Housing Lead Specialist Support Worker

We're looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Housing Lead Specialist Support Worker to join our Homelessness & Complex needs service in Hackney.

£28,486.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.

Want to feel like you're making a difference? You'll feel at home here.

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

For a full job description, please visit our website.

East London Apartments provides 24 hour accommodation based support for up to 31 individuals with complex histories, multiple traumas, complex personality disorder(s) and a varied, disrupted housing history with experience of homelessness as well as individuals who have been diagnosed with severe and enduring mental health conditions who are under the Care Programme Approach (CPA).

East London Apartments implements and promotes the Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE) model. This is an approach which was developed to support people out of homelessness, in particular those who have experienced complex trauma or are diagnosed with a personality disorder. However, its application is far broader than only homelessness. It considers the psychological needs of staff: developing skills and knowledge, increasing motivation, job satisfaction and resilience.

When working with individuals with complex needs, who may display challenging, chaotic behaviours, regularly testing boundaries and have experienced multiple traumas as a result of abuse, neglect, years of street homelessness, or long stays in mental health hospitals, it is integral that the post holder is motivated to support individuals to progress. They should continually hold aspirations for individuals despite multiple setbacks, and display emotional resilience, able to process challenging incidents and remain motivated to deliver excellent support.

Specialist Support Workers within Look Ahead are required to have either an extra dimension of experience or a higher qualification level as determined relevant for the particular post.

As the Specialist Support Worker Housing Lead you will lead on the management of hoarding, self-neglect, and skills related to independent living. You will lead on the Move On process for customers and will liaise with external partners. You will therefore be in charge of building support packages and transition plans to assist customers to exit the service with the support they need. You will also provide information, social inclusion and vocational opportunities to support people to recover and stay well; exercise choice and control in their care and lives; and participate on an equal footing in the community. Provision of care and support is also provided to develop a model of re-enablement towards self-advocacy, self-management and empowerment, incorporating the principles and practice of recovery, co-production and peer support. Post holders will deliver support to a caseload of up to 6 service users with needs aligned to their specialism - caseload is subject to change depending on the service needs.

6 week rolling rota with early, late and some weekend shifts.

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

What you'll bring:

Essential:

Up to NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in a relevant area (e.g. psychology, Health and Social Care, Mental Health) OR experience in the social care/charity sector.
Experience building and develop strong professional partnerships with external providers aligned to their specialism

Desirable:

2-3 years experience providing targeted recovery focussed support to individuals with needs around hoarding, mental health, substance use and dual diagnosis.

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 120 services, providing support to around 6000 customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.

We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:

We focus on Excellence and innovation.
We are Caring and Compassionate.
We are Inclusive and Trusted.
We work in Partnership and are One-Team.
Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role. We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date. We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.