Caseworker (Ref: CW)

Caseworker (ref: CW)

£26,000 p.a. pro rata for a 37.5hr week

Contract period: 31st October 2011 to 29th April 2012

Reporting to the Senior Caseworker

WLCHC is an independent charity currently recruiting a caseworker for London’s largest night shelter project, which will run from 7th November 2011 to 1st April 2012. Working alongside the senior caseworker you will provide an advice service to the street homeless who use our services, providing advice, advocacy and practical support. Our client group is diverse, with approximately 40% of our guests coming from Central and Eastern Europe. Once the night shelter project opens, you will be required to attend on a regular basis, as agreed with the Senior Caseworker, to meet new and existing guests and ensure follow-up is carried out in the daytime. The role also involves statistical collation of outcomes for both internal use and for presentation to statutory and non-statutory funding sources.

We value and encourage lateral thinking and you will have the freedom to try new ideas and approaches as long as they are within the resources of a small charity. Our main concern is providing the highest service possible to give our guests the opportunities they need to formulate their own life plans and to reach their own goals and objectives.

Job description:

The Caseworker is responsible for:

1. Providing a casework service to the homeless guests of all WLCHC projects
2. Carrying out assessments and developing action plans for guests of the night shelter and Chelsea Methodist Church and Pastoral Centre
3. Employing creative thinking and practices to ensure that guests are supported and motivated to address their practical and personal issues and to manage their expectations
4. Referring and signposting guests to accommodation providers, drug and alcohol services and other relevant support services and attending appointments with them, if necessary
5. Maintaining good communication with the Manager of Chelsea Methodist Church Pastoral Centre, WLCHC Senior Project Manager and local statutory and non-statutory services
6. Attending meetings with external service providers and partner organisations when required
7. Collating statistics and outcome measurements of the casework service for both internal and external use
8. Maintaining a well-organised and easily accessible administration system for the casework programme in line with relevant legislation (e.g. Data Protection Act.)
9. Managing own casework budget and administering petty cash
10. Supporting the rest of the team in running the night shelters, as and when required
11. Undertaking any other duties to aid the good running of the project, as required by the Senior Project Manager and Management Committee

Person Specification:

Essential

• Experience of working one-on-one with - and assessing the needs of - homeless people or similar disadvantaged client groups
• 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
• Empathetic attitude to homeless and vulnerably-housed people
• Highly organised with an imaginative approach
• Ability to keep clear and up-to-date case records
• Ability to work independently and take the initiative to make important decisions
• Effective, flexible and supportive team member
• An ability to recognise the importance of the role of the volunteer
• Ability to adhere to and implement Health & Safety, HR and operational policies
• Willingness to work anti-social hours
• Understanding of and commitment to Equal Opportunities

Desirable

• Ability to speak Polish, Russian or other Eastern European languages
• Experience of voluntary organisations
• Experience of liaising with external agencies e.g. social services, outreach teams, police

Application form to arrive by 18th September 2011.

Interviews : 21st – 23rd September with start date of 31st October

Employment is subject to the provision of adequate references and an Enhanced Criminal Record Check.

WLCHC encourages applicants from all sections of the community.

Registered Charity No. 1083203

WLCHC’s objective is the relief of poverty among street homeless people in West London through the provision of accommodation, advice and assistance.

In particular, we provide:

• London’s largest winter night shelter – 35 bed spaces every night between November and April
• year-round daytime services including laundry, clothing and shower facilities from our base at Chelsea Methodist Church Pastoral Centre
• a casework service – offering advice, advocacy and practical support to shelter guests

Each winter for the last twelve years, ten to twelve churches of different denominations have provided the venues and volunteer teams for our winter night shelter project. Up to 35 guests are accommodated each night from 8pm until 7am and receive a cooked evening meal and breakfast and a safe, warm and welcoming place to spend the night. We also provide food and company to many others outside the venues who cannot access the shelters because they are full.

The casework service operates year-round from our drop-in at Chelsea Methodist Church, which is also the site of our café and clothing, laundry and shower facilities. We work closely with local statutory and non-statutory agencies to provide guests with structured support. This enables us to respond to the varying support needs amongst our client group such as accommodation and benefits issues, drug and alcohol dependency, mental and physical health concerns and much more.

WLCHC provides its staff a full induction as well as training opportunities. We operate an equal opportunities policy and welcome applicants from all sections of the community.

Starting with the most recent, please give details of your education history and exam results.

Please give details of any training courses attended and the outcomes.

Starting with your most recent employer, please give details of your employment history, including any voluntary work you have done.

Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary

Using the Person Specification please demonstrate how you meet the requirements of this position giving specific examples of skills, knowledge and experience gained through paid or voluntary work or personal experience. Please also explain briefly why you are interested in the position.

Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act

The post for which you are applying is exempted from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 Amendment Order 1986. This is because the work will include a significant degree of contact with vulnerable adults. Therefore you are required to provide full details of all convictions, cautions and bind-overs, including those regarded as spent under the ROA, and any pending prosecutions. Failure to do so may disqualify you from appointment or result in summary dismissal.

The post requires that you undergo Enhanced Disclosure, which will disclose any conviction, spent or unspent that you may have.

Disclosure of this information will not necessarily debar you from employment – this will depend on the nature any offence(s), frequency and when they occurred.

Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence or been subject to a caution or bind-over or have a pending prosecution? YES / NO

If yes, please disclose details

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Are there any special arrangements we need to make in order for you to attend an interview?

YES / NO

If yes, please tell us what they are

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I confirm that the information given on this job application form is correct and I understand that, if appointed on false information given on this form, I may be summarily dismissed. I give my consent to process the enclosed personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998 on the understanding that it is used to determine my suitability for the post applied for. Further consent will be required should you wish to verify any additional information in regard to relevant third parties.

Signature of Applicant…………………………………………………….

Date…………………………………………...

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY MONITORING

In order for us to effectively monitor the fairness of our recruitment, we ask that you provide the information requested below. Please note that this is entirely voluntary, but we ask that you respond to this information request positively as it will help us ensure that our policies and practices do not inadvertently discriminate against you because of your ethnicity.

West London Churches Homeless Concern assures you that any information you provide here will only be used to monitor the effectiveness of our policies. We will ensure that the information you provide remains confidential and will be used for statistical monitoring purposes only.

Position applied for…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gender:MaleFemale

(1) What is your ethnic group?

Choose ONE option from A to E by circling the appropriate category.

A White

British

Irish

Scottish

Welsh

Any other White background: please specify ……………………………………….

B Mixed Heritage

White and Black Caribbean

White and Black African

White and Asian

Any other Mixed background, please specify ………………………………………..

C Asian or Asian British

Indian

Pakistani

Bangladeshi

Any other Asian background, please specify ………………………………………

D Black or Black British

Caribbean

African

Any other Black background, please specify ………………………………………

E Chinese or other ethnic group

Chinese

Any other background, please specify ………………………………………………….

Do you consider yourself to have a disability?

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines a disabled person as someone with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantive and long-term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Having read this definition do you consider that you have a disability (please circle)? YES/NO

Registered in England as a company limited by guarantee

Company no. 3950659 Registered Charity no. 1083203