Information and advice worker jobs

Permanent contract, full-time (35 hours pw) - Out of Hours, some flexible shifts. This post also might require occasional weekend working

Ref: KEY-252

Are you a proactive, compassionate and collaborative individual with a proven record of engaging positively with young people, families, offenders, or other vulnerable groups?  Do you have strong experience of providing support, advice and advocacy and the ability to assess clients’ needs?

If so, join St Giles as a Key Worker, where you will play an integral part in the new specialist multi-agency and multi-disciplinary Young Persons Team in Wolverhampton, providing a high-level service to vulnerable or at-risk young people (11-25) and their families across the different levels of need and support, from early help to children and young people in care.

About St Giles Trust 
An ambitious, well-established charity that helps people facing adversity to find jobs, homes and the right support they need.  Central to our ethos is our belief that people with first-hand experience of successfully overcoming issues such as an offending background, homelessness, addictions and gang involvement, hold the key to positive change in others.  

About this key role

As a proactive member of the multi-disciplinary team, our successful candidate will share best practice with other team members in relation to approaches and strategies to support and engage young people and their families to achieve best outcomes, plus work collaboratively to develop plans of support and promote programmes of social education, activities, support, advice, and information, using a range of multi-sensory methods.

We will count on you to build positive relationships and promote the value of lifestyle changes to the client group and their families and to ensure that the voice of the child and young person remains central to their support and that they are proactively encouraged to build and contribute to their own programmes.  You will contribute to multi-disciplinary assessments of children and families in need of support and provide both proactive planned programmes of support and an intensive service which will include interventions to support emotional wellbeing and health and substance misuse; creative arts activities; support responding risks of criminal, gang and/or sexual exploitation; mentoring; and sports activities. Maintaining accurate records of support and interventions is also a key duty.

What we are looking for

• Experience of engaging successfully with challenging people
• Experience in negotiating with partner agencies to establish links to further the aims of the project
• Experience of working to targets and recording information for performance monitoring
•  An understanding of the client group and the challenges and motivations of young people
• Sound knowledge of using monitoring systems to record all aspects of the project
• Able to recognise the signs of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and take appropriate action
• Ability to set up and operate systems to monitor and report on work
• Excellent IT, interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written.

As an organisation that works with children and adults at risk we are committed to safeguarding, protecting and promoting the safety of our clients and successful applicants will require an Enhanced Child and Adult with Child Barred DBS Check.

We actively encourage people with personal experience of the criminal justice system or lived experience of the issues facing this client group to apply for this role.

In return, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance, staff pension, flexible working, a mentoring programme, an advice and counselling service, clinical therapist sessions, life insurance (4 x annual salary), duvet days, season ticket loan, employee perks programme, eye care voucher and much more.

We are an equity and inclusion confident employer. We welcome all applications and we particularly encourage applications from people of the global majority (black, brown, multi- heritage) and those who identify as disabled, neuroexpansive, neurodiverse, with any protected characteristics and/or social barriers or challenges. We value the empowering and informative impact that all lived experiences and diversity of thought can offer the organisation.

St Giles will guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria set out in the Job Description for the vacancy.

Closing date: 25/09/25  Interview date: 06/10/25

Benefits Advisor
Salary £27,000 FTE,  17.5 - 21 hours per week, 6.6 weeks holiday   
Remote working with occasional travel for events and meetings in West Sussex
 

Are you a skilled benefits advisor with a passion for maximising income for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities?  

We have an exciting opportunity for someone to join a rapidly growing caring charity with the benefits of flexible family friendly working (from home), generous holiday, pension scheme, travel expenses, laptop and phone provided.  

Reaching Families was established in 2008 to empower, inform and support parent-carers and families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in West Sussex.  We achieve this through the delivery of our services providing information, training and peer support.

Our Benefits Advice Service provides support to parents of children and young people with SEND in West Sussex applying for Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independent Payments (PIP).  Offering 1-2-1 advice sessions on the above benefits, support with claim checking of draft applications, information resources on benefits and other sources of financial support, and training workshops on DLA, PIP and Universal Credit.

We are looking to recruit a skilled and motivated benefits advisor to join our team
The post holder will be responsible for the delivery of advice and guidance on Carers Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment to parent-carers of children and young people with SEND in West Sussex.

