Weekend Community Housing and Support Worker
Location: SHAP (Must have a full driving license and access to a car)
Salary: £11,567.36 per annum
Hours: 16 hours per week – 9 – 5:30pm
Job Type: Permanent/Fixed Term
Shortlisting: w/c 5th May
Interviews: w/c 12th May
Why this role would be great for you
As a Community Housing Support Worker at YMCA Together, you will naturally be an empathetic and caring person wanting to provide unconditional support for those experiencing mental health issues. Your role will be to create a safe environment that empowers residents to make positive changes in their lives.
This service will provide support to vulnerable young people (age 18-25) who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping with medium to high support needs. As a support worker, you will be focused on facilitating recovery, self-development, and preparing for independent living. The aim of the support is to ensure that young people are supported and empowered to make positive choices about their life and to develop the tools required to live a life free from homelessness.
As a support worker, you are expected to have specific skills and experience of working with young people and engage them using a range of tools, language, and platforms that are familiar to young people e.g. technology, social media, etc. You will recognize that the people we support have often experienced trauma and will work in a way that understands this. You will work alongside our Assistant Psychologist for people that require it. You will manage a caseload of 5 people with the emphasis being on intense 121 support that will enable everyone to meet their goals successfully.
What your week may look like
* Carry out new service user welcomes, inducting them into their new properties and identifying immediate support needs.
* Ensure that service users have a full understanding of their rights and responsibilities during their stay.
* Support service users to achieve their goals and targets as defined/ agreed within their support plans and empower them to reach their aims.
* Manage, update, and communicate service users' risk assessments in line with YMCA Together policy and procedure.
* Ensure service users shape their own support and understand the purpose of the support provided.
* Hold planned key-work sessions as well as ad hoc support each week with service users using a person-centred reflective approach.
* Assess support needs and plan support around individual needs. Regularly review and develop mutually agreed support plans with service users and any other professional involved in the support of those individuals e.g., Social Workers, CPNs, Probation Officers.
* Keep up-to-date records on both support planning systems MainStay and DAVE.
* Conduct monthly/quarterly risk assessments of service users, keeping all relevant parties informed of updates/changes.
* Support all service users with future tenancy planning ensuring that everyone has the skills to live independently away from a supported housing pathway.
* Motivate and challenge service users so they realize their goals.
* Liaise between service users and external agencies regarding the provision of specialized support when appropriate.
* Encourage involvement and participation among service users in the running and shaping of the wider service provided by planning and attending regular service user meetings and forums.
* Deal promptly with all complaints and protection from abuse disclosures.
* Demonstrate creativity in overcoming obstacles and a commitment to working with and providing support to vulnerable people.
It is recognized that the association is operating in a dynamic environment and as such this job description may be varied in consultation with the post holder to reflect evolving needs of the business and changing nature of the job.
What can we offer you
Working with YMCA Together comes with a whole host of benefits. We hope that people will find personal fulfillment and purpose by working alongside people in our services. Our teams are compassionate and supportive, fostering a strong sense of community. With opportunities for professional growth, YMCA Together offers training to support your role and personal development.
For a full list of benefits see here: Careers Page | YMCA Together
The skills we are looking for
* Qualification or working experience in homelessness, tenancy management, and supporting vulnerable people.
* At least 1 year’s experience of working with vulnerable adults and a working knowledge of resettlement, support planning, welfare rights, benefits advice, mental health issues, offending, drug and alcohol misuse, harm reduction, working with partner agencies, and safeguarding.
* A working knowledge of providing intensive support to vulnerable client groups.
* A working knowledge of health & safety issues.
* A clear understanding of complex needs support issues such as mental health, homelessness, substance misuse, and offending.
* Knowledge of safeguarding protocols.
* Understanding of how to work alongside behaviors that we may find challenging.
* Computer literate, competent in working with Microsoft Word, Outlook, Windows.
* The ability to conduct comprehensive and accurate risk assessments.
* To provide effective and consistent support planning with the people we support.
* Excellent IT, communication, interpersonal, interviewing, and assessment skills.
* Excellent administration skills and the ability to accurately and concisely record information and write reports.
* Plan and deliver workshops and training sessions to residents, staff, and partner agencies.
* Demonstrate creativity in overcoming obstacles and a commitment to working with and providing support to vulnerable people.
* Ability and willingness to work unsupervised.
* Committed to improving the lives of people with complex needs.
* Committed to own personal development and CPD planning.
* Creative and dynamic approach with the ability to “think outside of the box” when providing solutions.
* Energetic, highly motivated with a reputation of being held in high regard by peers.
* Excellent interpersonal/communication skills.
* Excellent negotiation/mediation skills.
* Committed to own career development.
* Ability to work within & have commitment to YMCA ethos, philosophy, and SHREK values: Strength, Humility, Respect, Empathy, and Kindness.
* Energetic, dynamic, and self-motivated.
What is a nice to have
* A recognized qualification in substance misuse or mental health.
* Qualification in welfare rights.
* IT qualification such as CLAIT, ECDL, ITQ.
* Knowledge of support planning and models of change.
* Experience of coordinating three-way meetings.
* Experience of directly working with young people.
* Knowledge of health interventions.
* Knowledge of welfare rights.
* Knowledge of the Cognitive Analytical Therapy (CAT) framework.
* Knowledge of health intervention and harm reduction.
* Analytical, data collation, and reporting skills.
Even if you don’t feel that you have all of the relevant skills and “nice to haves,” we would still like to hear from you and invite you to fill out our application form.
YMCA Together is an equal opportunities employer, values diversity, and is strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and all applicants for employment. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.
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