Tenancy Support Practitioner

Job Title:	Tenancy Support Practitioner
Responsible to:	Housing Services Manager
Responsible for:	N/A
Hours of Work:	37.5 hrs per week
Location:	YMCA Together – across various Supported Living locations across Liverpool City Region
Salary and benefits:	£25,177 Holiday entitlement is 25 days plus bank holidays Company Contributory Pension Scheme

 

YMCA Together is a registered charity and company Limited by Guarantee. We were founded in 1846 and so we build on a long history of providing a place for people experiencing challenging times in their lives.

YMCA Together is a truly value driven organisation.

Our vision is that everyone should feel safe, understood, empowered and positive for their future. We meet our vision by working within our values of Strength, Humility, Respect, Empathy and Kindness. These SHREK values run through all that we do from recruitment to how we work alongside people in our services to our partnership approach with other providers.

Our clear vision and values come together to help us in our mission to inspire and support people to change their lives by instilling hope, valuing the person and maximising potential.

                                                             

Job Purpose

Deliver a comprehensive time bound outreach support service to tenants across YMCA Together’s Supported Living properties, enabling them to sustain their tenancy, maximise their potential, build social capital, self-efficacy and secure longer-term accommodation.

Hours of work

The post holder will be working based on the individual needs of the service and could include early, late or office hours type shifts. Monday to Friday including some bank holidays.

Duties and Responsibilities

To support YMCA Together Supported Living Tenants to sustain their existing tenancies through direct intervention providing an outreach support service to people who have experienced homelessness and are now living in our Supported Living Accommodation to further developed skills and assets to enable fully independent living in the future. To tenants with relevant advice, information and refer and signpost to appropriate external and internal support services, as required.

The post-holder will work with the Housing Services Manager and the Housing Officer to provide a service to tenants, assessing and coordinating internal and external services around them to meet their varied needs. This will be achieved by working in a way that shows genuine commitment to enabling people to build social capital and secure long-term accommodation.

Duties

• To provide structured support to people who have experienced homelessness to understand their tenancy responsibilities and support them to develop effective strategies to manage those responsibilities
• To proactively find workable solutions to tenancy sustainment issues as they arise, working with other agencies, teams or services to achieve them
• To support tenants, find permanent independent accommodation when they are ready to move on through Property pool Plus/private lets etc
• Maintain a high level of personal contact with tenants to maximise engagement and minimise breaches of tenancy, whilst ensuring a caring, response, tenant focused service is delivered in keeping with YMCA Together SHREK values (Strength, Humility, Respect, Empathy and Kindness)
• Provide comprehensive advice and guidance to tenants, identify support needs and any gaps in service provision, carry out initial assessments of a tenants needs and agree plans which are person centred and focus on achieving positive outcomes
• To develop Support Plans with tenants to identify their needs, aspirations and goals and to regularly review support plans with tenants
• To support tenants to manage their finances, including ensuring people have the right benefits and financial support, budgeting and managing any debts and unexpected expenses
• To support tenants to look after their own health and wellbeing, including enabling people to take care of themselves and staying well, being able to manage day to day tasks, eating well and taking regular exercise
• To support tenants to make meaningful use of their time, including supporting people to get involved with volunteering and community projects, educational courses and hobbies, sports or cultural activities
• With tenants’ agreement, liaise with other agencies to facilitate access to support, including recovery services, offending, criminal justice, health, housing, mental health, domestic abuse, welfare, housing benefits, debt services, child and adult protection, employment, training and volunteering
• To document all contact made on Supported Housing Management system (DAVE) within agreed timeframes.

Health and Safety

• Liaise with Emergency Services; Fire, Police and Medical as required
• Ensure at all times the safety of yourself and others on the premises in which you work
• To carry out a risk assessment with each tenant that highlights any risks to themselves, their tenancy or others – reviewed at appropriate timescales
• To report incidents, in line with YMCA Together tenancy agreement, including nuisance caused by residents’ behaviour or their visitors
• Report any repairs, maintenance, health & safety hazards, tenant enquiries, breaches of tenancy, safeguarding or vulnerability that are identified during day-to-day activities
• Maintain accurate records in line with YMCA Together Health and Safety policies.

Teamwork

• Attend and participate in team meetings and reflection meetings
• Sharing information and expertise with colleagues, covering absence and working together to deliver a high-quality service
• To have a flexible and positive attitude to all team members
• To be committed to learning both as an individual and as part of a team.

General

• Prioritise workload
• To work to agreed individual, team and organisational objectives and to work towards YMCA Together performance targets
• Uphold YMCA Together Equal Opportunities Policy of anti-discriminatory practices across all services
• Observe and ensure compliance with the Service Code of Conduct including professional boundaries and confidentiality at all times
• Prepare for and attend supervision and appraisal sessions with your line manager, taking direction as appropriate and contributing to the development of both you and the service
• A designated car user status has been attached to this post.

Relationships

The post holder will be required to have contact with a variety of people during the course of their work.

This job description is not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post, and the post holder will be required to undertake other duties appropriate to the grade and character of the work as directed.

The job description will be reviewed at least once a year and it may be subject to modification or amendment at any time after consultation with the post holder.

The duties may be varied to meet the changing demands of the organisation at the reasonable discretion of YMCA Together.

 

Person Specification – Tenancy Support Practitioner  

	Essential	Desirable
Qualifications	Qualification or working experience in homelessness, problematic substance use, domestic abuse, tenancy support, mental health or offending   Full driver’s licence and have access to use of a car with “business use” insurance	An appropriate and relevant qualification. E.g. in Housing Support; Money Advice; Social Work; Health Service & Welfare; or working towards such a qualification
Experiences	The capability to work independently and the motivation to work with resistant and chaotic individuals and households Experience of dealing with the public in stressful situations, by telephone, letter or in person Excellent communication skills – both written and verbal. Keeping accurate records relating to tenants and service provision The necessary skills to complete support plans, support contracts and risk assessments. Ability to prioritise a busy and ever-changing workload	The confidence and experience to challenge decisions in the best interest of the tenant
Knowledge	Experience of working with individuals with a history of homelessness Able to maintain confidentiality Ability to manage time effectively Able to use initiative to deal with unexpected problems Work individually or as part of a team effectively and supportively	A solid working knowledge of safeguarding adults and children, as well as experience of working with victims of domestic violence
Skills	Able to manage a high and varied workload Well organised and methodical approach to work Good attention to detail Desire to deliver a high-quality service Flexibility in response to the changing demands of the post Willingness to take responsibility for standard of work	Computer literate, competent in working with Microsoft word, outlook, windows
Behaviour/ Attributes	Passionate about people, with the ability to communicate effectively with service users, staff and visitors. Committed to own personal development the ability to “think outside of the box” when providing solutions Energetic, highly motivated with a good sense of humour Ability to work within and have a commitment to YMCA ethos, philosophy and values Able to work effectively on own or as part of a team

YMCA Together does not accept C.Vs. All applications must be made using the YMCA Together application form. To download the application form please click HERE.

To apply, please email your completed application form to recruitment@ymcatogether.org.uk