Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker (Housing Options)

About the role:

Horsham District Council is looking for a Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker (Housing Options) to work within Horsham District Council’s solution-focused housing service.

It’s an exciting time to join the Council’s Housing team as the Rough Sleeping Outreach service is coming in-house; this is an opportunity to be involved in embedding the outreach team in the wider housing service as we make progressive steps towards preventing homelessness and supporting people to stay in their homes. Where households become homeless, we are pro-active in finding solutions to resolve their housing needs which could be through supported accommodation, private rented accommodation and the use of the Council’s housing register to nominate to registered providers of social housing.

As a Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker, you will be responsible for providing rapid identification, verification and assessments of those who are rough sleeping in an outreach setting. You will work with those that are rough sleeping, homeless or may be vulnerably housed, including those that have complex needs such as substance misuse and mental health, with the focus on relief from homelessness and empowering clients to access support services, ensuring all rough sleepers have a support plan around prevention comprehensive, high quality prevention outcomes. As a Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker, you will respond to street links and other reports of rough sleepers, including reports from members of the public and other agencies. This role involves working in an assertive outreach capacity with a commitment to prevention and reducing the numbers of people rough sleeping which includes investigating homelessness applications made under the terms of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002, Localism Act 2011 and Homelessness Reduction Act 2017).

You will support the delivery of the severe weather emergency protocol (SWEP) to ensure the Council’s duties are met in a cost-effective way and therefore you will possess the ability to work early mornings, evenings and weekends.

About you:

To succeed as Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker, you will have experience of completing needs assessments and creating support plans. Experience working with individuals with complex needs including trauma, addiction, mental and physical, health, exclusion, and multiple disadvantages is required. You will work with individuals who may be reluctant to engage with services and therefore key interpersonal skills such as empathy, persistence and rapport-building are required to foster trust. Knowledge of health and safety issues is essential, including the ability to identify safeguarding concerns and complete referrals to the relevant organisation. You will also have the ability to administer naloxone overdose medication. As a Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker you must possess the ability to work as part of a team and on your own initiative whilst following lone working practices. This role requires travelling around the District, therefore a full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential.

DBS

Due to the nature of this role it is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and is subject to enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance.

About us:

We have a friendly and supportive working environment and being a smaller Council, you can really get to know everybody.

We encourage and support our employees to have a healthy work life balance by offering 28 days’ (207.2 hours) annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata), and flexible/hybrid working options where applicable.

We offer a generous benefits package including an online platform offering discounts from online retailers and access to a car lease scheme. Staff are also eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), where the Council contributes circa 20% of pensionable salary.

To support employees’ professional development the Council provides reimbursement for professional subscriptions and a number of training opportunities, including extensive in-house learning resources, short courses, Apprenticeships, and qualifications such as Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Visit our Jobs and careers page to find out more about Working for Horsham District Council and Our employment commitments.

To apply:

If you would like to apply for the role, we highly recommend you show clearly within the ‘Experience Section’ of the application form how you meet the essential criteria detailed within the Role Profile when applying. If you do not make this clear, it is unlikely you will be shortlisted for interview.

Internal applicants, if you would like to apply for the role, please submit an expression of interest to HR@horsham.gov.uk explaining clearly how you meet the criteria and what you feel you can bring to the role.