Support Worker

(Assessment and Referral)

Closing date:26 April 2020 at 23:59

Aim of the role: Assessment and referral of customers.

Salary:£23,690 per annum

Location: Central Croydon

Contract: Fixed term till 30 October 2020

Hours: 37.5 hours per week on a 7 day rota. Working on shifts which includes early mornings, late, evening and weekends and occasional nights.

Benefits:

As part of your employment package with us, we offer:

• a competitive salary, comprehensive training and development programme, 

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing each year to 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays after 5 years

• option to buy or sell annual leave up to one week’s annual leave

• a health cash plan providing cash back towards healthcare bills and other wellbeing benefits

• occupational sick pay

• contributory group pension scheme

• free life assurance

• cycle to work scheme and season ticket loans

About the Role

Evolve Housing + Support are recruiting for an exciting, new project in Croydon called the  Somewhere Safe to Stay hub (SStS). The Hub will act as a short-term assessment and sleep space for those both at risk of immediate rough sleeping and as a response to those verified as rough sleeping in London Borough of Croydon. It will divert those at immediate risk of rough sleeping and provide “Somewhere Safe to Stay” with intensive move on support.

About You

As an Assessment and Referral Support Worker you will support people accessing the Staying Safe Hub to identify their appropriate housing options, and to access this quickly to prevent homelessness or rough sleeping. You will carry out initial assessment and address immediate needs for people presenting at the Hub ensuring access to health care where necessary, and that basic needs are met. You will identify housing options and the most appropriate pathway, and complete the necessary referral forms, housing applications, benefits forms or other processes in order to effect resettlement. You will act as the link between the people we work with and a range of local authority, community and voluntary sector providers.

A+R Support Workers will spend much of their time based at the Hub, however you will be expected to travel between sites for training and within the local community to support the people we work with. We recognise that working with people who are disengaged and vulnerable can be very stressful. On top of one to one meetings with your line manager, we offer access to an employee assistance programme and regular facilitated reflective practice sessions.

About Evolve Housing + Support

Evolve is a leading homelessness charity in London, providing housing and support to over 2,000 people each year.  Our aim is to help children, young people and adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to become independent and resilient.  We believe in building on people’s strengths, aspirations and goals to help them break the cycle of homelessness.

We offer a programme of support tailored to meet people’s individual needs, including housing, employment and skills training, mentoring and counselling. We work with young parents and children at risk of exclusion to build the skills and resilience that can help prevent homelessness. We campaign to end street homelessness. We build affordable homes to help people move on to an independent life.

Your application

Evolve Housing + Support is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including people who have experienced homelessness themselves.

Please ensure that your answers give a clear outline of how your application meets the criteria for this job.

Support Worker

Assessment and Referral

Role Profile

Job title:

Support worker

Department:

Operations

Reports to:

Team Manager or Team Leader

Location:

See advert

Hours:

37.5 hours comprising of shifts with a rolling rota.

Typical shift pattern (may be subject to some variation dependent on the needs of specific services):

5 days a weeks over 7 days rota (including weekends and nights

About Evolve

Evolve is a leading homelessness charity in London, providing housing and support to over 2,000 people each year.

We believe in building on people’s strengths, aspirations and goals to help break the cycle of homelessness and help them move forward with their lives.

We offer a programme of support tailored to meet people’s individual needs, including housing, employment and skills training, mentoring and counselling. We work with young parents and children at risk of exclusion to build the skills and resilience that can help prevent homelessness. We campaign to end street homelessness. We build affordable homes to help people move on to an independent life.

Our mission is to help children, young people and adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness reach their potential, and move on to live happy, fulfilled lives.

Job description

Overall aim

You will support the people accessing the Staying Safe Hub to identify the appropriate housing option and to access this quickly to prevent homelessness or rough sleeping. You will engage with and empower them to:

• Identify immediate needs for people presenting at the Hub ensuring people access health care where necessary and have basic needs met

• Identify their housing needs and the most appropriate option/pathway

• Complete the necessary referral forms, housing applications, benefits forms or other processes in order to effect resettlement

• Support people to move to the next step in their housing pathway

  You will act as the link between the people we work with and a range of local authority and community and voluntary sector providers.

