Peer Support Practitioner - Housing First Consortium Glasgow

Glasgow
Housing First Consortium
Homelessness & Prevention
Peer Worker
 
£18,278 - £19,662

Job Purposes & Core Details

To:

  1. work to the service and organisation's aims and values and promote the citizenship of the people we support.
  2. deliver support to people who use Turning Point Scotland's services and in so doing contribute to the provision of the highest possible quality of social care support which meets the service specification.
  3. provide an insight into the process of recovery and to share experiences in a postive way which assists the people we support.
  4. operate at an established level of social care practice or engaged moving towards established.
  5. work to the company's values - Because People Matter
  6. undertake CPD (continuous professional development with the support of your line manager and use appraisals and supervision fully.
  7. keep your registration and membership to relevant professional bodies up to date and valid.
  8. undertake any outstanding require qualification for registration, or if not working in a registered service qualify at the minimum of SVQ level 2 in Health and Social Care.
  9. undertake any other duties or responsibilities as may be deemed appropriate to the post by the Service Manager (or nominated deputy).
  10. Provide, prompt, administer medication and healthcare & wellbeing support as required

Main duties and responsibilities

Support to people who use services - To:

  • provide support and assistance to people who we support in accordance with their support plans and service aims and to provide insight into the process of recovery through the sharing of experience in a positive way.
  • assist with initial and on-going assessments of people who we support.
  • advise people who we support in accordance with guidance from senior colleagues or in accordance with the service aims.
  • be a key worker as required.
  • maintain professional confidentiality and boundaries at all times.
  • support and assist people who we support in crisis situations, and/or manage physical risk or behaviour likely to cause incidents, in accordance with the support plan or service protocol.
  • travel within the service area you are contracted for and supporting the travel and transportation of people who we support in accordance with their support plan (mobility, own car, service vehicles, public transport etc).
  • have an understanding of the causes and effects of social exclusion as is relevant to the service and area in which you work.

Planning, policies and record keeping - To:

  • devise, review and update support plans, record events and observations and keep appropriate records as require in the service.
  • attend and contribute to service user reviews often as a key worker or as required.
  • co-ordinate elements of support in accordance with the support plan.
  • follow risk management plans, and follow and update risk assessments.
  • work with data in line with the data protection act.
  • work with and comply with standard operation (finance, operational, Health and Safety and Human Resources) and service procedures. 

Interactions with other people - To:

  • administer or prompting medication and ensure that medication protocols are adhered to.
  • support or buddy new staff and volunteers/those on placement to show them how your practice complies with the SSSC Codes of Practice.
  • have a collegiate approach, ask when you need support or guidance and team work with a diverse group of people.
  • manage and resolve conflict promptly and raise issues appropriately using the correct internal processes.
  • directly communicate with the families of the people we support as appropriate.
  • liaise with workers from other agencies when requested to do so by senior colleagues.
  • work in accordance with the service, meeting the relevant legislation and National Care Standards.
  • liaise with landlords and similar others on behalf of people who we support when requested to do so by senior colleagues.
  • maintain confidentiality with shared information.
  • be aware of health and safety and contribute fully to keeping my work environment, community, people who use services and myself safe.

Leadership - To:

  • provide leadership through expressing and working to sound values and advocating for revovery and pathways to recovery
  • provide buddying or informal coaching to new staff.
  • support the delivery of a specific part of the service such as group work.
  • continuously contribute to service development and improvement.
  • contribute to Turning Point Scotland.
  • keep abreast of changes or sector requirements that are relevant to you.
  • appropriately challenge oppressive or potentially abusive behaviours or practices and report any concerns quickly to senior colleagues.

Miscellaneous - applies only in certain services

  • to undertake sleepovers, overnight and weekends working and occasionally participate in people who we support holiday's as required.
  • to undertake training that may be technical or specialised that will benefit the service.
  • to perform lone working.

About TPS
TPS works with adults who are experiencing a range of support needs.  This includes housing and homelessness, learning disability, autism, acquired brain injury, fluctuating mental health, physical disabilities, problematic alcohol and/or other drug use and involvement in the criminal justice system. We believe that people matter. We believe they are the experts on their support needs. It is for us to work creatively with them and with partners to ensure we meet those needs. 
Every day we work with well over 4,000 people and every year around 8,700.  We help them to address issues they are experiencing and recognise their own skills and interests. 
We embed our approach to support in a framework of Citizenship. Using this we deliver a holistic approach promoting the recovery, self-determination and inclusion of people experiencing challenges in their life.  And we do this through focusing on their strengths and the valuable contributions they can make to their communities. 
We define Citizenship as a measure of the strength of an individual’s connection to the 5 R’s of rights, responsibilities, roles, resources, and relationships that society makes available to its members. 

Homelessness work within TPS
TPS is the biggest provider of services to people experiencing or at risk of Homelessness across Scotland. We deliver support to over 2800 individuals on any given day, and over 5,100 each year. This number increases when taking into account our services accessed through Justice or Alcohol and Other Drugs funding streams.
We believe that in many cases, Homelessness is entirely preventable.  It is failures in the siloed and complex systems that we have designed to protect people that stops us from achieving this. Where Homelessness is not or cannot be, prevented the experience should be short lived, and we should meet that with a psychologically informed response. A menu of options should be available to individuals to prevent, or support someone to move on from Homelessness.  This ensures we use a ‘no wrong door’ approach to accessing services.
We deliver a range of service models.  These include Outreach Housing Support; Outreach Housing First; Outreach Crisis Support; Supported Accommodation. In line with our Citizenship approach we have a specific focus on key areas.  These are; Building on people’s strengths, skills and interests as well as meeting their needs; Connecting people to communities, people and / or places; Harm reduction and / or Recovery; and providing a Psychologically informed / Trauma informed approach.
We also deliver a range of additional services across the country.  Examples include Peer Mentoring services, Community Connectors, TPS Moving Service and TPS Connects amongst many other initiatives.
We recognise the importance of animals in people’s lives and helping individuals move on from the trauma they have experienced. We are currently developing our policies and frameworks to engage with stakeholders and develop our policy and procedures to make our services as pet friendly as possible.
We are also active members of the European Federation of National Organisations with the Homeless (FEANTSA).

