Seasonal Caseworker

Homeless Link; Greater London; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

Homeless Link in London seeks a dedicated post holder to provide specialist advice and advocacy to homeless guests across services, including partner day centres and night shelters during the winter season.

You will work with guests to support goal achievement, signpost to accommodation and health services, maintain case records in line with GDPR, manage a small budget, and collaborate with managers, partners, and external services.

Qualifications

• At least 1 year of experience working one-on-one with homeless people or similar disadvantaged groups.
• Empathetic attitude to homeless and vulnerably-housed people.
• Knowledge of welfare issues and legislation affecting homeless people.
• Knowledge of local support services for homeless people, especially in West London.
• Ability to manage difficult situations with a confident, professional approach.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist advice and advocacy to homeless guests across services including day centres and night shelters.
• Support guests to achieve their goals using creative approaches.
• Attend appointments with guests as required.
• Refer and signpost to accommodation providers, health services and other support.
• Maintain effective communication with managers and partner organisations.
• Attend meetings with casework teams and external services.
• Collate statistics and outcomes for internal and external use.
• Maintain organised administration for the casework programme in line with GDPR.
• Manage a small casework budget.
• Undertake other duties to aid the project.

Skills

Experience with homeless clients

Job description

Job Description

The post holder will be responsible for the following:

• Providing a specialist advice and advocacy service to the homeless guests of our services, which include partner day centres and night shelters over the winter season
• Employing creative thinking and practices to ensure that guests are supported and motivated to achieve their goals
• Attending appointments with guests occasionally when needed
• Referring and signposting guests to accommodation providers, health services and other relevant internal and external support services, as necessary
• Maintaining good communication with the Managers of our partnered Drop-in Centres, Glass Door colleagues and local statutory and non-statutory services
• Attending meetings with the casework team, external service providers and partner organisations when required
• Collating statistics and outcome measurements of the casework service for both internal and external use
• Maintaining a well-organised and easily accessible administration system for the casework programme in line with relevant legislation (e.g. GDPR)
• Managing a small casework budget
• Undertaking any other duties to aid the good running of the project, as required by the charity

Person Specification

Essential

• At least one year experience of working one-on-one with -- and assessing the needs of -- homeless people or similar disadvantaged client groups
• Empathetic attitude to homeless and vulnerably-housed people
• Up-to-date knowledge of the welfare issues and legislation affecting homeless people
• Knowledge of relevant support services available to homeless people, particularly in West London
• Confident approach to, and experience of, dealing with challenging behaviour
• Ability to maintain good relationships with colleagues and external service providers
• Highly organised with strong time-management skills
• Ability to keep clear and up-to-date case records
• Ability to work independently and take the initiative to make important decisions
• Flexible and supportive team member with excellent communication skills
• Ability to adhere to and implement Health & Safety, HR and operational policies
• Understanding of and commitment to Equal Opportunities
• For night shelter caseworkers, willingness to work a minimum of one evening per week

Desirable

• Ability to speak Polish, Romanian or other Eastern European languages
• Experience of working alongside volunteers