Homeless Prevention Outreach Worker

Cornwall Council Jobs and Careers; Phillack; Sur place; GBP 32 000 - 38 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

Competitive salary

Defined benefit pension

Annual leave entitlement

Wellbeing programme

Employee discounts

Résumé du poste

Cornwall Council is seeking a Homeless Prevention Outreach Caseworker to manage a complex caseload and determine statutory duties under homelessness legislation. The postholder will develop Personalised Housing Plans, undertake assessments and produce legally robust decision letters, ensuring timely responses and high-quality outcomes for households at risk of homelessness.

Based primarily in West Cornwall, the role involves outreach, collaboration with landlords and support services, and the

Responsabilités

• Manage a caseload of clients who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, ensuring statutory duties are fulfilled in accordance with homelessness legislation, statutory guidance, council policy and service standards.
• Conduct detailed assessments and investigations to establish eligibility, homelessness, priority need, local connection, intentional homelessness and any statutory duties owed.
• Gather, verify and evaluate information from applicants, landlords, support agencies, health professionals and other stakeholders to inform decision-making and ensure robust case management.
• Prepare clear, accurate and legally compliant decision letters, notifications, reviews, correspondence and case records that demonstrate compliance with legislative requirements and withstand scrutiny, challenge and audit.
• Develop, implement and review Personalised Housing Plans, identifying practical actions and housing solutions to prevent or relieve homelessness and achieve sustainable outcomes.
• Participate in the service duty rota, undertaking homelessness assessments, responding to households presenting as homeless or threatened with homelessness, and taking appropriate action to manage the Council's statutory obligations, including the provision of interim or emergency accommodation where required.
• Undertake outreach activity to identify, engage and assess individuals and households experiencing homelessness, rough sleeping or housing crisis, facilitating access to accommodation, statutory assistance and support services.
• Work proactively with landlords, accommodation providers, support services, health partners, criminal justice agencies, community organisations and other stakeholders to secure housing solutions and improve outcomes for customers.
• Negotiate with landlords, family members, accommodation providers and other relevant parties to relieve homelessness, resolve housing crises and sustain accommodation wherever possible.
• Identify safeguarding concerns and take appropriate action to protect children, young people and adults at risk, working in partnership with relevant agencies.
• Maintain accurate, comprehensive and contemporaneous case records, ensuring compliance with legislative requirements, information governance standards and service procedures.
• Monitor and manage case progression to ensure statutory timescales, service standards and performance targets are consistently achieved.
• Exercise professional judgement in complex and sensitive cases, balancing legislative requirements, risk, customer need and available housing options to reach sound and defensible decisions.
• Contribute to service development, quality assurance activities, audits, complaints investigations, reviews and legal challenges, ensuring continuous improvement and the delivery of a high-quality homelessness service.

Description du poste

The Homeless Prevention Outreach Caseworker is a specialist statutory housing role responsible for preventing and relieving homelessness in accordance with Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. The postholder will manage a complex caseload of households who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, including individuals sleeping rough and those facing multiple barriers to securing or maintaining accommodation.

The role requires the assessment and investigation of housing circumstances, gathering and evaluating evidence, determining statutory duties, and developing personalised housing plans to achieve sustainable housing outcomes. A significant aspect of the role involves producing clear, comprehensive and legally robust written decisions, notifications and correspondence that demonstrate compliance with homelessness legislation, statutory guidance and council policy.

The postholder will participate in a duty rota, undertaking assessments and investigations relating to households presenting as homeless or threatened with homelessness, including applications made under homelessness legislation. This includes making timely decisions, identifying interim and emergency accommodation duties where required, and ensuring the Council's statutory obligations are met.

Working both independently and collaboratively with partner agencies, landlords, accommodation providers and support services, the postholder will identify solutions to prevent homelessness, relieve homelessness where prevention is not possible, and support households to access and sustain suitable accommodation.

The role combines outreach engagement, housing advice, statutory casework and legal decision-making. The postholder must exercise sound professional judgement, maintain accurate records, meet statutory timescales and ensure the Council's legal duties are discharged effectively while delivering a high-quality, person-centred service to vulnerable households.

The role will be primarily based within West Cornwall to support current service demand and workforce distribution. However, the geographical focus of the role may be reviewed and amended in line with future service requirements and business needs.

Working Pattern:

This is a full-time role, working 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm

What you’ll need to succeed:

Key Accountabilities

• Manage a caseload of clients who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, ensuring statutory duties are fulfilled in accordance with homelessness legislation, statutory guidance, council policy and service standards.
• Conduct detailed assessments and investigations to establish eligibility, homelessness, priority need, local connection, intentional homelessness and any statutory duties owed.
• Gather, verify and evaluate information from applicants, landlords, support agencies, health professionals and other stakeholders to inform decision-making and ensure robust case management.
• Prepare clear, accurate and legally compliant decision letters, notifications, reviews, correspondence and case records that demonstrate compliance with legislative requirements and withstand scrutiny, challenge and audit.
• Develop, implement and review Personalised Housing Plans, identifying practical actions and housing solutions to prevent or relieve homelessness and achieve sustainable outcomes.
• Participate in the service duty rota, undertaking homelessness assessments, responding to households presenting as homeless or threatened with homelessness, and taking appropriate action to manage the Council's statutory obligations, including the provision of interim or emergency accommodation where required.
• Undertake outreach activity to identify, engage and assess individuals and households experiencing homelessness, rough sleeping or housing crisis, facilitating access to accommodation, statutory assistance and support services.
• Work proactively with landlords, accommodation providers, support services, health partners, criminal justice agencies, community organisations and other stakeholders to secure housing solutions and improve outcomes for customers.
• Negotiate with landlords, family members, accommodation providers and other relevant parties to relieve homelessness, resolve housing crises and sustain accommodation wherever possible.
• Identify safeguarding concerns and take appropriate action to protect children, young people and adults at risk, working in partnership with relevant agencies.
• Maintain accurate, comprehensive and contemporaneous case records, ensuring compliance with legislative requirements, information governance standards and service procedures.
• Monitor and manage case progression to ensure statutory timescales, service standards and performance targets are consistently achieved.
• Exercise professional judgement in complex and sensitive cases, balancing legislative requirements, risk, customer need and available housing options to reach sound and defensible decisions.
• Contribute to service development, quality assurance activities, audits, complaints investigations, reviews and legal challenges, ensuring continuous improvement and the delivery of a high-quality homelessness service.

What you’ll get in return:

Cornwall Council’s ambition is to be an employer of choice, a high performing Council and a learning organisation. We commit to providing a reward and benefits package to attract, motivate and reward our employees. We offer a range of flexible working options to our staff. This helps provide our employees with a greater work/life balance. Whilst still ensuring that service needs are met.

Our core employee rewards and benefits include:

• a competitive salary.
• a defined benefit pension scheme, based on your career average earnings. This includes the option for extra voluntary contributions
• a generous annual leave entitlement with the potential to purchase additional leave.
• A national award-winning employee health and wellbeing programme
• Employee benefits scheme giving employees access to a wide range of discounts to local and national goods and services.

Additional Information:

Cornwall Council is unable to offer sponsorship or transfer existing sponsorship for this role.

The full role profile is attached here- Homeless Prevention Outreach Worker Role Profile

We recommend saving a copy of this to refer to if you are invited to interview.

For more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Ben Hawke - [e-mail]

Existing employees must apply using their Cornwall Council email address through the Opportunity Marketplace on Oracle.