Outreach Navigation Worker - Birmingham Birmingham, England
Job description
CLOSING DATE: TUESDAY 22ND AUGUST 2023
Job Title: Outreach Navigation Worker
Work Location: Birmingham (Travel around Birmingham is required)
Salary: Scale 6, Points 26-28, £24,744 - £26,398 per annum, pro rata
Hours of work: Full Time (37.5 hours per week)
BACKGROUND:
Since 2017, with the introduction of the Homeless Reduction Act, Local authorities were required to further develop their Prevention and Relief of homelessness by introducing additional statutory duties to assist all who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. With the Rough Sleeper Initiative (RSI) funding introduced in 2018 this was extended to provide a bespoke young person’s outreach navigation service, aimed at reducing the levels of young people sleeping rough in the city.
St Basils has been commissioned to deliver the Young Persons RSI Outreach and Navigation Service to provide a service to young people found to be rough sleeping or at risk of rough sleeping in Birmingham.
Forming part of the overall targeted prevention and crisis services for young people, the navigator service will work in conjunction with other Rough Sleeper Initiative services, as well as key council and other statutory services including Birmingham Children’s Trust and Adult Social Care.
The service will work proactively with regional and local accommodation support service providers including, Housing First, RSAP, Young Person’s Housing & Wellbeing Lead Workers, the Youth Hub, and where appropriate SWEP.
PURPOSE OF THE ROLE:
- To work as part of the Rough Sleepers Initiative to have a positive impact on rough sleeping numbers and on the entire pathway.
- To engage with rough sleepers to enable risk and needs assessments to be carried out to identify and manage any risks and needs identified.
- To support young people to remain in their home or secure alternative suitable accommodation to prevent rough sleeping.
- To work in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies in order to ensure needs are met.
- To cultivate positive social circles and be better equipped to maintain their accommodation and independence and avoid returning to the street.
- To support young people in their recovery to find employment, undertake training and develop budgeting skills
Key Responsibilities:
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 as required. There is also the requirement to participate in a 3 am street count quarterly.
ASSESSMENT/ SUPPORT
- To undertake comprehensive and detailed assessments of housing and support needs and risks using appropriate assessment tools, such as the Outcome Star.
- 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.
- 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.
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:
-
NVQ 3 Advice & Guidance, Health & Social Care or equivalent or working towards Youth Work, Social Work or equivalent.
- Housing qualification is desirable.
Role Experience:
- Working with young people in the following settings/Types of work – Youth Work, Residential or Social Work, Probation, Community Work, Education and Training, Housing.
- Working with Volunteers/Students is desirable.
- Delivering frontline triage or assessment service is desirable.
Knowledge:
- 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.
Skills:
- Ability to relate, motivate and enthuse young people with complex needs
- Ability to communicate verbally and non-verbally
- Ability to manage conflict
- Ability to follow through decisions and monitor
- Case management skills
- Assessment and decision making skills
- Ability to manage partnerships with external agencies
- Ability to relate to those in authority