Service Model - Outreach Housing First
In 2010 TPS invested in the UK’s first Housing First pilot project. This was in response to the clear evidence that there was a small population who were experiencing multiple and enduring support needs and were being failed – and worse, increasingly traumatised – by the homelessness system that is supposed to help them. Since then we have grown our services across multiple local authorities including Consortium partnerships with other agencies. We believe that a home is a human right and that an individual is best placed to deal with the issues that often made them homeless in the first place, in a place they can call home. We believe that Housing First should be the default model for people who are experiencing homelessness and have multiple and enduring support needs. We believe strongly on delivering Housing First with high fidelity to the 7 principles and working towards ensuring we deliver Systems Fidelity within the wider systems that Housing First effects or is effected by. We deliver the Housing First Academy focussed on the Communities of Practice Hub, Training Hub and Housing First Europe Hub www.housingfirstacademy.com We are also active co-founding members of the Housing First Europe Hub

About the Service
The consortium is a Housing First service within Glasgow. Housing First has been recognised by the Scottish Government as an effective way to deal with those who have been long term homeless with multiple and complex needs. Turning Point Scotland is the lead partner in the consortium and work in partnership with Glasgow City Council HSCP (health and social care partnership), Simon Community Scotland, Wheatley Care and The Salvation Army.

The premise of Housing First is that housing is a basic human right and is an integral part of a holistic support package offered to individuals.

Housing First is designed for individuals over 18 years of age who are statutory homeless with multiple and complex needs; however they still want to have a tenancy of their own. The individual will be striving to gain independent living, but requires housing support.  Support staff will provide support on the maintenance of a tenancy, addiction, mental health, social inclusion, life skills and employability. This support is non time limited. The service will act on the seven principles identified for a Housing First service. 

The service is based in Kintyre House 209 Govan Road and support is available on a 24/7 basis, with the office being staffed from 9am to 7.30pm. After hours service users are able to receive support from our “On Call” service which h is for advice and information in emergencies. 

The service is person centred with the individual choosing their own priorities in their recovery and flexibility in support.

SVQ 2 Social Care

SVQ 3 Social Care

Essential Criteria

Qualifications:

  • A willingness to complete a qualification in Social Service and Health Care at level 6 or 7 (SCQF) or other speciality recognised by the SSSC for registration purposes and if not already registered, to register with the SSSC within the timescale required, where relevant. 

Experience:

  • Have relevant lived experience
  • Has experience of undertaking tasks in a lone working environment and/or with independence and initiative.
  • Has experience, personal, voluntary or professional of providing social care type supports to an individual in their own home or in a social care, school or community setting. This may be informal.



Values:

  • Must be able to demonstrate an understanding and commitment to the values that underpin social care focussing on inclusion, person centred approaches and citizenship.
  • Must be able to demonstrate an understanding of the need to maintain professional boundaries and apply disclosure when working with individuals
  • Must be able to be wholly respectful towards all service users and colleagues and address issues constructively

Experience:

  • Has experience of providing direct supports to people who use social care services.
  • Has experience of working with people who have barriers to social inclusion and supporting them to become more socially integrated
  • Has direct experience of working with people who are at times chaotic and marginalised, whose behaviours can challenge services , and supporting them to become more socially integrated and able to access services.
  • Has experience of working in an environment where the SSC Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers is adhered to.

Other skill and knowledge

  • Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the SSSC Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers

We are a large, stable national provider and a charity. As we are not for profit there is ongoing investment into our staff training and development, a good GPP pension scheme, and annual leave and sick pay that significantly exceeds the statutory minimum.

We also have a brilliant employee assistance programme (independent advice, information and support online, by phone and in person), a group reward scheme to help your money go further and access to a contributory ‘hospital’ fund. We have a relationship with a credit union and promote saving directly from salary.

We aim to provide a working environment where opinions and ideas are valued and arrangements are in place to ensure that there is a high level of staff representation and that people are encouraged to make their views heard and to participate at service and organisational levels.

As a leading national social care provider our breakthrough and forward-thinking models of practice and service are well recognised. Examples of this recently have been: Housing First, Psychologically informed environments (PIE), Citizenship and both Scottish and International research and evaluation of a range of projects. We work across a wide range of types of services and the organisation provides pathways for development: a career development workshop; appraisal; learning and training options; internal forums and project groups; and opportunities for internal secondment, temporary acting up or sideways roles and career progression.

The salary scale for the post will be (reduced pro rata for part time posts, the full time equivalent is a 37 working hour week)

  • £18,278
  • £18,498
  • £18,691
  • £19,183
  • £19,662

The annual leave entitlement will be (reduced pro rata for part time posts and will include a proportional entitlement to public holidays)

25 days per year, plus 8 public holidays and 2 local holidays.

You have to demonstrate a period of recovery capital.

We have an exciting opportunity for an individual who has the skills and values to become a Peer Support Worker. It is essential that all candidates have Personal Lived Experience of Homelessness, Alcohol / Other Drugs or Mental Health Issues. By this we mean that you must have experienced the above mentioned directly yourself, not through someone else.

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Should you have any queries, please call our freephone recruitment line on 0808 164 3100.


This opportunity is closed to applications.