An exciting opportunity has arisen for a full time Money Advice worker to join our new United Utilities Trust Fund supported Mental Wellbeing Money Advice Project.

Providing longer term support to clients, this targeted project will provide money advice and financial capability support to people from Halton who are experiencing mental health issues.

You should have knowledge and substantive experience of debt casework and advice giving. You should be able to demonstrate an ability to deal with a full range of complex money advice issues, including advising clients on the management of priority and non-priority debts, insolvency remedies and housing issues such as repossession and eviction.

You will have an ability to actively engage and build a rapport with harder to reach clients and understand the impact of mental health issues on people’s lives, including the impact on dealing with money issues.

Location: Citizens Advice Halton – Widnes and Runcorn (the role will include outreach and home visits, and regular home based working)

Hours: 35 hours per week (Full time)

Leave: 25 days holiday per annum + bank holidays

Closing date: Wednesday 26th August – 12 noon

Interview date: Within 2 weeks of closing date

Please note interviews will likely be conducted on a video conferencing platform       

How to apply: Information pack and application form are available to be downloaded from our website.

We value diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination.  We encourage and welcome applications from suitably skilled candidates from all backgrounds and sections of the community.

RESET Outreach and Referral Service – Borough Drug and Alcohol Outreach Lead

Salary: £28,100

Duration: Full time 35 hrs per week. Occasional unsociable hours. Permanent contract.

Do you have passion for your work, a commitment to excellence and a desire to support some of the most vulnerable and excluded people in our communities? Could you support us to make positive lasting changes in people’s lives?

Providence Row works with more than a thousand homeless and vulnerably housed people a year in East London, offering an integrated service of crisis support, advice, recovery and learning and training programmes.  Our aim is to ensure that people who are so often excluded from mainstream services gain the support and opportunities they need to create a safe, healthy and sustainable life away from the streets. Central to our work are our core values of Compassion, Respect, Inclusiveness, Empowerment and Justice.  These inform the content, style and delivery of all our services.

RESET Outreach and Referral Service

Providence Row has been successful in winning the new Reset Outreach & Referral Service contract.  Having successfully delivered the contract for 3 years Providence Row is now building on its success with engagement and minimising harms through outreach work in the vibrant yet complex Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The Service is based at the central hub delivered by Providence Row and is commissioned by Tower Hamlets Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT).  The service works seamlessly with Reset Treatment and Reset Recovery Support Services providing residents of Tower Hamlets with the drug and alcohol support they need.

The Outreach team includes a needle exchange provision and onsite support at the hub.  The team works alongside other Outreach provisions within the Borough and partnership work is key.

The service is delivered through a “strengths based” approach.  This means that all staff involved in the delivery of the service must work with, rather than for clients to address their situation. This approach taken by Providence Row recognises that clients are people with problems, not problem people.  The service will engage clients in the development, delivery and evaluation of the work, working with a team of peer mentors with lived experience of substance misuse.

The ideal candidate

You will be passionate and have experience providing a quality Outreach Service. You will have experience working with people actively using drugs and alcohol and be understanding of their circumstance.  You will have the drive to work with some of the most vulnerable and excluded people living in Tower Hamlets.

You will be an excellent communicator, have the ability to lead a small team, able to coordinate partnership working and create positive working relationships with a wide range of people.  You are creative, innovative and well organised.

You will have experience managing a small team and an understanding of outreach work. 

For an application pack, please visit our website.

The deadline for applications is Monday 10th August, at 12pm.

Interviews will take place on a date to be confirmed.

Providence Row is a charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales; company number 07452798 registered charity number 1140192.

Location: Home- based (Midlands region)

Contract: Permanent, Part Time

Hours: 21 hours per week (3 days a week)

Salary: £21,750 

After 3 months  successful probation £23,250

After 6 months successful probation £26,476 

Scope of the Role:

The scope of this role is to provide support through the Outreach team and to contribute to the overall success of our Organisation in accordance with Migrant Helps visions, values and objectives.  The post holder will provide day to day support for clients and partners in need of Outreach support and will ensure that compliance with Home Office standards is achieved. In addition, he/she will ensure that their work meets overall quality standards and, where possible, exceeds it in line with Government and other Stakeholder contracted arrangements.