Person Specification (essential):
• Proven experience of providing welfare and benefits advice preferably gained with either children or adults with disabilities
• Experience of using CRM databases 
• Experience of using MS Office including SharePoint
• Understanding of challenges facing parents and carers of children with SEND 
• In-depth knowledge of Carers Allowance, DLA and PIP)
• Passionate about improving the life chances of children with SEND and their parents/carers, and families
See attached job description for details and full criteria 

We welcome applications from all members of the community and value diversity in the organisation. Please contact us if you require any reasonable adjustments to be made to the application or interview process due to any disability or health requirements. 

Closing date for applications is 6th October 2025 

Interviews to be held in Littlehampton on 16th October 2025 

To apply please complete the attached application form and share why you feel you fit the role and person specification (see attached documents) 

Purpose of Job

To deliver a high-quality service to and facilitate opportunities for individuals with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus and their families/carers through Shine membership.  To empower and enable members Living with the conditions to lead healthy and happy lives through greater independence, better condition management and by creating links to the Shine community across England.

SHINE has over 14,500 members with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus. This post will bring a real focus to the Essex, Suffolk & Norfolk area and will be an exciting opportunity to engage with members and develop and deliver the services we offer.

Our Little Stars project for 0–12 year olds has been established for over 3 years supporting younger members and their families with their diagnosis and beyond. We also have a growing Teen membership known as FIRE (Friendship, Independence, Resilience, Equality) Working alongside our multi skilled, established team, you will be supporting members across all age groups and building on the great foundations already in place.

We are looking for someone who can cover the Essex, Suffolk & Norfolk area. You will be home based but will be required to attend clinics in this area and London, events and meet members one to one where necessary within your allocated area and occasionally across wider areas and nationally.

Shine will offer you:

• A competitive salary of £28,471 (pro-rata for part-time hours)
• Regular working hours, and no shift work (some very occasional weekends or evenings) 
• 3% pension contribution
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays + additional discretionary leave between Christmas and New Year (pro-rata for part-time hours)
• Additional annual leave due to length of service
• Opportunity to purchase additional annual leave
• Broadband allowance
• Life insurance after 12 months’ employment 
• Access to our Employee Support Programme
• Support to learn and develop

Please see the full Job Description & Person Specification below and on our website. 

Shine is a Disability Confident employer and will offer guaranteed interviews if a disabled applicant meets the minimum criteria for the job.

If you would like to discuss the role, please contact Sarah Carrier, England Services Manager by email to arrange a convenient time for a call.

To apply please submit your CV and supporting statement, which should outline your interest and explain how you meet the role criteria.

*Please note applications without a supporting statement will not be accepted*

Closing date: Monday 15th September 2025 11pm

Interviews: Friday 26th September 2025

Please note: we reserve the right to interview suitable candidates before the closing date, therefore we encourage applications as soon as possible.

Together for Short Lives is a charity that makes sure seriously ill children and their families get the care they need, especially at the end of life. We work closely with families, care professionals, and services to improve children’s palliative care. We also speak up to government leaders and decision-makers to help make sure families have access to the best support when they need it.

About the Role

As a Kentown Family Service Coordinator, you will be the first point of contact for families referred into the Kentown programme, helping them navigate health, social care, and voluntary sector services. You will:

• Carry out family needs assessments and co-develop personalised support plans with families.
• Build strong local relationships with health, education, and community services to ensure families can access the help they need.
• Promote the work of the Kentown Programme and Together for Short Lives and raise awareness of children’s palliative care in the region.
• Support family engagement events, training opportunities, and ongoing evaluation of the programme’s impact.
• Work collaboratively with the Kentown team, sharing learning and best practice across regions.
• This is a home-based role with travel across Lancashire, Cumbria, and Manchester.

About You

We’re looking for someone with experience in health, social care, or education who is passionate about supporting families. You will bring:

• Experience working directly with children, young people, or families with complex needs.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills with families and professionals.
• The ability to assess needs, coordinate support, and signpost families to the right services.
• Confidence in collecting feedback and supporting events or activities for families.
• A proactive, compassionate, and organised approach, with good IT and record-keeping skills.
• A full driving licence and willingness to travel are essential.

Job Title: Housing Support Worker

Location: Warwickshire, Dispersed Accommodation (mainly based in South Warwickshire)
Salary: £25,857.12 per annum
Contract type: Full Time, Permanent 

Hours: 37.5 hours per week. As part of this role, you will be required to participate in an out-of-hours on call rota.

