hours is required to meet service needs, release-related 

           activity, appointments and agreed deadlines.

Benefits

• Pension - automatic enrolment into the pension scheme after three months.
• Annual leave - 23 days plus public holidays; one additional day accrued per year up to five 

           years' continuous service.

• Annual wellbeing day that can be used flexibly.
• Time off in lieu for agreed additional hours worked.
• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme.
• Blue Light Card offering a wide range of discounts.