The Outreach Adviser will be committed to providing a high standard of client and service care and will report any observations or trends to their line manager. He/she will work consistently to ensure the continuous development of the role and ensure that the service is delivered according to procedures and processes which are accurate, professional and consistent at all times. There is a requirement that the post holder will monitor the service and report accordingly, and in a timely manner to changing needs with resultant re-prioritisation of his or her work as necessary if authorised by their line manager. 

Essential Criteria:

• Educated to GSCE or equivalent level 
• Capability to work remotely
• Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment
• Excellent administrative and organisation skills, with meticulous attention to detail 
• A demonstrable ability to communicate effectively both in writing and verbally, including well developed letter writing skills 
• Proven ability to prioritise and work on your own initiative whilst respecting boundaries
• Ability to deal with deadlines and conflicting priorities 
• Good IT skills, particularly MS Office applications 

Desirable Criteria:

• Working knowledge of UK Immigration / Asylum legislation
• Experience of working in the voluntary sector 

This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a Counter Terrorism Check (CTC)

Therefore the applicant must:

• hold a valid, full current 10-year British passport; full EU passport or have indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• provide full UK address history for the last five years

Please submit

1. Relevant CV

2. Detailed personal statement showing how you meet the specific requirements, skills and experience as outlined in the job description and person specification with special attention to the added value you could bring.

Migrant Help is a leading charity that has been established for over 50 years and delivers a range of support and advice services to migrants across the UK. Our vision is for a global society that protects vulnerable migrants, treats them with respect and enables them to reach their full potential.

As part of your role, it is important you operate within Migrant Help’s values:

Protection, Diversity, Equality, Partnership, Innovation and Excellence.

Migrant Help is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. 

Outreach and Resettlement Worker – Part Time
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

If you have a background in supporting women who have experienced domestic violence, this is an amazing opportunity to help provide life-changing services to women and children in your community. 

About Us

Welwyn Hatfield Women's Refuge and Support Services (WHWR) is a vital resource for women and families in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, offering a safe haven away from domestic violence and abuse.

We provide ensuite bedrooms to women and children for up to four months at a time to enable a break from their situation or to allow them to start building a new life away from an abusive or violent relationship or home environment.

Our refuge is a private, secure women and children only space. We collect residents from an agreed location and bring them to the refuge to ensure that abusive partners or family members cannot know where they are. Once safe, we provide accommodation, practical and emotional support and help with benefits, schooling and even healthcare to make sure that our residents view their time with us as positive and affirming. 

We’re currently looking for an Outreach and Resettlement Worker to join us on a part-time basis, working 30 hours per week. 

The Benefits

- Starting salary of £24,799 pro rata (currently under review)
- Make a positive difference to women’s lives
- Welcoming and supportive work environment

This is a brilliant opportunity to join a team of caring experts who are passionate about supporting women and children who have experienced exceptionally hard situations.

We will support you to build on your existing expertise while you help local women and children to pursue their goals and live the lives they choose.

So, if you are looking for the opportunity to make a real difference as part of our collaborative, friendly team, we want to hear from you.

The Role

As an Outreach and Resettlement Worker, you’ll provide emotional and practical support, information and advice to women living in the community who have experienced domestic violence and abuse.

In this important role, you’ll help women to explore, identify and articulate their needs, as well as those of their children, and work sensitively towards offering them support and guidance. 