This is an opportunity to join Refuge as a Housing Support Worker to provide high quality practical and emotional support to survivors of domestic abuse and their children living in our dispersed refuge accommodation in Warwickshire.

You will be joining the Warwickshire Dispersed Safe Accommodation service. This service will provide emergency safe accommodation across Warwickshire with high-quality domestic abuse support, ‘by-and-for’ services for survivors of domestic abuse and their children. Housing Support Workers will work closely with the Floating Support Workers and Child Support Workers (who provide the personal support to survivors of domestic abuse and their children) to ensure that the emergency accommodation and support meets the whole range of survivors’ needs.

The post holder will be responsible for the Health and Safety and maintenance of emergency safe accommodation units in multiple 1–3-bedroom properties across Warwickshire. This will include the practical set up and maintenance of home furnishings and utilities in each property and the management of the cleaning and replacements required between each use of the accommodation unit.

The post holder will provide support to survivors fleeing domestic abuse around accessing housing benefit for the dispersed accommodation and support survivors with exploring and accessing move on accommodation.

The Housing Support Worker (HSW) will be responsible for ensuring that the properties will maintain Refuge’s accommodation standards and comply with all Health and Safety legislation and requirements. 

As part of this role, you will be required to participate in an out-of-hours on call rota.

This post is restricted to women due to the nature of the role. The Occupational Requirement under Schedule 9 (part 1) of the Equality Act 2010 applies.

Closing Date: 09:00am 26 September 2025

Interview Date: 9 October 2025

At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we’ve done for over 150 years. We protect children, support young people and adults and offer direct, practical help to families and communities.

We see first-hand the power of family to shape lives, for better or worse, so we speak up for the

importance of family in national and local policymaking, amplify family voices and represent the changing needs of families in the UK today.

The LifeSkills Support Worker (Virtual) will provide online support to individuals who are further away from employment, education or training by using a strengths based approach as part of the LifeSkills Intensive Programme. 

This is a new role and it is planned that referrals will be received directly from Tier 3 FamilyLine services (counselling and befriending services). 

The LifeSkills programme supports individuals and families to build their confidence, social networks, financial and employability skills. The LifeSkills Support Worker will work closely with the wider LifeSkills teams (Intensive and Open).

Ref SWB-252
Closing date 15th September 2025

Are you a proactive, collaborative and compassionate individual with a proven record of successfully supporting young adults into sustainable employment?  Do you have strong experience of working on a target driven project, and a proven ability to support others to reach their targets?

If so, join St Giles as a Support Worker for Young Adults with Complex Emotional Needs (YACEN Project), where you will provide tailored one to one high-level service of engagement, advocacy and support to young adults who will be transitioning from Children's Mental Health Services into Adult Mental Health Services and to engage in positive activities within their communities, including sustainable education, training, employment, and improve their mental health and wellbeing.

About St Giles Trust
An ambitious, well-established charity that helps people facing adversity to find jobs, homes and the right support they need.  Central to our ethos is our belief that people with first-hand experience of successfully overcoming issues such as an offending background, homelessness, addictions and gang involvement, hold the key to positive change in others.

About this key role
As our Support Worker, you will support the promotion of the project, both internally and externally, and the achievement of project targets for engagement and progression onto training, employment and other outcomes for the Young Adults with Complex Emotional Needs (YACEN).  You will maintain accurate and timely client records and evidence of all achieved outcomes according to programme requirements and as required by the funders, while also building excellent relationships with local authorities, voluntary organisations, mental health services, schools/colleges and other services across Bedfordshire.

We will rely on you to develop contacts and liaise with external agencies to develop positive working relationships, enabling effective referrals of participants and developing progression opportunities, plus deliver Transition Life Skills sessions to a cohort of young people.  Actively promoting gender equality and involving the people we serve, and looking to address some of the unique issues faced by minority groups, including ensuring accessible resources in multiple formats (e.g. easy read, different languages) and working with specialist community groups are also key duties.
 
What we are looking for

• The ability to engage and holistically support young adults who face multiple and complex barriers to employment, including complex emotional needs such as a diagnosed personality disorder
• In-depth knowledge and awareness of the issues faced by the client group in accessing and sustaining employment and methods that result in positive outcomes
• The ability to engage and build positive relationships with employers to support both employees and employers and encourage improvements to the quality of employment
• The ability to work to targets and record information to enable effective monitoring of performance against targets
• Excellent interpersonal, relationship-building and communication skills, verbal and written
• A professional, collaborative and flexible approach to your work

 
Please note:  as an organisation that works with children and adults at risk we are committed to safeguarding, protecting and promoting the safety of our clients and successful applicants will be subject to an Enhanced Child Workforce with Child Barred list DBS.

