Job info |
Job info details |
Job title |
Specialist Homeless Prevention Personal Advisor |
Strategic team/Directorate |
Children's Services |
Service |
Safeguarding and Family Help |
Business unit |
Decisive Multi Agency CP System |
Responsible to (day to day issues) |
Team Manager Care Experienced |
Accountable to (line manager) |
Team Manager Care Experienced |
Salary grade |
G |
JE ref |
JCT84 |
1. Key purpose of job
- Emphasis will be on delivering practical social work support services to young care experienced adults experiencing or at risk of being homeless.
2. Anticipated outcomes of post
- A high standard of support will be provided to young people in the age range of 17-25, living in and leaving care, which improve their life chances, safety, accommodation needs, education and employment, finances and independence skills with less homelessness ultimately within this group.
- Improved safeguarding arrangements will be in place, as a result of robust assessments, preparation and planning for young people embarking on leaving care and also for care experienced young adults with the primary aim of preventing homelessness.
- Care experienced young people will experience a service which places them at the centre of assessment and planning; care experienced young people will feel heard, will feel that they are treated courteously and fairly and will feel that they have been consulted on every aspect of provision.
- Care experienced young people will be fully supported to establish a secure base and safe haven within their home environment and gain a sense of connection and belonging to their immediate community.
3. List key duties and accountabilities of the post
- As an Employee of Torbay Council all roles are expected to work in a way that ensures vulnerable children and adults are safeguarded and report any safeguarding concerns in accordance with established policies and procedures. The Designated Senior Lead for Safeguarding is the Chief Executive and Director of Children’s Services.
- Responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people at all times.
- Responsible for contribution to and creation of assessment, which consider the needs of young people in order that they achieve higher levels of independent living skills.
- To contribute to the formulation of a Pathway Plan for every young person approaching the age of 18 to ensure their housing needs are recognised, assessed and planned for, and to assist with the review of their Pathway Plan every 6 months (or sooner if required) until their housing situation is established and stable.
- To provide support to care experienced young people in respect of a range of practical, personal, social and financial assistance, to facilitate independence and help young people to be able to secure and maintain accommodation and tenancy arrangements. This includes accompanying young people to various appointments in relation to housing and other matters pertaining to their independent living needs and undertaking one to one and group work with young people aimed at practical support and preparation for leaving care with the primary focus on housing needs and independent living.
- To communicate with a range of partner agencies in respect of the needs of care experienced young people, including but not limited to Safeguarding and Family Help services, Fostering, social housing and other accommodation providers, youth services, youth justice team, health professionals, Adult Social Care and Community Mental Health Teams, education and training providers, Police and all other statutory and voluntary providers as required. This includes appropriate liaison with housing providers, landlords and RSL’s in order to determine the most suitable needs lead accommodation options and supporting the young person in moving and equipping the home with basic essentials.
- To undertake joint work with the allocated Personal Advisor for each young person, to include support with (safer) relationship-building with the young person’s birth family, if this is their wish.
- To respond appropriately in crisis situations which may necessitate re-scheduling of planned work and may require immediate decision taking and creativity. This will include responding to immediate street homelessness situations and ensuring young people are placed in appropriate emergency accommodation in the short-term.
- To liaise with and develop partnerships with other agencies and services in order to provide a full range of choices and options for young people with regards to long-term accommodation needs.
- To carry out the full responsibilities of the post with due regard to the Council’s Diversity and Equal Opportunities policies, and to ensure all needs of people from ethnic minority backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ and care-experienced young people with disabilities are identified and met.
- To work intensively with a mixed case load of Eligible, Relevant, Former Relevant and Qualifying Clients and to undertake regular face-to-face visits to young people throughout their time with the Care Experienced team, which may involve long distance travel and attending statutory departmental Care for Children reviews and multi-agency meetings, which may require the preparation of detailed reports and assessments.
- To advocate for young people in need of housing and challenge inappropriate housing decisions where appropriate to do so.
- To participate in the daily Duty and Drop-in provision as rostered.
- To ensure that all records of work, paper and electronic, are up to date and comply with legal and departmental requirements and are of a high standard, containing proper recommendations and analysis.
- To monitor and evaluate the service, in conjunction with the manager, and where appropriate make suggestions for modification and new approaches via supervision or the Team Meeting.
