Assessment and Support Specialist

This role is a 6 Month Fixed Term Maternity Contract with 37.5 hours per week and a hybrid working pattern.

Our Assessment & Support Hub at MTVH acts as a gateway to internal support services and teams, and a central source of expertise and oversight on all areas of support within our organisation. This department takes on a coordination role for the most complex of support cases. As an Assessment & Support Specialist, you will manage and respond to a range of concerns, referrals, and casework that come into the Hub. Our goal is to work with our colleagues to reduce risk and achieve positive outcomes for customers. To achieve this, as well as your core work of advising and coordinating, you may also need to offer practical case management support to help colleagues build their own skills and confidence.

Key Responsibilities & Outcomes:

• Receive referrals from across MTVH and conduct initial triage, assessments, and action planning, in partnership with colleagues.
• Determine the most appropriate team to lead support and overall approach to management of the case.
• Support colleagues in the management of support cases, providing advice, coaching, resources, and practical support - minimising risks and achieving positive outcomes for customers.
• Where needed, support colleagues managing cases by helping to complete referrals to statutory agencies, attending multi-agency meetings, and collaborating with other professionals involved – always with the aim of building the skill and confidence of the case owner.
• Maintain accurate records of all casework.
• Liaise with external agencies to support good cross-sector working, and to minimise risks and achieve positive outcomes for customers.
• Maintain oversight of support cases at varying levels of complexity and risk to ensure good join-up across the organisation and wider system and all risks are identified and understood.
• Take a holistic view of all casework and concerns raised and cover all areas of customer support – including poverty, safeguarding, money and benefits, unmet social needs, domestic abuse, and mental health.
• Get alongside colleagues to help them increase their skill and confidence in providing support to our customers and managing risk.
• Maintain awareness, knowledge, and understanding of key areas of customer risk for MTVH, including safeguarding children and adults at risk, domestic abuse, community safety, ASB, housing and environmental factors, contextual safeguarding, tenancy sustainment, and the impact of multiple risk factors.

Skills:

• Excellent communication skills (including written, verbal, presentations, and IT literacy).
• Experience of frontline service delivery in housing, social care, or aligned sector.
• Experience supporting or coaching colleagues; or advising on an area of specialism.
• Experience working in one or more of the following specialist areas: Domestic abuse, mental health, adult social care (in particular, unmet care needs), Care & Support service delivery or ASB.
• Experience coaching colleagues and partnering to build skills and confidence.
• Experience of working as part of a team to share work and solve complex issues as a group.
• Experience working with multiple agencies to coordinate support for an individual.
• Experience working with complex, emotive, and distressing situations; and able to support themselves and colleagues appropriately.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and statutory frameworks, particularly relating to the role of housing providers.
• Good understanding of housing, care, and local public service delivery landscapes.

To meet our commitment to providing safe, high-quality services to our customers, we will complete a basic level background check with the Disclosure and Barring Service, once an offer of employment is made. A new check will be carried out on a 3 yearly basis. The cost of a DBS will be paid for by the organisation and as part of our onboarding process.

Please note: we do not currently offer visa sponsorship.

Metropolitan Thames Valley provides affordable housing for people living in London, the South East, East Midlands, and East of England. We also offer a range of care and support services. Our specialist areas include older people, mental health, and transitional services which provide intensive support to marginalised or vulnerable people. We deliver training programmes, events, and activities for our residents, designed to boost employment opportunities and foster stronger communities.

A member of the National Housing Federation, the G15, which represents London’s largest housing associations, we influence policy for the benefits of our residents and the wider sector. In October 2018, like-minded housing associations Metropolitan and Thames Valley Housing formally completed a partnership to form Metropolitan Thames Valley. We came together because we want to improve the services we provide and do more in our communities. We’ll do this by listening to our customers and working alongside them.