In return, you can expect a competitive salary, generous leave allowance, staff pension, flexible working, a mentoring programme, an advice and counselling service, clinical therapist sessions, life insurance (4 x annual salary), duvet days, season ticket loan, employee perks programme, eye care voucher and much more.

We are an equity and inclusion confident employer. We welcome all applications, and we particularly encourage applications from people of the global majority (black, brown, multi- heritage) and those who identify as disabled, neuroexpansive, neurodiverse, with any protected characteristics and/or social barriers or challenges. We value the empowering and informative impact that all lived experiences and diversity of thought can offer the organisation.

St Giles will guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria set out in the Job Description for the vacancy.

We will be reviewing applications as they are received, and reserve the right to close this advert early if a suitable candidate is appointed. We therefore strongly encourage early applications to avoid any disappointment

Closing date: 15h September 2025Interview date: 22nd September 2025

Role and Responsibilities

Housing and Service Delivery

• Provide strong and effective support to residents in Acorn House that focuses on their strengths and goals, and is delivered in a personalised way and within a framework of active engagement and co-production

• Developing and reviewing support plans that reflect the interests and aspirations of residents

• Induct new residents in line with the service’s policies and procedures and support them to continue in their journey towards recovery from addiction

• Carry out assessments of those referred to Acorn House, and induct new residents

• Ensure the fundamental needs of residents are met including good quality accommodation and facilities, healthy food, advice and guidance around benefits, and alcohol and drug testing (to help maintain an abstinent environment)

• Deal with the immediate support needs of residents as appropriate, providing crisis intervention where necessary

• Support residents in addressing physical and mental health issues, including liaison with primary and secondary health teams

• Ensure residents are supported through court or welfare rulings (if necessary)

• Ensure effective and compliant administration of resident data using a bespoke Salesforce- based platform (In-Form)

• Ensure Housing Benefit and Services Charges are collected and managed effectively 

• Be flexible and responsive to the changing needs of the service, ensuring high quality support is provided

• Ensure each resident’s support plan is written, monitored and reviewed as appropriate to reflect their changing needs and development

• Ensure residents progress and engage with other SCT programmes (when required)

• Ensure conditions and requirements relating to any contracts or management agreements are applied throughout SCT’s services

• Work effectively as part of a team, attending team/ staff meetings and making a positive contribution to the development of the team and wider SCT services

• Effectively control and manage financial records appropriate to the duties of the post (petty cash/rent) 

• Participate in a feedback culture for continuous improvement

• Promote social inclusion, supporting residents to access all benefits available to them

• Support residents with physical and mental health issues, including liaison primary and secondary health care services as required

• Ensure all repairs and maintenance needs are raised

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Maintain accurate records of residents on In-Form

Operational Support

• Comply with Health and Safety, including but not limited to any fire maintenance, risk assessments and complete room checks and raise any risks to the Supported Housing Manager

• Ensure equipment of all applicable facilities is in good working order

• To provide an on-call/out-of-hours service when required

• Carry out other duties as may reasonably be required 

Special Conditions

• This post requires the holder to work varying shifts between 08.00 am and 8.00 pm and participation in the call rota system (for which an additional allowance is paid)

• The post-holder is required to work weekends as part of a rota and Bank Holidays when required

• On occasions you may be requested to change your rota to ensure the requirements of the service are covered

• In accordance with the guidelines on Health and Safety, to accept responsibility for working within these guidelines and reporting any concerns to the Supported Housing Manager

Exciting part-time opportunities for Crisis Recovery Workers have opened up at CPSL Mind.

CPSL Mind is a vibrant, values-led charity that supports local people in their recovery from mental health issues, promotes wellbeing and campaigns against stigma and discrimination.

Crisis Recovery Workers - x2 Part Time
Salary: £29,347.00 pa FTE (£16,434.32 per annum for 42 hours per fortnight)
Salary Scale Point: 19 (Including 1 point for anti-social hours)
Based at: The Sanctuary, Peterborough
We are looking for the following work patterns:
42 hours per fortnight, working on a rolling 2 week rota

• Role 1: Week 1: Monday, Thursday, Friday – Week 2: Monday, Saturday, Sunday - all shifts 4.30pm - 11.30pm
• Role 2: Week 1: Monday, Saturday, Sunday – Week 2: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - all shifts 4.30pm - 11.30pm

About CPSL Mind

Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire (CPSL) Mind is a progressive and expanding mental health charity. Our vision is a society in which everyone has positive mental health and feels part of a connected community.