Specifically, you will: 

- Meet with women in a safe environment, maintaining confidentiality 
- Carry out MARAC risk assessments for all new outreach clients 
- Develop professional, supportive relationships with women while they are a resident at our refuge 
- Hire venues to support the delivery of our drop-in services for women and children 
- Work with statutory and voluntary agencies to ensure that women receive the support they need
- Take part in the out of hours on-call rota

About You 

To join us as an Outreach and Resettlement Worker, you’ll need: 

- Experience of working in a supportive capacity with women, or women and their children who have experienced domestic violence
- Previous experience of group work 
- Experience of liaising with both voluntary and statutory agencies 
- An understanding of the issues facing women and children who have experienced domestic violence: physical, emotional and sexual abuse
- Knowledge of current legislation regarding the welfare of children and young people, family law, housing/homelessness, welfare benefits and immigration law as they pertain to domestic violence and basic health and safety
- An understanding of how other agencies operate with regard to domestic violence, such as housing services, HMRC, social care, solicitors, the police and courts

Please note: only female applicants will be progressed as being female is deemed to be a genuine occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Paragraph 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Other organisations may call this role Support Worker, Domestic Violence Support Worker, Community Outreach Worker, Women’s Support Worker, or Social Care Worker.

Webrecruit and Welwyn Hatfield Women's Refuge and Support Services are equal opportunities employers, value diversity and are strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and all applicants for employment. Equal opportunities are the only acceptable way to conduct business and we believe that the more inclusive our environments are, the better our work will be.

So, if you are seeking your next challenge as an Outreach and Resettlement Worker, please apply via the button shown. This vacancy is being advertised by Webrecruit. The services advertised by Webrecruit are those of an Employment Agency.

Salary: £27,000 per annum (pro-rata)

Hours: 14 hours per week

Contract: 12 months

Pension Payment: CommUNITY Barnet will make a pension contribution into a workplace pension scheme

Annual Leave: 28 days per annum (pro-rata), excluding bank holidays

Based in: Enfield

CommUNITY Barnet are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and dynamic team of Advice Workers for our newly created advice Hubs.

The roles are a newly created opportunity to provide information and advice in a wide field of subjects, including welfare benefits, housing, health, community care, and local services. Despite the current situation due to Covid-19 we anticipate that the role will be delivered face to face at our advice Hubs, located at various sites in Enfield.

Enfield Connections is an inclusive information and advice service developed for Enfield residents (18+) in need of support, information and advice which they can use to make informed decisions in self-managing long term care, deciding when to contact adult social care and to be able to live independently for as long as they possibly can.

The service was developed as part of Enfield Council’s transformation programme procuring services from the voluntary and community sector to support local residents to remain independent for as long as possible before presenting to health and social care services for help or assistance. 

CommUNITY Barnet is responsible for the delivery of Enfield Connections. CommUNITY Barnet is an award-winning charity delivering community and development services in 7 London Boroughs. We support and represent residents and voluntary and community groups, charities and faith groups across London. We have been established for 40 years, and our mission is to help transform local communities, working in partnership with residents, agencies and volunteers.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates

Closing date for applications: Monday 10th August 2020 at 9am

Interviews will be held via Zoom

Please send your CV, with a covering letter explaining how you meet the requirements of the person specification.

Finished your LLB, GDL, LPC or BTPC and eager to develop your legal skills addressing social justice issues, and ready to join our dynamic legal team then maybe this is a job for you. We are specialist drugs charity grounded in protecting the rights our clients who experience substance (alcohol & drugs) dependancy gain accees to health, housing and economic rights. These areas significantly improves a person’s life chances and integration back into their community. Whilst legal services are available to the public via other sources, our client group will often be unable to access such services because of fear of stigma or discrimination. 

We're looking for someone with preferably 1 years’ experience of providing social welfare legal advice either as a caseworker or paralegal, or at least one year’s recent experience of providing Generalist Advice to the public, this should include having undertaken casework in welfare rights, housing and debt.

You will be a people person, who is passionate about social justice and ensuring our residents receive the best quality support whilst they live in our housing. You will have demonstratable skills in advocacy ensuring our residents are able to access all the services they need and are entitled to. This sometimes will mean pushing people to help, sometimes when they don’t want to, but should. Fighting for the rights of our residents is a key part of who we are and you will be supported through your journey with us.

