Purple Door Worker
Part time – Manchester (12 month fixed term contract)
Reporting to: Purple Door Manager
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job summary:
1. To assess the needs and suitability of young LGBT people who are homeless, vulnerably housed, or in a hostile environment for placement in the Purple Door house, and to carry out intensive support work with them for the duration of their stay.
2. To plan and oversee LGBT young people’s placements in AKT’s Purple Door House, including support working, pathway planning, review and making planned moves on from the service and overseeing the Life skills tenancy training programme.
3. To carry out housing management tasks, ensure compliance with Health and Safety and Fire Safety regulations and report maintenance issues to provide a safe and secure house.
4. To work with LGBT young people with intersectional identities to ensure their diverse needs are recognised and reflected in our aims, ethos and practice.
5. To support young people to enter, or remain in, Education Training or Employment.
MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSILBILITIES
Problem solving
· To liaise with other services to understand the range of support opportunities for young
people and LGBT young people in particular.
· To match young people with diverse needs with a range of support solutions both internally and externally.
· To create and maintain a database of diverse and appropriate services to meet the needs of LGBT young people with intersectional identities.
· To identify opportunities for service improvement and effectiveness.
· To deal with first stage complaints, resolving where able, escalating to the Purple Door manager where required.
Decision making
· To contribute to service improvement and effectiveness through attending Services Team/Purple Door team meetings and through producing reports for the Services Committee (a subcommittee of AKT ‘s Board of Trustees).
· To be responsible for attending supervision and for developing own practice, including keeping up to date with national legislation and frameworks and implementation of AKT policies and procedures.
Operational Responsibility
· To take part in regular review of AKT’s Purple Door assessment, referral and signposting process in cooperation with the Purple Door Manager, maximising opportunities for young people from a range of partners. This will also include undergoing internal quality assurance reviews of the service.
· To be accountable for effective use of resources, including accessing the Rainbow Starter Pack, to the Purple Door Manager.
· To assist with the development and management of a volunteer team to support and empower young people to meet their changing needs, through a range of interventions, as well as supervise volunteers when carrying out Lifeskills Training sessions.
· To plan and prioritise work using own initiative.
· To provide a flexible and creative approach to working with young people, ensuring that their needs are met, where possible, including meeting clients externally to the house.
· To appropriately challenge negative behaviours, including issuing warnings, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, notices to quit and instigating formal legal proceedings, if necessary.
· To access and provide appropriate, supportive information on a range of issues, including LGBT partner services, safe and supportive LGBT networks, and LGBT affirmative resources around domestic violence, honour based violence, sexual health, sexual exploitation, sexual assault, hate crime and mental health and wellbeing.
· To manage the client contact database in cooperation with the Purple Door Manager.
· To maximise the income of young homeless LGBT people, including assistance with Housing Benefit claims, identifying and applying for grants and loans from a variety of sources and assisting to find employment.
· To ensure that Housing Benefit claims are in payment, undertake rent and arrears management and responsible for recouping former tenant arrears
· To perform light cleaning duties and void room preparations for re-let
· To be responsible for organising house meetings and other meaningful activities and to encourage young people to engage in participation activities, both specifically for the Purple Door house and at a local and national level for AKT.
· To undertake any reasonable task as requested by the Purple Door Manager
· To meet targets and outcomes as per work plan and organisational aims, objectives and Key Performance Indicators
Communication
· To use software and databases to collect and collate monitoring information and case notes, write reports and prepare presentations.
· To contribute to casework trend analysis, and to work towards innovative solutions to new casework trends, new concentrations of need, and new risks.
· To participate in training external organisations in LGBT awareness as needed, and to promote the work of AKT with a range of partners.
· To utilise a range of communication methods, including maximising new technologies to communicate with young people.
· To contribute to AKT publications such as newsletters and mail outs.
Working and environmental conditions
· The post holder will mainly work from a base within the Purple Door house and will have some flexibility to manage own workload, as long as the demands of the house are met. The post will involve lone working but training will be given.
· Young people will be seen in a range of settings, mainly at the Purple Door house and other organisations as well as at the AKT office.
· Some evening and occasional weekend working will be required as part of this post, in line with AKT's flexible working policy. All care will be taken to make sure any caring responsibilities will be accounted for.
PERSON SPECIFICATION (Knowledge, skills and experience required for the job)
Essential criteria:
· EITHER, a qualification in a related field such as social work or supported housing and demonstrable experience of work in one or more such fields, OR:
· Considerable demonstrable experience of working in a related field e.g. housing,
homelessness.
· Experience of assessment work.
· Experience of referral and signposting work.
· A working knowledge and understanding of current housing law and welfare benefits.
· Experience of supporting individuals to achieve independent living.
· Good communication, negotiation, influencing and advocacy skills with individuals and organisations.
· Ability to network with and work with a wide range of organisations.
· Commitment to LGBT equality and a zero‐tolerance approach to discrimination and exclusion on the grounds of age, race or ethnicity, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, faith or belief, disability, socio‐economic status, or caring responsibility.
· Knowledge and understanding of common issues of young LGBT people and an ability to empower young people to achieve their goals.
· Knowledge and understanding of child protection, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people.
· Ability to manage a budget and to support young people to manage their own finances.
· Experience of working under pressure in a time‐limited environment.
· Knowledge of health and safety and fire safety responsibilities and legal requirements in hostels and HMO’s
· Experience of rent collection and maximising rental income
· Experience of working to Supporting People QAF standards
· Experience of using Outcomes Star, risk assessment and management planning and support planning
· Experience of working in a hostel or supported housing setting
Desirable Criteria:
· Knowledge and understanding of LGBT services and networks in Manchester.
· Knowledge and understanding of intersectional identities and complex related needs.
· Knowledge and understanding of supported housing best practice.
· Experience of facilitating group work and delivering workshops