About the Sanctuary and the Role

The Sanctuary is a non-clinical, safe space for individuals to visit as an alternative to attending A&E and is part of the wider First Response Service across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

We are looking for part-time Crisis Recovery Workers to join our team!

If you are interested in this exciting opportunity and you are able to meet the criteria detailed below, please apply!

Working one to one (either face to face, over the telephone, or on video call) you will support individuals experiencing mental health distress by:

• Establishing connection and rapport in a non-intrusive, non-judgmental and compassionate manner
• Supporting individuals through guided self-help strategies including grounding, breathing techniques.
• Supporting individuals to relay their immediate needs and concerns and offering emotional and practical support and information to address these.
• Provide individuals with information on and how to connect with social support networks available to them in their own community.
• Supporting individuals to make a safety plan

Crisis Recovery Worker criteria:

• You must be able to show empathy and compassion with a non-judgemental approach
• You should be passionate about promoting positive mental health and have excellent verbal communication and listening skills.
• You should be able to manage professional boundaries

Closing date: 5th October 2025
Interview Date: To be advised

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

CPSL Mind is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

No agencies please.

At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we’ve done for over 150 years. We protect children, support young people and adults and offer direct, practical help to families and communities.

We see first-hand the power of family to shape lives, for better or worse, so we speak up for the

importance of family in national and local policymaking, amplify family voices and represent the changing needs of families in the UK today.

The LifeSkills Support Worker (Virtual) will provide online support to individuals who are further away from employment, education or training by using a strengths based approach as part of the LifeSkills Intensive Programme. 

This is a new role and it is planned that referrals will be received directly from Tier 3 FamilyLine services (counselling and befriending services). 

The LifeSkills programme supports individuals and families to build their confidence, social networks, financial and employability skills. The LifeSkills Support Worker will work closely with the wider LifeSkills teams (Intensive and Open).

SLRA is a well-established local migrant support organisation working with and for refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants who are at risk or in crisis because of immigration issues. We provide specialist immigration advice as well as a broad range of practical, social and therapeutic support services. We also campaign for a fairer immigration system, involving local people with lived experience in influencing local and national policy and practice. 

Our Nest Project brings advice and improved awareness and knowledge to migrant families with young children, through community settings in Lambeth and Southwark. The project aims to reach families with the information and advice they need in order to resolve their status before they fall into crisis, and allow them to live safely and access opportunities.

The Nest Project Coordinator will lead on developing partnerships with and providing training to staff and volunteers in community settings as well as providing immigration advice and casework.

We would love to hear from you if you have: 

• Experience of providing immigration advice and casework support to migrant individuals who have complex needs, working sensitively and effectively within community settings.
• A strong track record in establishing and developing partnership working, and delivering training/workshops within community settings.
• Authorisation to provide immigration advice at IAA Level 1 or higher, and a strong understanding of the rights and entitlements, support available to the client group and of referral processes to statutory and non-statutory support agencies.

Benefits include: 

• 25 days holiday per year (with 3 additional days when the office is closed at Christmas) plus bank holidays.
• Additional long service annual leave days up to a maximum of an additional 5 days per year.
• Flexible and family friendly working arrangements including compressed hours and school term time working.
• Pension scheme with 5% employer contribution.
• Commitment to staff learning and development.
• Cyclescheme and travelcard loans.

For all roles, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals, and those who are migrants or refugees, and who have lived experience of the hostile immigration system. We are proud to be a member of the Experts by Experience Employment Network, which aims to create a charitable sector that is led by people with lived experience of the asylum and immigration system. As part of this network, we challenge the one-size-fits-all approach in our employment practices, and respect personal circumstances and needs of people with lived experience. Please feel free to use information and resources on their website which may help in preparing your job application. 

About us

The Refugee Council is the nation’s refugee charity. Together with community groups, partners and volunteers, we help people who have escaped war and persecution to rebuild their lives, integrate into communities, and play their part in Britain. Born in the aftermath of World War II, our frontline services support over 14,000 refugees each year to find safety, get to know their neighbours, and enter education, training or work. We share our evidence and expertise with policymakers to help build integrated communities where everyone can contribute. 