We have 3 exciting opportunities for Assessment and Resettlement Worker’s to join us at Passage House Assessment Centre based in London. You will join us on a full time, fixed term contract until March 2021, working 35 hours per week excluding breaks on a flexible shift system (working between Monday to Sunday within the hours 8.00am to 10.30pm on a rota basis). In return, you will receive a competitive salary of £28,299 per annum (NJC Scale range 19-22) including LW + pensions and other benefits.

The Passage House Assessment Centre aims to provide the highest quality support to men and women who find themselves sleeping rough in Westminster by providing a safe and welcoming place to stay for up to 28 days whilst planning their resettlement. Passage House focuses on a rapid assessment process which is supportive and assertive.

We aim to develop therapeutic relationships with residents so they can be fully involved in tailoring their resettlement plans and be better equipped and more able to overcome negative cycles of behaviour and experiences within the context of 28 day model. Passage House continues to develop effective engagement by using psychologically informed ways of working with residents as the project embarks on a new and innovative way to supportively move individuals off the street.

About the role:

As our Assessment and Resettlement Worker you will hold a case load and deliver, in conjunction with other members of the team, the Passage House Assessment Centre service by carrying out comprehensive assessments; facilitating the rapid resettlement of all individuals who are referred to and accepted by the Passage House Assessment Centre service to available supported networks in their home area or where they have a proven link. You will provide individuals with personalised case management support to help them to resettle utilising a practical action plan in which they have had full involvement.

Key responsibilities of our Assessment and Resettlement Worker will include:

- Be responsible to the Case Coordination Team for the day-to-day delivery of the assessment, support and resettlement of all individuals on your case load
- Provide appropriate advice and support to enable individuals to improve their health and wellbeing
- Actively take part in team debriefs, facilitated discussions and reflective practice to develop the necessary skills and support in carrying out client work
- Handle incidents effectively, prioritising the safety of the clients and the building
- Maintain individual, up to date and accurate client data by inputting into CHAIN recording system
- As part of a team, support the engagement workers on shift to perform any additional duties
- Accompany the commissioned outreach service on an outreach shift to specifically target potential Passage House Assessment Centre clients
- With your line manager, continuously develop the role to ensure that all tasks are being undertaken in an effective and appropriate manner
- Participate in internal/external meetings as required, and attend training events, conferences and other functions as necessary
- Participate in regular supervision, reflective practice and annual appraisal
- Ensure that all The Passage policies and procedures are being adhered to
- Contribute to the effective implementation of The Passage’s Diversity and Equality Policy
- At all times undertake your role in a professional manner maintaining a high quality standard of work
- Adhere to policies, procedures and systems at Passage House which underpin the service and provide effective ways to record and celebrate the work undertaken
- Undertake any other duties that may be required which are commensurate with the role

Our ideal Assessment and Resettlement Worker will have the following skills, experience, and knowledge:

Experience

- Undertaking comprehensive Assessments and Resettlement support to socially excluded clients in an No Second Night Out or similar setting
- Working within a team and achieving strong and effective relationships with others in order to achieve organisational aims and objectives
- Effective engagement and relationship building with clients and providing sensitive psychologically and trauma informed interventions to ensure individual’s needs are identified and addressed
- Building and developing effective relationships with a vulnerable, disadvantaged or excluded client group
- Working with people with challenging behaviour including those with complex needs
- Ability to participate in the development of services, policies, and practices

Knowledge

- Relevant legislation, policy and practice, e.g. Housing Legislation, Rough Sleeping Strategies, Mental Health Act, Housing Act, Enforcement Orders, Central and Local Government Strategies
- Welfare rights available to the client group 
- Understanding of the causes of homelessness and of the often complex needs of individuals who are homeless or at acute risk of homelessness
- Understanding of the issues involved in resettling street homeless individuals and the benefits and challenges of reconnection
- Awareness of the outreach practices to engage with rough sleepers including awareness of the need for a supportive but assertive approach
- Health and Safety, and the implications of this in the working environment
- Requirements of Supporting People and psychologically informed ways of working within a residential setting
- Understanding of safeguarding procedure.

