Home Straight Coordinator (part-time)

Hawkinge, Kent
Town & Country Housing Group

Home Straight Coordinator

Role Summary

At Town & Country Housing we are committed to providing assistance to our own vulnerable tenants and people living in our communities who need support to live safely and independently. We provide specialist housing, care and support to people who are socially excluded, disabled, unwell or homeless.

This role is a 12-month Fixed Term Contract, working 14 hours per week (these days can be discussed at interview).

The Role: To be a key member of the Home Improvement Agency team offering high quality flexible personalised support for people who exhibit hoarding behaviours that live within the Folkestone & Hythe areas in Kent. Your role will require you to deliver personalised support to customers in their homes aiming to address and reduce the risks connected to their hoarding. You will work with and support customers to de-clutter their homes enabling them to live in relative safety. Working with customers, you will ensure they are supported to make choices towards a healthier and happier life and that their physical/mental health will be improved.

Salary:

£15.38ph

Hours of Work:

14 hours per week

Contract:

12 month Fixed Term Contract

Why Choose Us:

• Contributory pension scheme 4% to 10% matched contributions
• Hybrid working
• Free onsite car parking
• Life assurance of 4x annual salary (Terms and Conditions apply)
• 30 days annual leave in addition to bank holidays
• Two volunteer days per year
• Employee assistance programme (24/7 telephone advice, information portal & face to face counselling sessions)
• Corporate eye care scheme providing free eye tests and free VDU glasses or contribution towards VDU glasses
• Extensive annual Staff Wellbeing programme
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave provision
• Flexible annual benefits (for dental, healthcare, shopping vouchers, technology etc.)
• Annual flu vaccinations
• Access to an extensive range of corporate discounts on shopping, travel & days out
• Social events, including lunchtime walking, rounders, festive Fridays
• Travel loan

What will you be doing?

Role Specific Responsibilities

To identify and deal with any immediate needs and hazards to ensure customer safety.

Build trust and rapport with each individual while maintaining professional boundaries.

Carry out Needs and Risk Assessments; complete Support Plans and Clutter Image Rating Scale (CIRS).

Identify, where possible, the root cause for the hoarding behaviour and seek to refer the customer to specialist services.

Work with and engage the customer to ensure they are at the centre of all decisions involving their home and possessions.

Keep data management system up to date with all information relevant to the cases on which you work.

Organise and provide regular structured support sessions with each customer aimed at progressing towards agreed goals.

Develop and/or maintain constructive relationships with any partner agencies, working towards a common goal.

Where appropriate, encourage customers to involve their families and partners to support their recovery.

Ensure customers are signposted or referred onto external agencies as necessary for additional support, befriending, social engagement etc.

Clearly explain the remit of the service to a range of other professionals to maintain and grow awareness of Home Straight in key referring and joint working agencies.

Work at times as a lone practitioner being aware of the Lone Working Policy and making full use of the equipment provided to staff for the use of lone working.

Receive information by verbal and written means and relay relevant personal data as applicable with an emphasis on the TCH code of conduct and Data Protection policies.

Respect a customer s individuality and their environment and maintain dignity and confidentiality at all times.

Implement effective safeguarding practice for vulnerable adults and children in accordance with local authority and TCH policies, guidance and protocol.

Liaise promptly with colleagues, partner agencies and other stakeholders regarding safeguarding, welfare and risk concerns in accordance with TCH policy.

Identify personal development needs and action where appropriate. Attend mandatory training and relevant training as requested and participate in customer reviews and team meetings.

Implement the association s equal opportunities policy as an integral part of all duties and observe the letter and the spirit of the policy at all times.

Implement and maintain safe practises at all times in accordance with TCH s health and safety policy.

Work in collaboration with other TCH directorates and colleagues as required.

Undertake such other duties as are appropriate to meeting the responsibilities, policies and procedures and whenever reasonably instructed, which may include working outside normal working hours.

About You

Education & Qualifications

• At least 2 years demonstrable experience of working with and providing support and advice to the most vulnerable people within our communities and knowledge of how this affects their life and the decisions they make.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Understanding and empathy for people with mental health needs and people who display hoarding behaviour.
• Ability to deal effectively and calmly with challenging situations that may arise.
• Ability to learn from those you support and to use that to inform future work.
• Well organised with excellent time management skills, able to arrange and manage workload demands, determine priority tasks, meet tight deadlines and achieve goals.
• Comprehensive IT skills, to include use of Microsoft office and Foundations based Case Manager system to be able to make the most effective use of IT systems with attention to detail.
• Ability to collect data, produce case studies and reports.
• The ability to access appropriate resources for evidence-based practice.
• Demonstrable commitment to equality and diversity and a genuine desire to help people with disabilities and/or support needs.
• Fully understand relationships between work processes and the organisation and their impact on work; uses this knowledge in own area to improve work process.

Behaviours

• Ability to work as part of a team and build and maintain effective and supportive relationships with peers and partners.
• The capability to listen to the individual s expressed preferences and choice with respect for their values.
• Ability to carry out person centred assessments of the individual s perceived difficulties/needs.
• Able to communicate effectively with clients, team, stakeholders and partner organisations both verbally and in writing using easy to understand plain English.