Rough Sleeper Mental Health Practitioner

NHS; Canterbury; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading mental health service provider in the UK is seeking a Rough Sleeper Mental Health Practitioner to improve support for vulnerable individuals facing homelessness. The role involves conducting outreach, assessing mental health needs, and advising on best practices. Successful candidates will have a background in mental health care and be passionate about helping marginalized communities. Join a dedicated team aimed at making a positive impact on the lives of rough sleepers in Kent.

Qualifications

• Registered RMN/OT or Social Worker.
• Experience in recovery-focused service provision.
• Experience working with marginalized groups.

Responsibilities

• Carry out outreach alongside homelessness staff.
• Assess the support needs of vulnerable individuals.
• Advise colleagues on good practices.

Skills

Specialist knowledge of dual diagnosis issues

Strong leadership skills

Understanding of Adult safeguarding

Knowledge of Mental Health Act 1983

Education

Degree in Occupational Therapy or Social Work

Job description

Rough Sleeper Mental Health Practitioner

Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust has an exciting opportunity for an experienced mental health professional to come and work with the new East Kent Mental Health Rough Sleepers Service.

The team work closely with the borough councils to enhance the homelessness services for vulnerable rough sleepers and those at risk of sleeping on the streets. The project provides the opportunity to tackle the ongoing needs of vulnerable rough sleepers who have fallen out of services, or who will not engage with traditional pathways of support and housing, often with chaotic lives and a history of offending, drug and alcohol use and being excluded from mainstream services.

With estimates ranging from 40%-80% of the rough sleeping population living with mental illness, it is a major contributory factor to people not being able to find or maintain a home. As rough sleepers average age of death is 43, we cannot let this need go unmet.

Main duties of the job

• Carry out regular outreach alongside homelessness staff to identify unmet mental health needs and make appropriate referrals.
• Visit vulnerable people in our supported accommodation, housing first flats, or general needs accommodation, to assess if they have the right level and type of support around their mental health needs.
• Identify where people need to be fast tracked into primary care services.
• Advise colleagues across the Mental Health Rough Sleeper Service and to our housing related support services regarding good practice.
• Take part in two monthly rough sleeper counts in the early hours of the morning.
• Attend operational groups and panels to agree best use of housing resources available to meet the needs of rough sleepers.

About us

We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated 'Good' by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.

Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.

Job responsibilities

The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.

Please see the attached job description for full details of the main duties and responsibilities of the role.

Person Specification

Training, Qualifications and Registration

• Registered RMN/OT or Social Worker
• Educated to degree level or equivalent in Occupational Therapy or Social Work

Experience

• Previous experience of recovery focused service provision with individuals who have complex mental health needs, substance misuse and offending behaviour.
• Previous experience of working in a community team
• Experience of working in with marginalised groups
• Experience of working in a primary care environment

Knowledge and Skills

• Specialist knowledge of dual diagnosis issues and experience of working within the mental health or substance misuse field, including with alcohol users.
• Strong leadership skills including negotiating and influencing skills
• Knowledge and understanding of Adult safeguarding
• Working knowledge of Mental Health Act 1983
• Understanding of the requirements of Quality Improvement Methodology including QSIR.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.