Closing date: 31st August 2020, 10am

Interview date: 17th September 2020

If you would like to join us in the role of Assessment and Resettlement Worker, please click ‘apply’ now – we would love to hear from you!

Fixed Term until July 2021 (with potential extension dependent on additional funding being secured).

Women and Girls Network (WGN) is looking for an experienced and dynamic Advice Caseworker to join our highly successful Advice Service. 

As an Advice Caseworker you will work from a woman-centred, trauma-informed and survivor-led integrated approach, providing advice and advocacy support for survivors of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), supporting them through their healing journey.

This is a fast-paced role, delivered through an intersectional, anti-oppressive, black-feminist framework, which strives to address additional barriers and meet the diverse range of survivors needs.

You will be supported by a team of experienced practitioners and receive an ongoing package of specialist training and clinical supervision.

The successful candidate will have specialist knowledge in VAWG, as well as frontline experience of supporting survivors in an innovative and holistic way. They will also have excellent ability to communicate and engage with a wide range of people via different mediums.

This is a unique opportunity for an exceptional practitioner to join one of the leading specialist support services within the women sector, and play a pivotal role in the development and delivery of a service which improves responses, access and support to survivors of VAWG in London. If you have the required skills, and want to join this unique and innovative project, we would love to hear from you.

This role will initially be on a remote-working basis, changing to office-based (in Ealing) and involving some travel across London when circumstances allow.

WGN’s employee benefits include: 3% pension contribution, enhanced annual leave entitlement, access to accredited training and development opportunities & an Employee Assistance Programme.

Interviews are due to be held on: Friday 11th September 2020.

This post is subject to satisfactory references and a DBS Check.

WGN is an equal opportunities employer. The above post is exempt under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9 Part 1.

Fixed term contract until March 2022
Birmingham

Closing date: 31st August 2020 at 11.30pm

Do you have a good understanding of homelessness and housing legislation and an awareness of mental health, substance misuse and repeat offending? Then join Shelter as a Housing First Navigator and you could soon be playing a vital role within our Birmingham Housing First service which is funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

A home is a fundamental human need, as essential as education or healthcare. Yet millions of people across Britain struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, soaring rents, discrimination and the threat of eviction. So, we are striving for change ¿ with individuals, in communities, across society ¿ and leading the way to a safe home. We need ambitious, best-in-class individuals who are passionate about our cause to join us at this exciting time. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

About Housing First
Housing First is an internationally evidence-based approach, which uses independent, stable housing as a platform to enable individuals with multiple and complex needs to begin recovery and move away from homelessness. It operates on the principle that if a person has a safe, secure home they are in the best position to address any other challenges they may have. Our aim in this innovative service is to ensure that people with complex needs are accommodated safely without the requirement to be 'housing ready'. We will also link them with appropriate services, even where they may have been previously excluded.

About the Role
As a Housing First Navigator, you'll be a key worker providing coaching, support and advice for a small group of Housing First customers who will be single people or childless couples who are rough sleeping, homeless or at imminent risk of rough sleeping. They may present as challenging and difficult and are likely to have multiple and complex needs, which makes finding, securing and maintaining accommodation impossible or extremely difficult. Your challenge will be to engage with customers who have a history of disengaging from services, using a variety of techniques and approaches to build a relationship and develop a support plan. Your overall aim will be to put customers' needs first in helping them to reach their personalised goals, make informed decisions, and achieve a greater level of stability and independence.

About you
Experience of working with vulnerable people and/or people with multiple and complex needs in a safeguarding environment is essential. Customer-focused, results-driven and trustworthy, you have lots of empathy and a genuine desire to help others. What's more, you enjoy working both independently and as part of a team and are not afraid to challenge the status quo and introduce new ideas where appropriate. Experience of using a range of IT applications, including case management systemsand the ability to type is desirable.

Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.
Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We're here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

To find out more about the role and the benefits of working for Shelter please visit our website. Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

At Shelter, we welcome and encourage applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. We also encourage applications from people, who have been homeless or have been at risk of homelessness. We are facing diverse problems, so need diverse people to tackle them. In addition to this, we encourage an approach to involving people with personal insight of housing issues and homelessness in our recruitment processes.

