Link Worker

YMCA Together is a registered charity and company Limited by Guarantee. We were founded in 1846 and so we build on a long history of providing a place for people experiencing challenging times in their lives.

YMCA Together is a truly value driven organisation.

Our vision is that everyone should feel safe, understood, empowered and positive for their future. We meet our vision by working within our values of Strength, Humility, Respect, Empathy and Kindness. These SHREK values run through all that we do from recruitment to how we work alongside people in our services to our partnership approach with other providers.

Our clear vision and values come together to help us in our mission to inspire and support people to change their lives by instilling hope, valuing the person and maximising potential

**Job Purpose**

Link workers will assist the Practitioners in the day-to-day management of the service, focusing on conducting the intensive housing management element of the role. All staff will be expected to undergo Cognitive Analytic Therapy Skills Training (CAT) this will provide a framework for understanding and working with individuals and colleagues in managing psychological and relational aspects of mental health, personality disorder and high-risk behaviors. Training will also be provided around Trauma Informed Care. These approaches will be used for planning and assessing effectiveness of a variety of interventions and risk management.

**Hours of Work**

The hostel will be staffed 24/7 and the post holder will be working a rota of early and late shifts over 7 days including weekends and bank holidays.

**Duties and responsibilities**
- To ensure that Intensive Housing Management tasks are completed in a timely way and to a high standard
- To build supportive and therapeutic relationships with Service Users through dialogue
- To deliver activity-based interventions
- To support in preparing Service Users to resettle into their community of choice
- To ensure that Housing Benefit forms are completed in a timely manner.

**Intensive Housing Management and Risk Assessing**
- Assist the Practitioners with the induction and management of their case load taking direction as required
- Ensure Housing Benefit paperwork is completed in a timely fashion
- Update and communicate service user risk assessments in line with YMCA/borough wide policy and procedure
- Assist in the planning of workshops to individuals and groups that inform/ teach service users around how to manage a tenancy, manage a home and live independently
- Creatively engage service users that have a wide range of complex and challenging support needs
- Encourage service users to take part in activities
- Offer a creative but assertive approach in order to seek to re engagement
- Assist Practitioners in the management of personalized behavior / support agreements
- Provide clear, comprehensive and accurate information on handovers to the team making recommendations where appropriate
- Assisting service users in the cleaning of their room
- Complete void checks and get rooms ready for letting
- Maintain accurate up to date electronic and written records
- Post holders must be willing to support clients who display challenging behavior, including verbal aggression.

**Service User Involvement and Engagement**
- Encourage involvement, participation and co-production from service users in the running and development of the service
- Provide a safe, welcoming environment with excellent standards and an ethos of service delivery that encourages service users to engage

**Multi Agency Working**
- Working closely with Practitioners to promote and encourage pathways to independent living, help prevent mental health deterioration, hospital admissions, offending behaviors and substance misuse
- Encourage service users to engage with services
- Assist with the provision of resettlement support
- Promote and encourage the pathway to independence working to a CAT approach.

**Reporting/ Monitoring**
- Monitor positive feedback from service users and external agencies
- Ensure referrals to the service are processed thoroughly and within the correct time frames.

**Health and Safety**
- Liaise with all emergency services
- Ensure at all times the safety of yourself and others on the premises in which you work
- Conduct Health and Safety checks as required
- Report, log and communicate all incidents to the appropriate people
- Conduct welfare checks as specified during your shift
- Adhere to all resident checks, handover and Incident process
- Ensure adherence to YMCA Together visitor’s policy and procedure
- Attend to the fire panel in the event of the fire alarms being activated and the recording and following up of information.

**Relationships**

The post holder will be required to have contact with a variety of people during the course of their work. The context of this contact will vary from formal ‘Key working’ to informal networking and relationsh