The principal responsibility of the Victim Care Officer is to be a primary point of contact for victims of crime working closely with other functions and partner agencies to ensure the right support options, guidance and information is provided. To provide a quality service for victims to meet their individual needs and help them cope and recover from the impact of crime.

In particular to:

· Thoroughly review all information on Crime systems (including risk assessments) to inform and tailor support to meet individual needs.

· Detailed assessment and understanding of victim needs in order to provide specific advice, guidance, signposting and referral information as appropriate to the individual,

· Provide verbal minor procedural updates in line with Victim Code of Practice and agreed information sharing guidelines.

· Manage varied and complex workloads, with cases at various stages,

· Understand and apply the rights within the Victims Code of Practice. Working Practices and Force Policy as applicable to contribute to compliance.

· Maintain accurate records ensuring timely updates to any case management system and to any other systems in accordance with the relevant legislation, force policy and good practice. To include accurate recording of any unseen crime and or intelligence.

· Build, maintain and continue to develop relationships with external partners such as Victim Services on the Network in support of effective service provision and understanding local practices.

· Undertake necessary training and CPD to develop skills, knowledge and understanding of the Criminal Justice System.

· Engage with members of the public through a variety of communication methods.

· Dealing with callers in emotional distress, assessing risk and using the National Decision Model (NDM) to respond appropriately. This can include engaging with CRC to request a police resource is dispatched.

· Understand the provisions of statutory services (for example mental health, social services, early help) to provide appropriate advice to victims.

· Provide specialist advice and guidance to colleagues, including training inputs to teams and promotional activity at public events.

This list of duties is not restrictive or exhaustive and the post-holder may be required to carry out duties from time to time that are either commensurate with/or lower than the grade of the post. In some posts this might include the ad-hoc provision of guidance and informal training of new colleagues.

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