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

Women and Girls Network (WGN) is looking for an experienced and dynamic Advice Caseworker to join our highly successful Advice Service. 

You will work from a woman-centred, trauma-informed and survivor-led integrated approach, providing advice and advocacy support for survivors of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), supporting them through their healing journey.

This is a fast-paced role, delivered through an intersectional, anti-oppressive, black-feminist framework, which strives to address additional barriers and meet the diverse range of survivors needs.

You will be supported by a team of experienced practitioners and receive an ongoing package of specialist training and clinical supervision.

The successful candidate will have specialist knowledge in VAWG, as well as frontline experience of supporting survivors in an innovative and holistic way. They will also have excellent ability to communicate and engage with a wide range of people via different mediums.

This is a unique opportunity for an exceptional practitioner to join one of the leading specialist support services within the women sector, and play a pivotal role in the development and delivery of a service which improves responses, access and support to survivors of VAWG in London. If you have the required skills, and want to join this unique and innovative project, we would love to hear from you.

This role will initially be on a remote-working basis, changing to office-based (in Ealing) and involving some travel across London when circumstances allow.

WGN’s employee benefits include: 3% pension contribution, enhanced annual leave entitlement, access to accredited training and development opportunities & an Employee Assistance Programme.

Interviews due to be held on: Friday 11th September 2020.

This post is subject to satisfactory references and a DBS Check.

WGN is an equal opportunities employer. The above post is exempt under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9 Part 1.

Salary: £30,613 per annum (pro-rata)

Hours: 14 hours per week

Contract: 12 months

Pension Payment: CommUNITY Barnet will make a pension contribution into a workplace pension scheme

Annual Leave: 28 days per annum (pro-rata), excluding bank holidays

Based in: Enfield

CommUNITY Barnet are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and dynamic team of Advice Workers for our newly created advice Hubs.

The roles are a newly created opportunity to provide information and advice in a wide field of subjects, including welfare benefits, housing, health, community care, and local services. Despite the current situation due to Covid-19 we anticipate that the role will be delivered face to face at our advice Hubs, located at various sites in Enfield.

Enfield Connections is an inclusive information and advice service developed for Enfield residents (18+) in need of support, information and advice which they can use to make informed decisions in self-managing long term care, deciding when to contact adult social care and to be able to live independently for as long as they possibly can.

The service was developed as part of Enfield Council’s transformation programme procuring services from the voluntary and community sector to support local residents to remain independent for as long as possible before presenting to health and social care services for help or assistance. 

CommUNITY Barnet is responsible for the delivery of Enfield Connections. CommUNITY Barnet is an award-winning charity delivering community and development services in 7 London Boroughs. We support and represent residents and voluntary and community groups, charities and faith groups across London. We have been established for 40 years, and our mission is to help transform local communities, working in partnership with residents, agencies and volunteers.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates

Closing date for applications: Monday 10th August 2020 at 9am

Interviews will be held via Zoom

Please send your CV, with a covering letter explaining how you meet the requirements of the person specification.

“Providing free, independent, confidential and impartial advice”

Citizens Advice Southwark has a track record of delivering high-quality services from its offices in Peckham, Walworth and Bermondsey and outreach locations across Southwark and South East London. We sort out problems together, for good, by providing free, independent, confidential and impartial advice across all areas of social welfare law, and through using the experience of our clients to bring about positive change through research and campaigns. 

Generalist Advice Caseworker

NJC Scale 6 - £28,413 to £29,931 per annum pro rata

Part-time or full-time (minimum 21 hours per week)

Initially Fixed Term to 31 March 2021

This is a re-advertisement

We are looking for experienced Generalist Advice Caseworkers to deliver a high quality advice service including undertaking casework and outreach. You will be required to work across all of our offices and outreaches in Southwark according to operational needs. The role includes providing advice to the public and undertaking casework on social welfare law issues.