- To develop an understanding in relation to youth homelessness across Children’s Services and with partners, to educate them on specifics around youth homelessness and improve the quality of pathway planning. This may include participation in the delivery of training and education to internal staff, external partners and young people in relation to youth homelessness.
- Being responsible for identifying financial support for care-experienced young people and liaising with your supervisor, internal finance teams, Job Centre Plus and Housing Benefits etc. in order to secure funding entitlements.
- To attend the Youth Homeless prevention Panel and advocate for Care Experienced Young People.
- To participate in the development of a landlords’ forum and rent guarantee scheme to increase the housing resource provision available to care experienced adults.
4. Budgetary/Financial Responsibilities of the post
- Ensure that necessary funding is identified within care experience young people entitlements, make appropriate request to Manager for authorisation, and complete relevant paperwork.
- Keep a running record of all Setting Up Home Allowance / leaving care grant purchases, supporting young people to make the most effective use of the budget.
- Emergency funding must be negotiated with Manager and young person. Recommendations may be made by worker in cases of wilful damage to property, to use some of the Leaving Care Grant as compensation to landlord / owner.
5. Supervision/Line Management Responsibilities of the post
6. Working environment and conditions of the post
- Working from Health and Safety assessed workplace/ office. Office base or on computer / telephone from home.
- Often working alone outside office and outside office hours. Staff must adhere to the lone working arrangements.
- Driving or travelling with young people to appointments, moving home etc.
7. Physical demands of the post
- Normal physical demands. Work is undertaken in a variety of environments including office, college or school, young peoples’ own homes or other community resources / venues as appropriate / necessary.
- In exceptional circumstances, a young person may require support to move home and clear their property; this is not standard practice and would only be agreed in conjunction with a manager. Each circumstance will be the subject of a risk assessment for example in terms of any potential risk posed by volume of belongings/risk of needles. Property clearing, listing and moving lots of personal items is usually done by local and preferred DBS-checked removal firms.
8. Specific resources used by the post
- Computer / laptop, telephone office base and mobile.
9. Key contacts and relationships
External
- Care Experienced Personal Advisors in other areas / regions.
- Adult Social Care providers and enabling teams.
- Community Mental Health Teams.
- Housing and health organisations.
- Police and Probation.
- Educational and training provisions.
- Job Centre Plus.
- Supported accommodation providers.
Internal
- Care Experienced Personal Advisors and Social Workers.
- Torbay Children’s Services teams.
- Housing Department.
- Adult Social Care.
- CAMHS.
10. Other duties
- To undertake additional duties as required, commensurate with the level of the job.
Other Information
- All staff must commit to the Workplace Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Practice and Policy.
- Torbay Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo the checks appropriate to the post applied for.
- The post holder is expected to work in a way that ensures vulnerable children and adults are safeguarded and report any safeguarding concerns in accordance with established policies and procedures. And are aware that the Chief Executive and the Director for Children's Services are the Safeguarding Leads for the Council.
- This post is office based at Tor Hill House but the post holder may be required to move their base to any other location within the Council at a future date.
- The post is eligible for hybrid working.
- As this post meets the requirements in respect of exempted questions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, all applicants who are offered employment will be subject to a criminal record check (Disclosure) from the Disclosure & Barring Service before the appointment is confirmed. This will include details of ALL cautions, reprimands or final warnings as well as convictions, whether “spent” or “unspent”. Criminal convictions will only be taken into account when they are relevant to the post.
- The Council operates a Smoke-Free Policy and the post-holder is prohibited from smoking in any of the Council's buildings (including Council owned and Council leased buildings, but excluding designated areas in residential schemes), enclosed spaces within the curtilage of buildings, and Council vehicles. The Council does not permit smoking breaks within work time, however, in services where the flexi-scheme is in operation, employees may take reasonable break times outside of core hours, in accordance with flexi-time arrangements. Employees should follow the flexi-scheme procedure for agreeing time away from their duties in the normal manner with their immediate colleagues and line manager, with break start and finish times being recorded, as with any other break-time arrangement.
- The post-holder is expected to familiarise themselves with and adhere to all relevant Council Policies and Procedures.
- The post-holder must comply with the Council’s Health and Safety requirements as outlined in the H&S policy appropriate to the role.
