Organisation: Future Projects

Position: Support Worker

Job status: Fixed Term – to July 2020

Hours of work: 14hrs per week

Working pattern: Mondays and Wednesdays

Salary and Benefits: £21,500 per annum (pro rata)

Application Deadline: Friday 7th June 2019

Expected start date:  ASAP.

  Our vision is of vibrant and strong communities which have equality of opportunity and are free from disadvantage or deprivation.

About Future Projects: Future Projects is a Charity active in helping children and adults to address severe and multiple deprivation by providing high quality, community-based services which promote education, health, skills, employment, wellbeing and life chances.  We aim to help people in difficult situations build on their strengths and capabilities, and develop the confidence, skills, and resilience to take control and transform their lives.

We are rooted in the communities we serve and deliver a number of projects and services from venues in some of Norfolk’s most deprived areas, including:

• Holistic community-based support service which provides open access information, advice and advocacy for those experiencing severe problems. We provide personal, practical and emotional support to clients, helping them in areas such as health, housing, finance, welfare rights and benefits, criminal justice, and wellbeing. The service also builds social capital, resilience and skills through activities such as peer support groups and courses in wellbeing, ICT, Literacy and Numeracy.
• Our Independent Special School for 13-16 year olds who have been excluded from mainstream education and have multiple and complex needs. Rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, Future Education works on a ‘Secure Base’ model developed by the University of East Anglia, providing a balanced education and therapeutic care to build emotional resilience in some of Norfolk’s most vulnerable children.
• Our Ofcom licenced community radio station for Norwich through which we provide broadcast and media training and personal development support for up to 170 volunteers each year. We support volunteers to build transferrable skills and confidence, to create and broadcast radio shows, and to represent their communities - raising awareness of the issues, support and services available.

Purpose of the Job:  The Support Worker role is part of the ‘Future Support’ service and will operate from within our community support centre in Catton Grove, Norwich.

The role will involve assessing support needs and agreeing support plans to deliver flexible, effective, hands-on help to local residents across a range of themes, and providing specialist advice and help in welfare benefits. 

The role will work closely with the Adult Services Manager, and local agencies to ensure that the needs of local residents are well understood and that the service is shaped to meet those needs in accordance with the big local plan.

Key Deliverables:

• Ensure that the advice, guidance and support provided is of the highest possible standard and considers empathy, compassion and respect for clients at all times
• Develop and grow specialist knowledge in relation to welfare rights and benefits systems and apply that knowledge in both the planning and delivery of the service
• Develop and maintain effective networks and partnerships with local stakeholders to promote and develop the service for the benefit of local residents
• Follow safety systems and other operational procedures relating to the delivery of community support services at all times, including but not limited to safeguarding, health & safety, lone working, security, and data protection and confidentiality etc.
• Capture and record accurate and timely monitoring and management information in relation to the delivery of the service, including but not limited to: case notes, client data consents, risk assessment and management plans, case reviews, information sharing agreements, client outcomes data and so on.

Key Work Areas and Tasks:

• Undertake to deliver face to face advice, guidance and practical support to clients across a range of themes including: health, housing, finance, criminal justice, and wellbeing
• Undertake to deliver specialist support directly to clients in complex cases where a high level of expertise is required in relation to welfare rights and benefits
• Deliver group-based support, training, or capacity development where appropriate to enable clients to manage their own support needs independently in the long term
• Ensure that the service is client focused, consistent and of the highest quality in terms of the delivery of advice, guidance and support
• Ensure that equality of opportunity and diversity are embedded throughout all aspects of delivery of the service
• Ensure that support plans are outcome focused, co-produced, and provide opportunities for capacity building in order to promote independence
• Support clients to access other agencies or provision where additional specialist support is required or where other services may be best placed to help
• Undertake outreach activities to provide support services to those unable to travel, including one-to-one meetings at other premises or in the client’s home
• Keep abreast of client trends/needs and wider external developments affecting the service, and supporting the Service Manager to develop the service to meet these needs.
• Implement systems and mechanisms to ensure that stakeholders and service users are able to contribute to the design, development and delivery of the service, ensuring accountability to the communities we serve.
• Take responsibility for the safe use of the ‘community support venues, ensuring health and safety, security, and safeguarding systems are implemented effectively
• Ensure the service complies with funder/commissioner requirements and provide monitoring/evaluation reports as required

• Follow the organisation’s financial procurement procedures to purchase minor items as required and under the direction of the Support Service Manager

• Attend and contribute to whole-team meetings and participate in internal and external/clinical support and supervisions as required
• Participate in the recruitment, induction and training of volunteers to support the service and contribute to the big local plan. Work closely with volunteers, ensuring they receive the support and direction required to carry out their roles effectively
• In conjunction with the Management Team, promote a common culture across the charity, including good teamwork and lines of communication between all members of staff.