Our Values

Our values underpin everything we do:

• Inclusive: We are inclusive. We work with - not for - refugees and people seeking asylum, so they have an equal voice, co-producing projects and ensuring their expertise and experiences are at the heart of what we do.
• Collaborative: We are collaborative. Working with others is a priority in order to have the collective impact that is vital to achieve policy and practice reform.
• Courageous: We speak out when we see injustice, cruelty and unfairness. We always stand up for what we believe is the right thing to do to transform the experiences of those seeking protection in our country.
• Respectful: We are respectful of all those we interact with. We treat everyone – our staff, volunteers, beneficiaries, partners and people we disagree with – with the same respect, professionalism and understanding.

About the role

The Refugee Council supports separated children across England and part of our service is a team of staff based at the port of Dover, working 24/7 to provide a temporary safeguarding service for children arriving there, ensuring that their basic needs are met while they await transfer to the care of a local authority. The unit is reactive to the needs of clients, who may arrive at any time, and staff are expected to cover a variety of shifts.

As a Support Worker, you will assess the basic needs of newly arrived clients and provide an appropriate service, including food, clothing, and access to hygiene facilities. You will work in the best interests of the child and ensure all safeguarding issues are responded to, reported and accurately recorded.

For full details about the role, please download the job description. 

Staff benefits

To reward our staff for the value they bring, we offer a variety of enhanced terms and conditions and a wide range of benefits, including:

• Training & Development
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Pension Scheme
• Work Life Balance Policies
• Employer-Sponsored Volunteering
• And more.

Let’s work together to improve the lives of refugees in the UK - apply on our website today.

Closing date: 19 September 2025.

This vacancy may close earlier than the stated deadline if a high volume of applications is received. We encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

Ensuring that the Refugee Council is an inclusive and accessible place to work is important to us. We want to enable people from different backgrounds to apply and thrive with us. We believe our recruitment process enables that and are also happy to make adjustments on request.

The Adult Lead Worker service is based at our main hub in Digbeth but provides city-wide support to adults experiencing multiple disadvantage. This service provides flexible, strengths-based advice and support to people aged 18 years plus who experience two or more of substance use, poor mental health, history of repeat homelessness and offending history. Clients may also be serially excluded from services or be at risk of exclusion from mainstream services.

This is a targeted service that aims to build resilience, improve health and wellbeing and move people towards independent living at an early stage, in order to prevent or delay the need for crisis interventions.

The Lead Workers will also act as a community navigator linking the client into local services and activities, ensuring access to and receipt of necessary care and support that will vary for each client.

You will be leading a large team of Lead Workers and report to the Service Manager.

Selection of Service Management duties :-

1. To oversee operational delivery of the Adult Lead Worker Service to ensure that the outcomes are achieved in line with the contract requirements.

2. To manage data capture relating to the contract and ensure effective support plans, case notes and statistical data analysis is available.

3. To assist in regular reporting through a range of statistical data, case studies, client feedback and other routes on a monthly and quarterly basis.

4. Work alongside and in partnership with other services across the city to promote appropriate referrals and joint working to get the best outcomes for clients.

For the full list of Key Tasks, Managerial Responsibilities and Requirements, please see the Job description and Person Specification.

Role purpose
Our new Household Crisis Caseworker position will work alongside our Crisis Alternative Service, Ealing Safe Space and information and advice service, Pathways. This new service provides support for Ealing residents 18+ who are experiencing household crises such as: housing, debt, welfare benefits, employment. This service aims to support those facing cost of living / household crises, by providing 6-12 casework sessions. This service will primarily support those from low-income households in need, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, single-person households, disabled people and those struggling with one-off financial concerns or unforeseen circumstances. These sessions will cover a range of elements and will aid in navigating and liaising with services. Ultimately, preventing further crises relating to cost of living and empowering individuals by providing self-advocacy tools and support plans.

The role of the caseworker will be to provide advice, guidance and navigation to Ealing residents experiencing cost of living and household crises exacerbating mental health struggles. Support offered to each individual will be person-centred and tailored, but may include: liaising with statutory services (housing officers, social workers, mental health teams etc), supporting with form filling, sourcing warm goods, supporting with grants and income maximisation, emergency applications, empowering individuals with self-advocacy skills, signposting etc.

