Lead Support Worker (Housing for people refused asylum)

The Lead Support Worker is a vital member of the frontline team, leading our trauma informed, person centred specialist support work for people in Boaz accommodation who have had their asylum claims refused.

Our accommodation is for single adults, and is provided through shared housing. We know that housing is key for people who are facing homelessness after a negative asylum decision, and that a combination of accommodation, specialist support, and access to legal advice is an essential foundation for people who have often experienced significant trauma.

The Lead Support Worker will be the main contact for this area of our support work and will have their own case load of people living in Boaz accommodation (currently, this case load will be men who have had their asylum claims refused). The Lead Support Worker will provide line management to a Support Worker within the same project, while also integrating within our wider support team. We currently have 22 bed spaces for people who have been refused asylum, but we hope to increase this number in the months ahead. The post may line manage more than one Support Worker if the service expands in the future. 

This role ensures that people who have been refused asylum are supported throughout their time in Boaz accommodation: from being referred, to moving into Boaz  accommodation, to moving on from Boaz (our accommodation is temporary, and is usually provided for up to 12 months). Our holistic support model means that the support will vary per individual, however it will include offering legal support (in partnership with a local legal provider), access to healthcare, wellbeing, housing support, as well as other objectives set by the people we work with. This role will also help lead on our programme of wellbeing activities (Boaz Life), offering opportunities for people supported by Boaz.

As well as overseeing and providing support to individuals, the Lead Support Worker will also proactively build and maintain excellent external partner relationships, seeking out opportunities to benefit people living in Boaz accommodation. 

We are looking for someone who can deliver a high quality, trauma informed and person centred service for the people we support. This will include proactively improving processes and paperwork to support the team and service delivery. The Lead Support Worker will need to be well organised and make effective use of time, striking the balance between line management and Lead responsibilities, face to face support, completing case notes, reports and other required documentation, whilst being flexible enough to accommodate changes in plans and priorities. 

This role involves working with people who are often in very precarious situations and we are therefore looking for a Lead Support Worker who has high emotional intelligence, great communication skills, can build trusting relationships with people, and understands the journeys that people seeking asylum may have undertaken and the impact of destitution.