  What to expect

  A+R Support Workers will spend much of their time based at the Hub, however you will be expected to travel between sites for training and within the local community to support the people we work with.

  We recognise that working with people who are disengaged and vulnerable can be very stressful.  On top of one to one meetings with your line manager, we offer access to an employee assistance programme and regular facilitated reflective practice sessions.

  We provide training to enable you to do your work and build your capabilities.  We will set out a personal development plan with you to ensure you are supported to succeed in your role.

  Support work is challenging, exciting and at times frustrating.  You will need to be prepared to cope with inevitable conflict and setbacks.  Results are usually long term rather than immediate, so patience and perseverance are essential. Your resilience and creativity will be assets in this role.

Key responsibilities

Supporting our customers

• Taking part in a rota to provide 24/7 cover to ensure the Hub is safely staffed

• Work with customers to identify their housing needs through meaningful assessment, identifying and assessing risk to ensure they are able to stay safe.

• Create resettlement plans alongside customers by identifying the most appropriate housing pathway.

• Establish supportive and professional relationships with customers and dealing effectively with unpredictable and challenging situations in a professional and sensitive manner.

• Ensure daily actions are followed up and that ensure that resettlement plans are carried out.

• Liaise with external partners, including accessing appropriate statutory and voluntary services, following up on referrals and resettlement plan and advocating for customers.

• Ensure fair access through assessing the suitability of referrals, based on the criteria of the project.

• Encourage and support customers to raise complaints, comments and suggestions.

Health and Safety

• Ensure customers have up to date information on Health and Safety, and Fire Safety within the Hub environment.

• Ensure customers are given information on the Hub policies including substance use, smoking and visitors policy.

• Be fully aware of, and working within Health and Safety legislation.

• Carry out regular Health and Safety inspections of the Hub and surrounding grounds, taking immediate action to remedy health and safety defects and alerting the appropriate people in line with Health and Safety Policies.

• Report any maintenance issues to the appropriate people and keep a record of maintenance requests and work.

• Maintain a safe, welcoming environment at the Hub.

• Conduct locality checks and patrols and work with the other services on the site to monitor and address Health and safety issues or anti-social behaviour.

Administration

• Complete records on customer database (Salesforce) to deadlines.

• Keep timely and accurate records including customer files, monitoring information etc.

• Provide written reports and information as requested.

• Be aware of, and adhering to, all relevant financial procedures.

• Maintain personal records on the HR database.

General

• Ensure Evolve’s Equality and Diversity Policy and Code of Conduct are actively promoted and adhered to in all areas of work, and that services are accessible to all individuals.

• Work within the GDPR framework.

• Attend and fully participate in one to one meetings, annual reviews, team meetings and all training provided.

• Engage with colleagues and management to fully support the effectiveness of the team.

• Work across other locations, and attending training and meetings on other sites, as required.

This job description provides an indication of the roles and responsibilities for the post of Support Worker, but should not be construed as an exclusive list of the duties that the post holder may be asked to undertake.

All Evolve employees must also be aware of, and adhere to, all Evolve policies and procedures.

Evolve reserves the right to amend this role profile as necessary, after consultation with the post holder, to reflect changes to the role.

Person Specification

Experience and qualifications

• Experience of supporting vulnerable people to achieve resettlement, provision of housing advice or experience of rapid assessment and referral work.

