Outreach Practitioner

Are you looking for a sense of purpose in your job? Would you like to support people who are or have experienced homelessness and also struggle with alcohol or drug use? Being an outreach worker is varied and rewarding work. It also gives invaluable insight into health and social care systems for anyone looking to go into public health and policy work.

The Role

You will be a professional and motivated individual who is committed to providing assertive outreach and case management to engage or re‑engage people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness into wellbeing services and drug and alcohol treatment. You’ll be able to work independently, but also as part of a supportive team. Some key aspects of the role include:

• To carry out triage and comprehensive substance misuse assessments, risk assessments and develop person‑centred care plans and risk management plans.
• To provide evidence‑based psychosocial interventions that align to the individual’s needs and goals, drawing upon Via’s Core Model curriculum and other tools and techniques, such as ITEP maps.
• Conduct street outreach to engage/reengage homeless individuals who are misusing drugs or alcohol.
• Deliver satellite provisions within local services e.g. hostels and day centres.
• Provide effective and relevant harm reduction advice and interventions, including needle exchange, advice about synthetic opioids, and suicide prevention.
• Represent Via by working professionally in collaboration with partner agencies including those in housing, immigration, healthcare, etc.

Strong communication skills, empathy and patience are needed for the post holder to provide care to service users who have diagnosed mental illness, have experienced complex trauma, and who experience difficulties engaging with mainstream services. Language skills in Punjabi, Romanian, Lithuanian or Russian would be desirable but are not essential.

The Service

Via’s Outreach service in Redbridge is collocated with and works alongside Via’s other services in Redbridge. These include the Adult and Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Services, a sexual health service for young people and vulnerable adults, and our smoking cessation service. Whilst focusing on people’s alcohol or drug use, the outreach team work closely with a wide range of other partner agencies who also support people who are experiencing homelessness or are vulnerably housed, to ensure that a wide range of services are able to reach them to reduce inequalities and improve their health and wellbeing.

Via is committed to the ongoing professional development of all our staff. Through joining Via, you will receive a warm welcome, peer support, access to a wide range of training, including trauma informed care, and Via’s ‘Tackling Substance Misuse’ qualification which supports practitioners’ progression through the pay scales. Practitioners have regular supervision and clinical reflective practice, and have opportunities to thrive in a lively and aspirational organisation.

Location

The role covers multiple service hubs across the Borough of Redbridge with the main base being our Via hub in Ilford.

To see the generous range of benefits we offer at Via including 30 days annual leave for all new starters, our health and wellbeing initiatives, financial perks and development opportunities – visit our Benefits Package.

For an informal discussion about the position please contact Zoe Pithers, Team Leader via Zoe.Pithers@viaorg.uk. The closing date for applications is Sunday 12th April at midnight.

Via welcomes enquiries from everyone, and we value diversity in our workplace. Our commitment to promoting diversity and developing a workplace environment where all staff are treated with dignity and respect is central to our recruitment process. We’re a Disability Confident Employer and are committed to the employment and career development of disabled people. We offer an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for our jobs, please confirm in the personal statement part of our application form that you are applying under this scheme.

Appointment to all our posts are subject to satisfactory completion of our safeguarding checks including DBS and we follow safer recruiting principles. Please email people@viaorg.uk if you have any recruitment enquiries or if you require this documentation in an accessible format.