- The post-holder must be committed to the Council’s Core Values for employees – “Torbay Council employees are committed to being forward thinking, people orientated and adaptable - always with integrity”. Evidence will be sought during the probation and appraisal processes.
- If this post is customer facing, it will require the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
- If you are required to access a government system such as HMRC, DWP or The Public services network (PSN) as part of your role with the Council you will be required to complete a basic disclose with your line manager before you can access these systems. Your manager will be required to complete a verification form that confirms your identity, nationality and immigration status, employment history and unspent convictions (third party).
- If you are required to use your own vehicle on Council business or drive a council vehicle you will be asked to provide information on any driving endorsements by accessing gov.uk/view-driving-licence and providing a code to your Line Manager in order to share your driving licence information with the Council.
Person Specification
Note for Candidate
All Candidates
The supporting statement on your application form will be used to assess ability to meet the essential requirements of the role, so you should explain how you meet each of the numbered essential requirements within your supporting statement.
In a competitive situation, the desirable criteria may be taken into consideration, so you are encouraged to show how you also meet each of the desirable criteria.
Candidates who consider that they have a disability
Reasonable adjustments will be made to the job, job requirements or recruitment process for candidates with a disability.
If you consider yourself to have a disability you should indicate this on your application form, providing any information you would like us to take into account with regard to your disability in order to offer a fair selection interview.
Where ever possible and reasonable we will make adjustments and offer alternatives to help you through the application and selection process.
If you have indicated that you have a disability on your application form you will be guaranteed an interview if you clearly demonstrate in your supporting evidence how you broadly meet the essential requirements of the role.
Job info |
Job info details |
Job Title |
Specialist Homeless Prevention Personal Advisor |
Strategic team/Directorate |
Children's Services |
Service |
Safeguarding and Family Help |
Business unit |
Decisive Multi Agency CP System |
Skills and effectiveness
Essential skills and effectiveness
- Ability to carry out timely and accurate assessments and develop and deliver needs based plans packages of support.
- Ability to produce and maintain accurate records and reports.
- Ability to engage and communicate effectively with young people and form positive working relationships with them, their families and carers, specialist services and colleagues.
- Ability to initiate, negotiate and maintain partnership-working relationships with young people, their support networks, and professionals.
- Aptitude for using IT.
- Effective use of communication/interpersonal skills.
- Commitment to anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice.
- Willingness to undertake training in areas of skill and knowledge that require enhancing.
- Experience of using Word, Excel and case management systems such as Liquid Logic.
- Ability to work effectively on own initiative, prioritise workload and manage time to meet deadlines.
- This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
Desirable skills and effectiveness
- Partnership working with Cared for Children, Care Experienced young adults and care providers.
- Advocacy skills.
- Mediation skills.
Knowledge
Essential knowledge
- Understanding of child and adolescent development and the needs of young people, including physical, emotional, cultural and social needs.
- Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.
- Self-awareness of their own strengths and limitations.
- Knowledge of Torbay and the available resources for young people.
- Knowledge of Health and Safety issues.
- Knowledge of Children Act 1989/2004, the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the Housing Act 2004.
Desirable knowledge
- Knowledge of the Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations, Vol 3: Planning Transition to Adulthood for Care Leavers, revised January 2015, Care Leavers Charter, DfE, 2012, Applying Corporate Parenting Principles to Looked After Children and Care Leavers, DfE, 2018, the Children and Young Persons Act 2008.
- An understanding of the care planning and management process in relation to care experienced young people.
Experience and achievements
Essential experience and achievements
- Experience of working with young people and adults, within a health or social care or housing environment.
- Experience of working with young people at risk of homelessness.
- Working autonomously and as part of a team.
Desirable experience and achievements
- Working effectively with other professionals, disciplines and agencies.
- Experience of group work.
Qualifications/professional memberships
Essential qualifications/professional memberships
- Evidence of a consistent pattern of learning from education, training and experience.
- Educated to GCSE / O level standard in English at Grade C or above or equivalent.
Desirable qualifications/professional memberships
- Relevant qualification in social care, youth work, youth justice, benefits or housing.
Other requirements
Other requirements of the job role
- Demonstrates a commitment to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people.
- Ability to travel efficiently around the Bay/South West/UK in order to carry out duties.
- Ability to accommodate unsociable hours.
- Ability to accommodate occasional home-working.