Salary: £20,136 pro rata(+10% Pension)
Hours:18.5 hours per week
Special Terms: Permanent (Subject to funding)
Accountable to: Drug & Alcohol Engagement Co-ordinator
Accountable for: Volunteers
Role Summary
LGBT Foundation bases its services on a well-developed expertise around health and wellbeing, including: mental health; sexual health and substance misuse. These issues often interact with each other, and we shape our services to be person centred and provide wraparound support to the individual. Our service delivery approach is integrative, in order to provide the best possible experience for our service users, whilst retaining expertise and specialism to deal with diversity and complexity of need.
The Drug & Alcohol Engagement Officer role sits within the Services Team, and is responsible, along with Leads and Co-ordinators, for the delivery of support to those with substance misuse issues. Part of the Manchester Integrated Drug & Alcohol Service (MIDAS), the worker will work with partners and use referral systems to ensure each client receives the best possible support for their needs.
The specialist knowledge and expertise held by the post holder will increase our engagement with LGBT individuals who are in need of support around drugs and/or alcohol. The Officerwill utilise access points into LGBT Foundation services, to identify individuals who are in need, at the earliest possible opportunity, ensuring they are then supported by the most effective service.
Role Accountabilities
Deliver brief and structured support to LGBT individuals who are seeking help with drug and/or alcohol issues
- Trained to deliver in-reachservices(helpline calls and call backs, pop-ins, intake, triage and assessment, other services as they are developed) providing brief assessment and support for drug and/or alcohol issues at first point of contact
- Trained to deliver outreach services (events, assertive outreach, and other services as they are developed) informing people about LGBT Foundation and delivering brief drug and alcohol interventions in the community where appropriate
- Trained to deliver net-reach services (engagement with social networking sites, live chat, email responses and other services as they develop), able to interact with individuals online, who may not typically engage with traditional face-to-face drug or alcohol services
- Support the ongoing delivery of services at LGBT Foundation through conducting assessments and developing support plans, signposting and referring to relevant services
- Awareness of the range of drug and alcohol services offered through MIDAS and referral pathways available to service users
- Support the engagement of volunteers within delivery, and where necessary support in supervision and management
- Understand safeguarding principles, and be able to apply these to service delivery situations and implement internal policies and procedures
Work closely with the Drug & Alcohol Engagement Co-ordinator and the Policy & Training Co-ordinator (LGBT Substance Misuse)
- Work with the Policy & Training Co-ordinator, sharing insights from your work
- Use the evidence and research developed and sourced by the Policy & Training Co-ordinator to inform your practice
Support the collection of meaningful service provision data to help shape our services
- Ensure all relevant paperwork is completed at point of delivery
- Collate and anonymise service data to feed into the Drug & Alcohol Engagement Co-ordinator’s reports and the Policy & Training Co-ordinator’s work programme.
LGBT Foundation Accountabilities
- Completion of specific tasks allocated through work plans, project plans and the annual business plan of LGBT Foundation.
- Provision of monthly information (accurate data and informative commentary) within your areas of responsibility for performance management purposes.
- Compliance with LGBT Foundation’s policies, procedures, management and monitoring systems.
- Display a genuine commitment to equality of opportunity and an understanding of the issues faced by LGBT communities.
- In common with all staff, you have a responsibility for your own personal and professional development and training, and for drawing attention to your own training needs as well as those of colleagues that you work with. We are a learning and development organisation and will consistently provide and support opportunities for staff to exceed theirs and our expectations.
- Any other duties commensurate with the skills and abilities of the post holder as directed by your line manager.
- All staff are expected to maintain a flexible approach to their roles and respond to LGBT Foundation’s changing needs. The responsibilities of this post may be changed subject to review, over a period of time. This will be done in consultation with the post holder.
Person Specification
Essential Elements
Qualifications & Skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work with vulnerable and/or distressed clients
- Time management skills with the ability to co-ordinate a caseload of clients
Experience
- Experience of supporting individuals with substance misuse and/or alcohol issues
- Experience of supporting people who are in crisis
Knowledge & Understanding
- An understanding of LGBT communities and their needs
- An understanding of drug and alcohol issues, including interventions and the role of different services
This role, in common with all staff at LGBT Foundation, will be expected to display a range of competencies specific to their grade and area of work. These will be measured during annual performance appraisals, and there will be an expectation that staff will be able to evidence the ways in which they have met these competencies over the course of the year.
Desirable
Experience
- Experience of delivering face to face services with individuals with complex needs
- Experience of conduction assessments with clients
Knowledge & Understanding
- Knowledge of available mental health, sexual health and other relevant support services across Manchester
Terms and Conditions
(i)Hours – 18.5 hours per week, with an expectation of evening and weekend work
(ii)Annual Leave – 25 per annum plus Bank Holidays, rising to 30 after 5 years’ service(pro rata)
(iii)Probation Period – Post subject to successfully completing a 6 month probationary period
(iv)Employers contributory pension – 10% of annual salary