Housing First VAWG Advocate

Job Description

Reporting to: Programmes Manager

Partner: Solace Women’s Aid

Salary: £31,000 (FTE)

Hours: 3 days a week (with another worker making this a full-time role)

This job description may change to reflect changing requirements of the role.

Overview

Housing First is an approach to supporting the most entrenched, excluded and hard to reach service users. It focuses on finding permanent housing as quickly as possible and then addressing the issues that have contributed to an individual’s homelessness.

‘I want someone who I can do nice things with, too, not someone who just talks about what has gone wrong, or drugs and other things……I think about those negatives all the time anyway and I want a worker who I can feel positive with, happy’ (service user supported by another Housing First Project).

The Role

• Assist in the day-to-day delivery of the service, managing a small service user caseload with the overall goal of supporting these women to sustain a (new) tenancy.

• Provide trauma-informed, solution-focused support to service users, tailored to individual needs and aspirations, with service users being able to choose as far as possible, what, how and when support is delivered.

• Advocate where appropriate on behalf of service users with external agencies regarding their welfare rights, Primary Health Care needs and other issues affecting their health and well being

• Promote social inclusion, encourage independence, and develop personal resilience of women with multiple needs affected by violence.

• Maintain accurate case notes and up to date records.

• Attend and contribute to multi agency safeguarding meetings e.g. MARAC, as appropriate.

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Knowledge of the needs of women from diverse communities and the barriers to accessing support faced by black and ethnically minoritised women.
• Experience in providing emotional and/or practical support to women who have experienced VAWG, homelessness or multiple disadvantage.

• Experience of working in partnerships with other agencies e.g. signposting, making referrals, supporting with appointments.

• An understanding of the impact of trauma on women experiencing abuse.

• Awareness of the intersection between severe and multiple disadvantages and VAWG, and an understanding of how the intersection of these issues can make it difficult for people to engage with support.

• A good knowledge of safeguarding practice and procedures.

• Ability to provide strengths-based support.

• A resilient and assertive approach to reaching out to and building trust and positive relationships with women who have complex/multiple needs and who may present as reluctant to engage and/or may be presenting in crisis.

• Excellent organisational, ICT, written and verbal communication skills.

Values, Behaviours & Competencies

• Committed to the purpose of Hopscotch Women’s Centre, ensuring that the service user is at the heart of service delivery and development.

• Feminist in understanding ‘Violence against Women and Girls’.

• Always focussed on Trauma Informed Practice and in all spaces.

• Committed to fostering innovation and continuous improvement in working practice.

• Flexible and open to new challenges, ideas and experiences, and able to be self- reflective.

• Committed to understanding diversity and ensuring anti-discriminatory practice is applied in all forms of our work.

• Non-judgemental with a commitment to self-care within the team.

• Collaborative, building relationships with internal and external partners.