Supported Housing Support Worker in Peacehaven

37.5 hours per week / £27,770 per annum / permanent / working onsite on a seven-day rolling rota, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

At YMCA DownsLink Group, our mission is to help children and young people have a fair chance to be who they want to be. We do this by providing a safe home, building life skills and self-confidence, and supporting emotional wellbeing and mental health. Our Values— we do what’s right, we work with heart, and we build real connections—guide and shape how we show up for children and young people we support and for each other.

Our 16+ Older Looked After Young People (OLYP), Care Leavers and Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) services deliver specialist 24-hour supported accommodation where young people are supported to acquire the necessary skills in preparation for living independently, safely explore their increased freedom of choice and develop responsibilities associated with adulthood, whilst still having the appropriate level of support from an experienced team.

We adopt a trauma informed and psychologically informed approach to supporting our residents to help them build essential life skills, identify their goals and support residents into independent accommodation. We have a dedicated team of Support Workers, Night Workers and additional Bank Workers who provide support, guidance, and signposting around areas such as housing, budgeting, living skills, jobs and relationship building.

We are looking for a Supported Housing Support Worker to join our Ewhurst Road, Crawley team, who will hold a caseload of residents and meet with them weekly to build a support plan.

Main areas of responsibilities are:

• Housing: Coach young people to manage their occupancy agreement and adhere to house rules, in preparation for independent living. Promote a credit culture, encouraging young people to keep up to date with all payments for rent. Maintain up-to-date knowledge of housing and welfare benefits for young people and be well-informed on significant changes to housing law. Deal effectively with non-compliance issues, such as non-payment of rent or damage to room, using restorative practices and working collaboratively with the rest of the team.
• Coaching and Engagement: Coach young people so they can articulate their aspirations and ambitions and take the lead in acquiring the skills they need to live independent and fulfilling lives. Ensure young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their own personal development, to engage with the services on offer and build strong networks and connections within the local community. Ensure consistent standards of safeguarding and Trauma Informed Practice when supporting young people, observing our safeguarding procedures, and keeping yourself and residents safe by respecting professional boundaries. Maintain client records on In-Form (client database) detailing the young person’s journey in relation to their strengths and needs, any risks, and any outcomes (to monitor service performance).
• General: Work as part of a team, on a rota shift pattern, ensuring young people at the service have non-judgemental, objective, and supportive staff during the day/evening, along with taking responsibility for personal safety during periods of lone working. Contribute to a great working environment, with a calm, yet assertive manner, being able to handle potentially difficult situations. Participate in relevant continuing professional development and utilise Reflective Practice Supervision as part of leading psychologically informed practice.

Experience and Knowledge:

• Experience relating to housing, support work, and/or working with young people at risk.
• Experience of working proactively with a caseload of young people with multiple and complex needs to enable them to achieve independent living.
• Knowledge of statutory and voluntary resources available to young people with multiple and complex needs.
• Knowledge of good safeguarding procedures in relation to young people and the ability to maintain effective professional boundaries.
• Demonstrated confidence and competence in recording notes/actions in service log, incident forms and health and safety check lists.

Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to communicate clearly both verbally and in writing for appropriate recording of a resident’s progression, and to evidence outcomes achieved.
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with all stakeholders, including signposting and advocating for clients as necessary.
• Ability to work autonomously, and use own initiative, as well as being part of a team.
• Clear verbal and written communication skills, good IT, and keyboard skills.
• Ability to de-escalate volatile situations and manage challenging behaviour appropriately.