Everyone deserves a safe place to call home.

Company Limited by Guarantee number 1741926 Charity Number 287779 Registered in England as Single Homeless Project

shp Single Homeless Project

Job title: Young Person’s Worker

Delegated Authority: Level 7

Team: North & East London Young Person’s Services

Responsible to: Service Managers

Responsible for: N/A

Job purpose

This role exists to change the direction of a young person’s life at the point it matters most. As a Young Person’s Worker within our 16+ accommodation services, you will stand alongside young people who are facing homelessness, instability and uncertainty, and help them move towards safety, independence and hope. Placed with us by North and East London boroughs, these young people need more than a roof over their heads. They need someone tenacious enough to believe in their potential, consistent enough to earn their trust, and skilled enough to help them build a future they can sustain.

At the heart of this role is the belief that homelessness is not inevitable and that with the right support, young people can thrive. You will work in partnership with each young person to co-create meaningful Support and Safety Plans that reflect their strengths, goals and lived experience. Through this, you will help them develop the confidence, skills and resilience needed to move on into independent accommodation and adult life. Your impact will be seen in growing independence, improved wellbeing and young people taking ownership of their journey forward.

You will be part of a committed team delivering a flexible, responsive and client focused service that reflects SHP’s values and purpose as a homelessness charity. Guided by strong leadership and a clear policy framework, you will also take ownership of a lead area across the service, contributing to shared learning, service development and your own professional growth. This is a role for someone ready to be a trailblazer, unafraid of challenge and driven by the belief that every young person deserves the chance to build a stable, independent future.

Key accountabilities

Day to day shift delivery

To provide effective day to day shift cover, ensuring that safeguarding and the immediate needs of the young people are paramount to service delivery.

Holding weekly key work sessions with young people.

Support & Safety Planning

In conjunction with colleagues, to comprehensively assess referrals to the project to ensure suitable young people can be accepted.

To comprehensively assess the needs of young people to identify appropriate move on accommodation.

Carry out comprehensive and co-produced ongoing support and safety plans with young people, that are SMART and evidence progress using goals and short objectives and are reviewed at the service review period, or when there is a clear change in support or risk.

Risk Assessment

In conjunction with allocated young people, produce comprehensive and high-quality risk assessments and risk management plans. Monitoring and reviewing plans in line with policy guidelines and procedures and to minimise risk to young people by identifying, reporting, and following up any safeguarding concerns and incidents.

Move in & move on

To provide a safe, welcoming and high-quality standard of accommodation, ensuring when young people move in, they feel comfortable and welcomed, and are given information concerning the building and other local services.

To work with social workers to enable young people to move back home if appropriate, or to support young people identify opportunities for move on to appropriate PRS, supported, shared or self-contained accommodation, and make appropriate referrals to those identified.

Information Management

In line with SHP’s Client Contact recording policy and procedure, to record all client contacts appropriately and accurately on the Inform database and ensure all relevant files and recording systems are up to date and that key performance information is correctly recorded.

Partnership Working

To take responsibility for a professional approach that enhances the reputation of the service by working in partnership with internal SHP departments as well as external community agencies to ensure client needs are met.

Social Inclusion

To support young people to work towards gaining greater independence through participation, at service and organisation level and within the wider community, through our local activity programme and SHP wide Achieving Potential programme.

To promote internal feedback methods such as the complaints procedure and ensure feedback is given to colleagues and managers, to ensure the service is responsive.

Use of Time

To run activities and support young people to participate in activities to prepare them for independence and move through. Ensuring support is provided to young people who are ready to move into work, education, or training by assisting them to access suitable courses or placements.

Health & Safety

To carry out Health & Safety duties as required and to take responsibility for the safe working of self and others and to ensure that local procedures around Lone Working and Fire are followed.

Financial/ Budgeting Support

To support young people to maximise benefit entitlements and secure project income through the collection of rents and service charges and the minimisation of arrears and void loss.

Miscellaneous

SHP is at discretion to amend your responsibilities and, in addition to these, you may be required to perform other duties as may be required for the efficient running of the organisation.

To create inclusive working environments and cultures to enable colleagues and clients to feel safe and empowered to achieve their full potential.

An ability and willingness to work a rota that covers weekdays, weekends and bank holidays and may include early starts and late finishes.

Technical and professional know-how needed for position

When completing your application, you will be required to address (using examples) some of the points below

Experience and Knowledge

Experience of working directly with young people in semi-independent or residential youth services, with a strong understanding of the challenges faced by young people at risk of homelessness.

Lived experience of homelessness, care, or related life experiences is welcomed and valued, bringing insight, empathy and credibility to the support you provide.

Knowledge of Ofsted’s key principles for young people in supported accommodation and examples of how you can apply these principles in your work.

An understanding and experience of applying effective ways of working with this client group, in particular YP’s with mental health & attachment needs including emerging personality disorder & significant self-harm.

Experience of working in a trauma informed and attachment focused way and a good understanding of the principles of this practice, and how they can be related to risk and needs assessment, planning, goal setting and reviews with young people.

Experience of working with young people to develop life skills and support their involvement in meaningful activities.

Skills and Abilities

A demonstrable aptitude for working with at-risk young adults in a residential setting and ability to demonstrate through practice how ‘Every Child Matters’ relates to the young people living in our accommodation.

An excellent level of numeracy, literacy and comprehension of welfare benefits for under 21’s, rents and service charges, as well as an ability to be self-servicing in the use of computers to create letters, minutes & reports.