Housing and Community Support Worker

Response Organisation is the largest mental health charity in Oxfordshire that has expanded across the Thames Valley and most recently into Wiltshire. Our mission at Response is to enable people of all ages to live a more fulfilled life by providing excellentmental health services, housing, and supported living.

**Do you have the desire to help change lives and an interest in mental health?**

**Housing and Community Support Worker** - £25,000 - £27,000 per annum (Salaries vary depending on experiences)

**Hours** - 37 hours per week, Monday - Friday, with flexibility to respond to the needs of the patient and availability of professionals.

**Department** -Adult Service Delivery

**Location** - Avon/Wiltshire

**What You’ll Be Doing**:
Working with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health NHS Trust Partnership to support adults back into the community from adult acute in-patient hospital wards. You will work with identified hospital patients prior to hospital discharge to support them to securesuitable accommodation, meet their goals, regain control of their recovery and move towards greater independence.

**Overall job responsibility**:

- Use specialist knowledge and experience to identify and understand patients’ housing issues to enable a successful discharge
- Supporting relevant staff in the hospital setting to be able to identify risks of homelessness
- Supporting development of individual discharge plans
- Work in partnership with Avon and Wiltshire housing associations and 3rd sector organisations to manage engagement with housing services where required
- To support patients in accessing personal ID requirements needed to access housing and benefit options
- Have knowledge of relevant housing legislation and systems for example the Homelessness Reduction Act and the Duty to Refer requirement
- Provide administrative support in making formal referrals to housing services
- Connecting rough sleepers to outreach and other services they require
- Assessing eligibility for service where the patient has a local connection
- Provide feedback to hospital and housing staff on progress with referrals.

**The Successful Applicant**:
Our main priority for all our roles at Response is to find people that can live our values every day - **Caring, Safe, Creative and Aspirational.**Essential criteria:

- GCSE Maths and English, being IT literate due to the volume of paperwork required to be kept up to date.
- Experience of working in mental health and housing services and experience working with people with dual diagnosis and homelessness.
- Experience working with rough sleepers outreach services and experience working in a supervisory role is desirable, but not essential.
- Knowledge of local housing pathway, housing legislation (homeless reduction act, duty to refer, universal credit), the Mental Health Act, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and other relevant legislation is essential to this role.
- The understanding of types of mental health illnesses and the level of care some clients may require
- Previous experience of working in the Mental Health pathway
- Working with people with dual diagnosis and homelessness

**What We Offer**:

- 33 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays)
- Blue Light card and other discounted shopping
- EAP - with access to free counselling
- Cycle to Work Scheme (after probation)
- Enhanced family friendly leave
- Professional qualification sponsorship and study leave
- £500 refer a friend bonus scheme
- Optional health cash care plan with money off prescriptions and treatments
- Wellbeing hub and mental wellbeing support app - approved by NHS
- Free flu jabs

You will receive the training and confidence to use core therapeutic talk therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Strength-based Trauma Informed Care and Mutual Aid to provide the best possible support to our clients.

Our employees and clients come from all over the world, we proudly promote a friendly and inclusive culture and are registered as a Disability Confident Employer. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our clients. All our roles requirean enhanced DBS check, two references from most recent employers and you must have the right to work in the UK.