Support Practitioner Homeless Services

**Location**: Bentley Road

**Salary**: £27,924.41 per annum

**Hours**:38.4 hrs per week, averaging out at 37.5 over the year

Mix of early, late and weekend shifts on a rolling rota

**Job Type**: Permanent/Fixed Term

**Shortlisting**: 17th June 2025

**Interview Date**:20th June 2025

**Why this role would be great for you**

As a Support Worker at YMCA Together you will naturally be an empathetic and caring person wanting to provide unconditional support for those experiencing homelessness and addiction issues. Your role as a Support Worker will be to create a safe environment that empowers residents to make positive changes in their lives.

**What your week may look like**
- Welcoming new residents in line with the service’s policies and procedures, carry out risk assessments and support people to continue in their journey towards independence
- Ensuring the basic needs of residents are met including good quality accommodation and facilities, healthy food, advice and guidance
- Responsible for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of adults/children/young people who are at risk
- Advocate for social inclusion of the people you support ensuring they are able to access health and financial support
- Ensuring Housing Benefit and Services Charges are collected and managed effectively
- Developing and reviewing written support plans with the your residents that reflect their own needs, changes and hopes for the future
- Work alongside the people in our services to address their physical and mental health issues, including liaison with primary and secondary health teams
- Carrying out the immediate support needs of residents as appropriate, providing crisis intervention where necessary and working with services
- Ensuring all health and safety and maintenance issues are raised in a timely manner
- Participating in team meetings, supervisions and reflective practice encouraging open, honest and transparent feedback where continuous improvement is encouraged.
- Being flexible and responsive to the changing needs of the service, ensuring our SHREK values runs through all of the work that you do
- Promoting a supportive and inclusive culture within the service, valuing people and their diversity.

**What can we offer you**

Working with YMCA Together comes will a whole host of benefits. We hope that people will find personal fulfilment and purpose by working with 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.

**The skills we are looking for**
- EXPERIENCE- Ideally you will have a background of working within a charity, community project and/or previous involvement in the homelessness sector. You will have knowledge around supporting people with challenging and complex behaviours including substance misuse and Mental Health within a 24 hour residential support service
- KNOWLEDGE - A basic understanding of relevant and appropriate legislation, including welfare benefits and housing law. An understanding of health and safety requirements in the workplace
- COMMUNICATION - Excellent communication, fostering a respectful, collaborative and professional approach to the people who you work alongside ensuring confidentiality at all times
- EMPATHY and RESPECT - The ability to empower people to make positive changes, showing empathy whilst maintaining professional boundaries
- COMMITMENT - The ability to work in an innovative and solutions focused way, including reflecting and learning as you go, and a willingness to flex and adapt approaches as needed
- ORGANISATION - Strong time management and the ability to manage to prioritise tasks
- COMPUTER LITERACY - You will be IT literate and have experience of working with multiple software programs such as Microsoft Office and Outlook.

**What is a nice to have**
- NVQ/L2 in Health and Social Care or equivalent
- Experience of working within a psychologically informed working environment
- Knowledge of housing management and IT databases
- Awareness of benefits and how they work including Universal Credit and other welfare systems