Appropriate Adult

**Bank Work, 24/7 service** - Flexible & variable hours

**Salary**: £10.90 basic (+12.07% paid annual leave accruement)

**Based at**: Location varies according to service needs & agreement from worker

Do you have excellent communication and listening skills and are able to maintain a professional attitude in high pressured situations? If the answer is yes then maybe you would like to join our team of flexible Appropriate Adults to help support vulnerable detainees through police interviews and procedures.

**Job Purpose**:
The role of an Appropriate Adult is to support, advise and assist a vulnerable person who has been arrested through police interviews, and other formal police procedures in custody. The role is an active one where you will be expected to advise and support the detainee through the processes, ensure the person is treated fairly by the police, ensure the persons rights and entitlements are upheld, and to facilitate communication between the person and the police, ensuring that they understand all of what is happening to them.

The service provides support to South Wales, Dyfed Powys and Gwent police 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. When an AA is required, the police will contact our on-call team, who will then pass the job onto the AAs. The role is flexible, and availability is dictated by the Appropriate Adult who will decide each month what periods of time they wish to cover, and what police station they are willing to travel to. Primarily attendance will be at custody suites, however this is not exclusive and local stations are occasionally requested. Ability to attend at least one local custody suite within 60 minutes is essential.

**The main custody suites we cover are**:

- South Wales Police: Bridgend, Cardiff Bay, Merthyr, Swansea
- Dyfed Powys Police: Aberystwyth, Ammanford, Brecon, Haverfordwest, Newtown
- Gwent Police: Newport, Ystrad Mynach

**Responsibilities**:

- Supporting vulnerable people in custody and local stations to ensure the protection of their rights and entitlements.
- Ensure that all police procedures are completed fairly, and in accordance with the relevant legislation (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984).
- Assist and support communication between the person and the police.
- Ensure that the person you support understands each process that they participate in.
- Complete relevant forms for all calls to custody.
- Raise any concerns you may have regarding a person’s mental health or capacity.
- Raise any concerns of conduct to the relevant contacts as they occur.
- Be able to attend custody at short notice (typically within an hour of being contacted).

**Person Criteria**:
No qualifications or previous experience is essential for this role, however the following is desirable and may show commitment and understanding to the role:

- experience in supporting vulnerable people (mental health / learning disabilities / substance misuse etc)
- experience acting as an Appropriate Adult or within police custody suites
- experience of advocacy

To be successful in this role, you will need to be able to establish and maintain constructive relationships with a range of people, and build rapport in a short space of time. Excellent communication and listening skills are essential along with excellent observation skills.

Due to the nature of the role, you will need to be able to demonstrate your ability to remain calm in high pressured situations and make quick, measured and decisive decisions during high pressured situations whilst remaining professional at all times.

FOR A FULL JOB DESCRIPTION AND TO APPLY:
**Job Type**: Zero hours contract

**Salary**: £10.90 per hour

**Benefits**:

- Casual dress
- Company events
- Health & wellbeing programme

Licence/Certification:

- Driving Licence (preferred)

**Location**:

- Brecon (preferred)

Willingness to travel:

- 100% (preferred)

Work Location: In person

Reference ID: AF061