Family Complex Needs Support Worker

Role Overview – What is it?
To join our Active Opportunity Pathway (AOP) services, working as part of the Support Team to help people experiencing homelessness and multiple disadvantages to overcome barriers to achieving greater independence. 

As a Family Complex Needs Support Worker you will be supporting families and their children, who are facing homelessness and have multiple needs. This can include supporting drug and alcohol addiction, debt, parental hospitalisation or imprisonment, disabilities or special educational needs, school absenteeism, language barriers, and more. 
You will provide support and help to access specialist services by delivering tailored interventions, enabling independence, and preventing homelessness. Using your knowledge and skills to help us create one of the most effective outcomes-focused services in the sector, adhering to the Making Every Adult Matter principles (MEAM). 

You will be familiar with and have effectively operated in a strength-based and trauma informed way to help families achieve positive housing, health and wellbeing outcomes. Taking personal pride and ownership in enabling people who experiencing multiple disadvantage to achieve more than they ever thought possible. 

You will have worked in an accommodation-based setting, with significant experience of providing intensive housing management, and tenancy management tasks. Drawing on that knowledge to support residents to manage their finances, facilitating appointments with specialist mental health, drug and alcohol services and access appropriate move-on accommodation on their journey towards greater independence. 

You will hold a NVQ Level 3 Childcare, Social Work, Social Care, Counselling, Youth Work or Education Certificate.

This is a specialist role within a new team, offering you the chance to not only deliver life-changing support, but also help us shape and create a great service for those who need us most. You will act as an ambassador for The Housing Network, to promote its mission and values. Being respectful and kind is at the heart of everything that we do.  

Main Duties – What needs to be done?

Support Elements:

• Employ a strength-based and trauma-informed approach to building trusting relationships with residents, using that to help create accurate, realistic and meaningful (outcome focused) support plans.
• Use your knowledge and experience of working with those experiencing multiple disadvantage to identify and capture risks, using that to help design mitigation strategies and inform coping mechanisms.
• Engage pro-actively and effectively with residents to help them identify barriers which are preventing them gaining greater levels of independence, then working collaboratively to build (and achieve) a plan for success.
• Uphold the highest levels of safeguarding awareness and protection for individuals, residents, colleagues and the wider community. Working within local frameworks to ensure policies and mechanisms are applied correctly.
• Maintain and regularly update accurate records of all support engagements, support plans, risk assessments and other support pathway elements, using them to support appropriate partnership working with local partner agencies.
• Champion the principles of trauma-informed engagement and support across the service and wider organisation, helping colleagues develop their skills and communication approaches to support the achievement of outcomes.
• Take time to engage pro-actively with all residents in the scheme, using the less formal engagements to help deepen the understanding and effectiveness of support plans and achievement of outcomes.
• Work with the service manager and senior leaders to engage pro-actively with local multi-disciplinary and network groups, seeking to maximise outcomes for individuals and build added value into the service as a whole.
• Deliver a blend of both individual and group sessions, with a focus on helping residents to build and develop their independent living skills and abilities, recording all engagements within our digital support system.
• Manage your caseload of residents in an effective and dynamic way, ensuring all residents receive and engage with appropriate amounts and types of support for their needs.
• Work in a non-risk averse and non-judgemental way, helping residents understand the negative impact of their behaviours, then providing harm reduction information and advice where necessary.
• Act as a positive role model for residents, using a strength-based approach to helping them set realistic (but aspirational) goals, prompting, encouraging and motivating them to make them a reality. 

Intensive Housing Management:

• Work with colleagues at service and organisational level to ensure maximum levels of service utilisation, including the processing and review of referrals in a non-risk averse and balanced community way.
• Support in the process of referral management and support / needs / risk assessment, recording all relevant findings accurately in our digital support management system.
• Support residents to understand and complete all necessary tenancy documentation and service entry requirements, recording them as required in our various housing management systems.
• Take ownership of any rent management matters for your residents, helping them to understand the importance of appropriate money management and to take necessary action to avoid arears.
• Support residents to understand their benefits and money management skills, using that to identify knowledge gaps which can be added into support plans and future engagement activities.
• Complete regular accommodation inspections, using the opportunity to help residents develop further independent living skills (e.g. reporting of repairs) whilst ensuring all necessary compliance and H&S requirements are met.
• Proactively support residents to identify knowledge gaps in terms of their ability to manage a tenancy and live independently, building that into support plans and helping them acquire the skills and knowledge required. 

Relationships – Who will I be working / engaging with?

• Internal – Other AOP service colleagues (e.g. concierge, support workers) / Maintenance and Facilities Teams / Head of Service and Senior Leadership Team / Residents.
• External – Local Authority Commissioners and Housing Officers / Third Sector Partners / Statutory Partners (e.g. Police and Probation) / Housing Benefit Officers / DWP and Employment Partners etc.

Competencies – Who with and your skill level?

• Extensive and demonstrable knowledge and experience of working with individuals or families experiencing multiple disadvantage or severe multiple disadvantage.
• Extensive and demonstrable experience of working in an accommodation based service, with specific reference to effective rent management and accessing positive move-on options.
• Proven abilities to work in a strength-based and trauma-informed way for the benefit of individuals and families, helping them to achieve a level of positive outcomes beyond their expectations.
• Experience of completing and managing accurate support plans and risk assessments, then using those to design and implement engaging and impactful support activities for groups and individuals.
• Extensive and demonstrable knowledge and experience of maintaining the highest standards of safeguarding for vulnerable individuals.
• Comfortable and familiar with working in a non-risk averse way.
• Knowledge and experience of best-practise and current approaches (e.g. adverse childhood experiences) to deliver effective intervention and therapeutic engagements.
• Highly developed ICT skills and familiarity with digital support management systems, and personal abilities and focus on maintaining accuracy at all times.
• Excellent written / verbal communications skills, with the confidence to engage with external partners and stakeholders when advocating for residents, the service and organisation as a whole.
• NVQ Level 3 in Childcare, Social Work, Social Care, Counselling, Youth Work or Education required.

General and Additional 

• The responsibilities contained within this job description are indicative, but not exhaustive. As the role develops, the requirements of the post may change, and as such the post is subject to review in discussion with the post holder.
• The post holder may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as the organisation may reasonably require which are commensurate with the grade of the post.
• The post holder shall comply with the organisation’s policies and procedures, ensuring appropriate actions and reporting protocols are followed at all times.
• The post holder shall attend regular staff or other related meetings, contributing positively where appropriate and relevant.
• Extensive travel across the UK will be required from time to time to support the delivery of role requirements, with you holding a full UK driving licence and access to private vehicle for business use when required.
• Requirement to work flexibly to meet service requirements, including work over weekends or bank holidays.
• An Enhanced Disclosure is required for this position.
• Dedicated training by The Housing Network for Family Support Workers is provided, including Safeguarding Children.