Complex Needs Officer in Coleford, Gloucestershire

Homeless Prevention - Complex Needs Officer

£32,307 - £33,798 per annum

Coleford

37 hours per week, Permanent

Do you have experience in working with people with complex needs or a desire to work within homelessness prevention? Our district is already a special place. We are looking for candidates that will help us improve it, making it an even better place to live, learn, do business and enjoy. To do this successfully, we need to remember its rich cultural and economic heritage and to build on the area as an aspirational place with a reputation for nurturing amazing people. We want the Forest of Dean district to be a place where residents have a fantastic work-life balance and feel secure in their communities - creating a draw for industry to nestle amongst the wild spaces. A modern, connected Forest with deep roots.

The role will include working closely with the customer and a range of partner agencies to prevent homelessness occurring. This will include implementing the provisions of the Councils Choice Based Lettings scheme and the Homelessness Reduction Act.

About the role:

• You will work intensively with people with complex needs specifically where there is a risk of homelessness to provide assistance with their housing situation.
• You will undertake initial assessments to determine what duty, if any, is owed under the Housing and Homelessness Reduction Acts.
• Motivate and enable individuals to create and progress through individual Personal Housing Plans to find and sustain new housing, taking account of their personal circumstances.
• Manage a caseload of people who are currently experiencing a housing crisis, and have complex needs and provide a service that seeks to minimise the duration of that crisis.
• Actively work with partner agencies to identify those at risk of homelessness at the earliest possible stage.

Please note you will need to be able to work from the Council offices in Coleford at least 2 - 3 times a week.

You will need:

• A minimum qualification equivalent to NVQ level 3 or A level, and/or three years relevant experience.
• GCSE Maths and English or equivalent to grade C/4 or higher.
• Ability to build customer relationships.
• Experience of working with clients with a range of issues and specific needs.
• Recent experience of working in a Housing, Homelessness or Hostel related field.

Special Conditions:

• Full UK Driving License - Ability to travel/access to a vehicle for work purposes.
• BPSS check.

For more information about this role please see the Job Description/Person Specification.

You will be employed by Publica Group Ltd which was created by four partner Councils (Forest of Dean District Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, Cotswold District Council, and Cheltenham Borough Council) to deliver more efficient and improved services. Publica is a unique place to work - we are a local government organisation with a twist! Publica wants to transform the way local services are delivered. To help do this we have started to fundamentally rethink the way we design our services in the digital era so that Publica is a customer-focused organisation driven by real user needs.

What can we do for you?

• Agile working allowing a mix of home and office working.
• Flexible working arrangements (depending on the role).
• 26 days paid annual leave (pro rata if you are working part time) plus bank holidays and an extra two volunteering days off a year for you to support a charity of your choice.
• Health cash plan giving you cash back on health, dental and eye care.
• Pension scheme with a good employer contribution of 7% of your earnings.
• Employee Assistance Programme 24/7, providing positive, preventative and supportive advice and counselling to deal with everyday events and issues.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Salary sacrifice car lease scheme with huge tax and NI savings to be made on electric cars.
• Access to digital financial advice (covering your pension scheme, mortgages and other finances).
• Generous sickness cover above statutory entitlements.
• Additional income protection, covering 50% of your salary for potentially a further five years if you are unable to work due to sickness or injury.
• Life assurance, currently four times your annual salary.

These are just a handful of the benefits that you can enjoy when you join us!

To apply for this position please click on "apply now" within this page and submit your CV and supporting statement. Please tell us about your skills, knowledge, qualifications, experience and how they meet the criteria listed above and in the job description/person specification. It's important that we're a good fit for each other, so let us know what's important to you and why you want to work for Publica Group Ltd. Your application will not be considered if you have not provided a supporting statement, in addition to your CV.

Accredited of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies - Please state this within your covering statement or in a separate email.

Safer recruitment practices are applied to all job vacancies. Successful candidates will be required to complete a pre-employment medical questionnaire; provide references; proof of identity; nationality and immigration status; three years' employment or education history (if applicable) and, in some cases, verification of criminal record.