To be successful you will need to have:

• Six months recent experience of providing Generalist Advice to the public. This should include having undertaken casework in welfare rights, employment, housing and debt. 
• An understanding of the advice needs and issues of the local community in a diverse, inner city area
• To understand, empathise with and be committed to the Service’s aims, principles and equal opportunities policies

Closing date: 9.00 a.m. Monday 10th August 2020

Interviews will take place on: Thursday 13th August 2020

We offer a range of employee benefits, including generous annual leave, an employer matched pension contribution up to 10% salary, and training and development opportunities to continue your professional development.

Citizens Advice Southwark is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from all applicants who meet the person specification irrespective of sex, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, age, or disability.

Funded by London Borough of Southwark

Please note that we only accept applications made using our own Application Form, which can be downloaded from the Citizens Advice Lewisham website

Reports to: Citizens Advice Lewisham Supervisor, Line Manager

Contract type: Permanent

Working hours: Full time (35 hours per week)

Salary grade: £27,000- £30,000 per annum, depending on experience

Location: Leemore Centre, Lewisham – might be required to work from different locations (outreach)

Job purpose:

1. To provide over-indebted Londoners with free, face-to-face advice that is accurate, effective and tailored to individuals’ circumstances

2. To maintain detailed case records

3. Keep up to date with legislation, policies and procedures and undertake appropriate training

Main duties and responsibilities:

1. To provide over-indebted Londoners with free, face-to-face advice that is accurate, effective and tailored to individuals’ circumstances This includes:

· Interviewing those that access our service using sensitive listening and questioning skills in order to allow them to explain their problem(s) and empower them to set their own priorities

· Researching and exploring options and implications so that those accessing our service can make informed decisions

· Ensuring income maximisation through the appropriate take up of income, including those relating to water charges, benefits, tax and housing

· Providing in-depth quality advice and on-going casework, including acting for the client where necessary using appropriate communication skills and channels

· Maintaining detailed case records, ensuring that all work meets all auditing and quality standards and the requirements of the funder

2. To maintain detailed case records This includes:

· Ensuring that all work meets all auditing and quality standards and the requirements of the funder

· Ensuring all case records are written up in a timely manner

3. Keep up to date with legislation, policies and procedures and undertake appropriate training This includes:

· Ensuring you complete a minimum of 16 hours/equivalent of technical debt advice CPD accredited training or qualifying activity and maintaining an up-to-date record of all training sessions

4. Contribute to team

· Work to an agreed work-plan, meeting targets and milestones

· Prioritise and manage your own workload

· Be an active member of the team, identifying opportunities for your own development

· Compliance with CAL policies and procedures, including health and safety

· Demonstrate financial efficiency and value for money throughout work

· Ensure that all services comply with equal opportunities and other relevant policies and quality standards and good practice

5. Other

·  Undertake additional tasks as defined by the CEO and Line Manager

Person specification:

Essential:

Awareness of, and ability to, understand and empathise with clients from a diverse range of backgrounds and disadvantaged groups living in the community

Ability to remain non-judgmental

Ability to provide outstanding customer service

Ability to use sensitive listening and questioning skills to get to the root of the issues and empower clients, whilst maintaining structure and control of meetings 

Ability to work as part of a team and be open to receiving feedback and learning from others

Understanding of the debt advice model with proven casework skills and experience of dealing with complex and challenging cases

Ability to manage own time and meet deadline

A commitment to continuous professional development, including a willingness to develop knowledge and skills in advice topics 

Knowledge and Experience

Previous experience of providing debt advice

(at least a year, or equivalent to a year, if part time)

Hold a valid Money Advice Service accredited qualification in debt advice to level three, or higher (desirable)

Experience of delivering high quality advice, casework and financial capability sessions to meet targets whilst ensuring collection of data to support funder’s monitoring and reporting requirements 

Have essential IT and telephone skills and ability to use an online based Client Management System (CMS) to deliver advice across multiple channels and maintain case records 

Hold a Certificate in Money Advice Practice (Cert MAP) from the IMA in partnership with Staffordshire University (desirable)

Previous experience in supporting junior colleagues with their development  (desirable)