Support Practitioner

**Responsible to**:
Team Leader and Service Manager

**Responsible for**:
N/A

**Hours of Work**:
37.5 hrs per week - initially on a 9-5 basis but hours will change to include occasional late shifts

This role is a 6 month fixed term contract

**Location**:
YMCA Together - based from the Albion Centre, L5.

**Salary and benefits**:
£27,111 Per Annum
- 33 Days Annual leave including bank holidays per annum
- Paid Medicash support
- Birthday Day
- Charity Day
- Spiritual Day
- Well-being Hours
- Cycle To Work Scheme
- Refer a Friend Scheme
- Company Pension Scheme 4%
- Funded Training Opportunities

**Shortlisting and Interview Dates**:

- Shortlisting - 1st October 2024
- Assessment day/Interview - w/c 7th October 2024

YMCA 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**

This service will provide support to individuals that have a history of homelessness or rough sleeping with medium support needs who currently live within our RSAP(rough sleepers accommodation programme) supported housing services.

As a support worker you will be focused on facilitating permanent move on accommodation and preparing for fully independent living. The aim of the support is to ensure that those you work alongside are supported and empowered to make positive choices about their life and to continue to live their life free from homelessness. As a support worker you be expected to have specific skills and experience of working in a housing related setting or around tenancy management. It would be an advantage of you had knowledge of housing related law and local support services

As a support worker you will recognise that the people that we support have often experienced trauma and will work in a way which understands this.

You will manage a caseload using a critical time intervention model which means you will understand the need for transition, trying out and transfer of support throughout the journey of your tenant within the service.

**Hours of work**

The post holder will initially be working Monday to Friday, but this may move to a rota of earlies, lates and some weekend working as the service develops.

**Duties and responsibilities**
- Carry out new tenant welcomes, inducting into their new properties and identifying immediate support needs.
- Ensure that tenants have a full understanding of their rights and responsibilities during their stay.
- Support tenants to achieve permanent move on accommodation as defined/ agreed within their support plans and empower them to reach their aims.
- Ensure that tenants will have the right skills and be able to manage the transition into more independent accommodation.
- Manage, update, and communicate tenants risk assessments in line with YMCA Together policy and procedure.
- Ensure Tenants 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 Tenants using the Critical time intervention model as the framework for support.
- Assess support needs and plan support around individual need. 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
- Up to date records must be kept on both support planning systems MainStay and DAVE.
- Ensure that all housing related requirements are kept up to date including managing building and fire checks.
- Ensure that all maintenance requests are managed and go through the correct reporting channels while empowering the tenant to where able mange the process
- Conduct monthly/quarterly risk assessments with Tenants keeping relevant parties informed of updates/changes.
- Support all Tenants with future tenancy planning ensuing that everyone has the skills to live independently away from a supported housing pathway.
- Liaise between tenants and external agencies regarding the provision of specialised support when appropriate.
- Encourage involvement and participation among Tenants 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 discl