The successful candidate will triage, onboard and manage a caseload 15-20 individuals, whilst also supporting those who drop-in to the service who require crisis intervention on the day. In addition to crisis work, the caseworker will be expected to adopt a preventative approach and encourage referrals before a crisis occurs, via partnership working both internally and externally. There will be an element of outreach working for this post. The successful candidate will work alongside our Ealing Safe Space team and be supported by the Safe Space Team Manager.

The caseworker will be required to work within the Advice Quality Standard framework (AQS), adhere to Mind’s policies and procedures.

Due to the nature of the work, if successful, you will need to have an up-to-date DBS check completed prior to undertaking unsupervised client work.  

Key Responsibilities

• Triage, onboard and support a caseload of 15-20 individuals
• Triage and support individuals dropping into the service for household / cost of living crisis support
• Liaise with core agencies (social services, housing, mental health teams, GPs, VCSE organisations)  
• Provide advice and information relating to all welfare benefits, including assisting clients with form filling and contacting agencies such as the Department for Work & Pensions on the individuals’ behalf
• Complete emergency applications and grant applications
• Devise and facilitate guided mental health sessions, exploring a range of topics such as anxiety and panic, sleep hygiene, financial management
• Provide housing, general money and debt management advice
• Provide information on employment opportunities and training support for clients
• Where appropriate, source warm goods for those in need
• Engage in outreach within the borough to encourage referrals and promote the service
• Signpost to other relevant services in the borough, or further afield
• Attend training, forums and meetings to ensure knowledge remains relevant and up to date
• Keep up to date about current best practice and legislation within mental health, as well as within the field of information & advice more generally
• Provide updates and feedback to the broader teams
• Engage in multi-disciplinary meetings, both internally and externally
• Use our database Views to record details of all client referrals and contacts to ensure client information is kept up to date
• Use the correct templates, conduct outcomes and satisfaction assessments with clients on closure
• Record the results of outcome assessments and satisfaction surveys on the Views databases
• Work in line with triage procedures and use the referral process when referring cases to external organisations
• Meet regularly with service leads and colleagues to feed back about the progress of the project and ensure it is relevant to local strategy and national Government priorities
• Follow Hammersmith, Fulham, Ealing, and Hounslow Mind’s organisational policies and guidelines
• Undertake additional duties that may reasonably be required to fulfil the objectives of the post

Person Specification

Knowledge and Experience

• Substantial experience of delivering advice in a similar position, preferably to individuals with mental health needs
• At least 1 year experience of working in a crisis setting (inpatient, crisis alternatives, NHS teams)
• Knowledge and understanding of mental health problems, and mental health services
• Experience of delivering advice and information
• Experience of managing complex cases and autonomously managing a caseload
• Experience of working with multiple agencies and attending multi-disciplinary meetings
• Experience of delivering desired outcomes in a timely manner
• Up to date knowledge and experience of safeguarding adults
• Understanding of the importance of monitoring and evaluation, and the ability to keep records
• Experience with de-escalation, recognising and mitigating risks
• Experience of working with challenging behaviour 
• Listening to clients and encouraging positive steps towards self-management of crisis and recovery 

Skills and Abilities

• Relevant and up to date knowledge of welfare benefits, housing and social care
• Ability to communicate effectively in person on a one-to-one basis and with groups, as well as over the telephone and in writing
• Excellent listening and liaison skills
• Computer literate, with the ability to use MS Office, email systems and databases (inputting information and extracting reports)
• Ability to liaise with a range of people – individuals with support needs, carers, and a range of different professionals
• Ability to remain calm in challenging situations and reinforce boundaries
• Ability to support people to manage difficult feelings, and communicate their needs effectively
• Knowledge of best practice for lone working, data protection and safeguarding adults
• Willingness to undertake training related to housing and welfare benefit
• A team player
• Ability to work on your own initiative
• Ability to develop and maintain positive working relationships with service users, colleagues and stakeholders
• Strong organisation and administrative skills
• The drive to motivate self and others to achieve positive outcomes
• Flexibility in overall approach to work
• Ability to recognise and work within the boundaries of the role, including confidentiality, and the working protocols between agencies
• Strong sense of self, and ability to set and maintain boundaries
• Commitment to promoting the needs of BME communities, and a commitment to the principles of equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice
• Ability to plan and prioritise your own workload

Desirable

Lived experience of mental health problems, and of using mental health services