• Keep up to date with changes in legislation, best practice and local policy to inform developments in the service, particularly with regard to welfare rights and benefits.
• Promote the work of Future Support services locally through networks, partnerships and other initiatives.
• Represent Future Projects in a professional way at relevant meetings and networking functions to build on good practice and development opportunities.

• Promote the aims, policies, and objectives of Future Projects.
• Develop a good working knowledge of the operational area, its demographics, key communities, third, private and public sector contacts, networks and partnerships
• Represent the Support Service at events and present information about Future Support to audiences as required
• Maintain confidentiality in the working environment, ensuring that the privacy and dignity of clients are protected at all times
• Undertake such other duties as may lie within the scope of this post to ensure the effective delivery and development of the service

Job environment: The post holder will work from within community support venues in the north and west of Norwich. This is in a client-facing role and will be required to develop professional relationships with service users, stakeholders and the wider community.   The post will involve some travel to and from appointments and meetings across the city and may involve transportation of clients (subject to risk assessment and management) on rare occasions.

Supervision: The Post will report directly to the Support Service Manager.  The post holder will be subject to regular support and supervision sessions and will have access to clinical/external supervision in accordance with the service’s Support & Supervision Policy. .

Health and Safety/Safeguarding: The post holder must comply with policies and procedures relating to health and safety, security, confidentiality, data protection, vulnerable adults and safeguarding children, and preventing extremism and radicalisation; and report all concerns or disclosures to the appropriate person. 

Future Projects is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share that commitment. Our primary concern is always the safety and wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults.

Future Projects will provide a programme of induction and training to include Health & Safety and Safeguarding, and will make external training available as required.

Equalities: The post holder must be aware of, support and promote equality and diversity in all its forms, and ensure that clients have equality of access to the service. Future Projects is an equal opportunities employer and a disability confident employer; see the charity’s application pack for more information.

Disclosure and Barring Service Checks: This post is classed as having a high degree of contact with vulnerable adults and is exempt from the rehabilitation of offenders’ act 1974.  An enhanced disclosure will be sought through the DBS as part of Future Projects employment checks.

Additional guidance on the charity’s pre-employment checks can be found within the application pack.

Future Projects is proud to be a Living Wage Employer.                         

 

Welfare Rights Support Worker - Personal Profile:

As a seasoned support worker who is committed to improving the lives of people in deprived communities, your approach to delivering support will consider empathy, compassion and respect as integral, and should model itself on participatory approaches to personal development. 

You will have the ability to develop support plans around the individual and in line with a range of known and unexpected priorities, taking account of the challenges of working with ‘hard to reach’ individuals and the strengths which exist therein.

Ideally you will have a strong background in the delivery of welfare benefits advice to clients; you will understand the current welfare benefits systems and processes, you will have good working relationships with statutory and voluntary agencies, and you will have extensive experience helping vulnerable people to resolve their welfare benefits issues.

You will also have a good understanding of the broader support needs of deprived communities across a range of other themes as outlined in the job description, and will have experience advocating on clients’ behalf to achieve positive outcomes.

You will be a confident communicator, able to make vulnerable people feel at ease in order to build meaningful relationships.  You will have experience in case management, monitoring and evaluation systems, safety systems and the general requirements of a support work role.

Finally, you will have a personal affinity with the mission and the vision of Future Projects, and will recognise your role in driving this forward for the benefit of our service users.

Other requirements:

The role requires a driver’s licence and access to personal transport for business purposes. 

The role will require that you are a competent computer user who is adept in the use of Microsoft Office software and capable of using online case notes management systems (training will be provided).

The role may require the oversight, direction or management of volunteers, or possibly in the longer term other staff, so strong people management skills are desirable.

Essential Criteria: candidates must demonstrate the following in their application in order to progress to interview.

• At least two years of experience delivering face to face advice, guidance or support
• At least one year of experience delivering specialist Welfare Rights advice/support
• Demonstrable understanding of current Welfare Benefits systems and processes
• Good ICT skills and experience using online or cloud-based client/case management systems
• Good understanding of the general principles and controls in relation to the provision of advice and guidance services, specifically: safeguarding vulnerable adults, health & safety, data protection and confidentiality.