Knowledge

• An understanding of the reasons why people become homeless and the needs and challenges they face

• Knowledge of safeguarding issues and how they apply in day to day work

• Knowledge of statutory and voluntary resources available to homeless people including an understanding of housing and welfare benefits

Skills and abilities

• Ability to document clear records and to evidence outcomes achieved with customers

• Ability to engage with customers to complete housing assessments and identify move on plans

• Ability to support customers to navigate swift resettlement and access a number of services

• Ability to work inclusively, as part of a team, and to give and receive support and constructive feedback and also to lone work when required

• Ability to manage time and multiple priorities effectively and take individual accountability for meeting deadlines

• A level of self-awareness in respect of personal resilience and a commitment to engaging in activities to support your own wellbeing

• Ability to communicate clearly both verbally and in writing, demonstrating a good standard of written and spoken English

• Competent in using Microsoft word, excel and inputting to database

Schools Coordinator/Youth Worker

Salary: £23,000 to £28,000 p.a. FTE, dependent upon experience

Location:  You will be based at our London office in Bermondsey but will be expected to travel across London boroughs and occasionally beyond London

Full-Time, Part-Time and Term-Time working will be considered.

Construction Youth Trust is a forward-thinking charity whose mission is to help young people take their first steps towards a rewarding working life. We help young people to build their skills and confidence, connect them with industry employers and facilitate meaningful experiences of the world of work. We are passionate about social mobility and prioritise young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and those facing significant barriers to work. Construction is one of the largest sectors in the UK and offers excellent career pathways for young people from all backgrounds and across a wide range of academic ability.

We are seeking to expand our committed team of school coordinators and youth workers who work directly with young people and support them to progress on their own career path, as well as build relationships with schools and community referral partners, broker partnerships with industry and deliver programmes of inspiring employer engagement activities. We have a number of positions and the emphasis of individual roles can depend on the experience of the successful candidate(s).

If you would be interested in joining our dynamic charity, please send your CV and a written statement (no more than 500 words).explaining why the role interests you and how you meet the person specification.

Interviews anticipated to be held on 23rd April 2020 at our office at the Bermondsey Campus, 37 Clements Road, Bermondsey, SE16 4EE.

A DBS application will be sourced by Construction Youth Trust in the event of an applicant being offered the position of Partnerships & Fundraising Coordinator.

As part of the wider Oasis family of hubs, Oasis Hub Oldham works to provide integrated, high quality services that benefit the whole person and the whole community.  The Thriving Hollinwood project is an on-going local partnership and is currently looking for a focussed Employability Project Leader to be responsible for improving employability, education and aspirational outcomes for targeted 16+ adults.

As well as engaging with 16+ people who are currently unemployed, you would be:

• designing a targeted project and supporting personal pathways to move individuals closer to the work environment
• working directly with target groups to improve engagement, manage and deliver a case load using a “community-led” approach.
• working with a network of local agencies, community partners and steering groups
• developing relationships with other schools, providers of NEET provision and employability programs.

This position offers you the chance to gain crucial project management experience, develop your ability to create corporate partnerships and have a positive and long-lasting impact in this community. 

Applicants will need to be committed to the project and have the following:

• Educated to degree level in relevant subject or demonstrate relevant experience.
• Experience working in an educational, youth, community or adult education setting.
• Experience of 1 to 1 mentoring/counselling
• Proven knowledge of skills, training and employability projects

Oasis offers:

• competitive salary, plus pension and life assurance
• 25 days holiday per year (plus Bank Holidays)
• Flexible working practices and family friendly policies.
• A supportive working environment with a focus on staff development and wellbeing.

For further information or an application pack please download the documents on this page or go to the Oasis UK website.  Please note that CVs alone will not be accepted. 

Closing date for applications is midday, Tuesday 14th April 2020.

Interviews will be held on Thursday 23rd April 2020 at Oldham.

1 Year Fixed Term Contract

Part-time (20 hours per week (0.5FTE), inclusive of breaks)

Salary:  £11,582 per annum (£23,164 FTE)

(We would like to make you aware that Oasis Hub Oldham also have a Lead Youth Worker role and a Hub Community Project Worker role vacant as well – tell your friends!)

Oasis Charitable Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure and Barring Service checks along with other relevant employment checks.

Oasis supports Equal Opportunities Employment.