Address
Form of work
SalaryCLOSING DATE: Friday 5th April 2024
Job Title: Homeless Relief Engagement Navigator
Reports to: Outreach Coordinator
Salary: Scale 6, Points 26-28, £24,744 - £26,398 per annum, pro rata
Hours of work: Full Time (37.5 hours per week)
Key Responsibilities:
ASSESSMENT/ SUPPORT
- To undertake comprehensive and detailed assessments of housing and support needs and risks for rough sleepers, to ensure the prevention of homelessness, where safe to do so.
- To ensure relevant background checks are undertaken to assist in the development of a robust risk management plan.
- To maintain accurate and professional electronic case records, ensuring internal and external data and monitoring systems are kept up to date at all times.
- To provide high quality homelessness and housing options to young people, ensuring that their needs are met and expectations managed.
- To present cases where a homelessness main duty is owed under the relief pathway in a timely manner to the local authority incl. requests for temporary accommodation.
- To work with young people with complex and multiple needs to help them to sustain tenancies and manage their lives better.
- To build and maintain effective and professional working relationships with internal and external partners/agencies and in particular Birmingham Childrens Trust.
- To provide a holistic multi agency response to young people’s housing and support needs.
- To work in partnership with statutory agencies in order to ensure statutory duties are met.
- To safeguard young people and vulnerable adults at risk, through appropriate escalation and reporting to statutory services e.g. Inter-agency referral and follow up work.
- To operate within a duty system at the Youth Hub, where required.
- To actively encourage vulnerable young people to move into appropriate accommodation.
- To liaise with specialist agencies (including the Youth Hub) to enable rough sleepers to access those services.
- Advocate for the customer group in accessing all services, including reconciliation with agencies if required.
- To ensure that any reporting deadlines are met
OUTREACH/ HOME VISITS
- To initiate contact with young people via street outreach city wide.
- To undertake mediation sessions with young people and their excluders to improve relationships and prevent homelessness incl. initial meetings and family sessions.
- To utilize agreed assessment tools to identify the needs of a young person and their families, so that plans made are shared, evidence based and agreed to by all.
- To undertake home visits and accompany young people to appointments, where appropriate.
- To plan, implement, review and evaluate interventions to ensure positive outcomes for young people and their families, in line with prevention and/or relief pathway duties.
- To participate in evening outreach and street counts when required.
ADVOCACY
- To promote young people’s comprehension of assessment and application processes, ensuring that they are supported to fully understand their rights, decision outcomes and the decision review process.
- To advise and advocate on issues relating to benefits, accessing specialist support services, housing rights etc. ensuring the young people are fully supported to access such services
- To utilise legal advice services to effectively advocate on a young person’s behalf.
QUALIFICATIONS
Essential:
- NVQ 3 Advice & Guidance, Health & Social Care or equivalent or working towards Youth Work, Social Work or equivalent.
Desirable:
- Housing qualification
ROLE EXPERIENCE
Essential:
- Working with young people in the following settings/Types of work – Youth Work, Residential or Social Work, Probation, Community Work, Education and Training, Housing.
Desirable:
- Working with Volunteers/Students
- Delivering frontline triage or assessment service
KNOWLEDGE
Essential:
- Housing Rights, Welfare Reform Knowledge
- Housing Legislation; i.e. Housing Act and Homelessness Reduction Act incl. Rough Sleepers Strategy
- Knowledge of Children’s Act i.e. Section 17, 20 and 47
- Knowledge of and Commitment to E.O.P/Anti-Discriminatory practice
- Knowledge of Social Skills/Job Training skills
Desirable:
- Ability to work with figures
- Ability to drive
- Ability to maintain and improve standards
