Trauma-Informed Housing Support Specialist

You will have worked in an accommodation-based setting, with significant experience of providing intensive housing management and tenancy management tasks. Drawing on that knowledge to support residents to manage their finances, facilitating appointments with specialist mental health, drug and alcohol services and accessing appropriate move-on accommodation on their journey towards greater independence. This is a specialist role within a new team, offering you the chance to not only deliver life-changing support but also help us shape and create a great service for those who need us most. The service operates a rota to provide support from Monday to Sunday, including weekends. You will be familiar with working a varied shift pattern to ensure residents are supported seamlessly.

Responsibilities

• Employ a strength-based and trauma-informed approach to building trusting relationships with residents, using that to help create accurate, realistic and meaningful outcome-focused support plans.
• Use your knowledge and experience of working with those experiencing multiple disadvantage to identify and capture risks, using that to help design mitigation strategies and inform coping mechanisms.
• Engage pro-actively and effectively with residents to help them identify barriers preventing greater levels of independence, then work collaboratively to build (and achieve) a plan for success.
• Uphold the highest levels of safeguarding awareness and protection for individuals, residents, colleagues and the wider community, working within local frameworks to ensure policies and mechanisms are applied correctly.
• Maintain and regularly update accurate records of all support engagements, support plans, risk assessments and other support pathway elements, using them to support appropriate partnership working with local partner agencies.
• Champion the principles of trauma-informed engagement and support across the service and wider organisation, helping colleagues develop their skills and communication approaches to support the achievement of outcomes.
• Take time to engage pro-actively with all residents in the scheme, using less formal engagements to deepen the understanding and effectiveness of support plans and outcomes.
• Work with the service manager and senior leaders to engage pro-actively with local multi-disciplinary and network groups, seeking to maximise outcomes for individuals and add value to the service as a whole.
• Deliver a blend of both individual and group sessions, focusing on helping residents build and develop their independent living skills and abilities, recording all engagements within our digital support system.
• Manage your caseload of residents in an effective and dynamic way, ensuring all residents receive and engage with appropriate amounts and types of support for their needs.
• Work in a non-risk-averse and non-judgemental way, helping residents understand the negative impact of their behaviours, then providing harm-reduction information and advice where necessary.
• Act as a positive role model for residents, using a strength-based approach to help them set realistic (but aspirational) goals, prompting, encouraging and motivating them to make them a reality.
• Proactively support residents to identify knowledge gaps in terms of their ability to manage a tenancy.
• Work with colleagues at service and organisational levels to ensure maximum service utilisation, including the processing and review of referrals in a non-risk-averse and balanced community way.
• Support the process of referral management and needs/risk assessment, recording all relevant findings accurately in our digital support management system.
• Help residents understand and complete all necessary tenancy documentation and service entry requirements, recording them as required in our various housing management systems.
• Take ownership of any rent-management matters for your residents, helping them understand the importance of appropriate money management and take necessary action to avoid arrears.
• Support residents to understand their benefits and money-management skills, using that to identify knowledge gaps that can be added to support plans and future engagement activities.
• Complete regular accommodation inspections, using the opportunity to help residents develop further independent living skills (e.g. reporting of repairs) whilst ensuring all necessary compliance and H&S requirements are met.

To join one of our Active Opportunity Pathway (AOP) services, working as part of the Support Team to help people experiencing homelessness and multiple disadvantage overcome barriers to achieving greater independence. You will be highly experienced in working with vulnerable people or families facing homelessness, who require support with mental health, substance misuse, a history of offending and other needs. Using your knowledge and skills to help us create one of the most effective outcomes-focused services in the sector, adhering to the Making Every Adult Matter principles (MEAM). You will be familiar with and have effectively operated in a strength-based and trauma-informed way to help residents achieve positive housing, health and wellbeing outcomes. Taking personal pride and ownership in enabling people who experience multiple disadvantage to achieve more than they ever thought possible.