Job Purpose
To provide high-quality, person-centred outreach support to young people aged 16–17 and care leavers living in supported accommodation or independent settings. The Outreach Support Worker will promote safety, wellbeing, independence, resilience, and positive outcomes in line with each young person's Pathway Plan, Support Plan, Risk Assessment, and Local Authority requirements.
The post holder will support young people within their own accommodation and local communities, helping them develop practical life skills, prepare for adulthood, sustain tenancies, and achieve positive outcomes. All support will be delivered in accordance with the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023, safeguarding legislation, company policies, and best practice guidance.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Supporting Young People
- Promote young people's rights, dignity, privacy, choice, independence, and participation.
- Support young people to achieve positive outcomes identified within their Pathway Plan, Support Plan, Education, Employment and Training (EET) plans, and personal goals.
- Support young people to develop independent living skills, including budgeting, cooking, healthy living, cleaning, personal care, shopping, appointment management, travel training, tenancy sustainment, and accessing community resources.
- Support young people to engage in education, employment, training, volunteering, and positive community activities.
- Promote physical health, emotional wellbeing, mental health awareness, and healthy lifestyles.
- Build positive relationships using trauma-informed, restorative, and strengths-based approaches.
- Ensure young people understand their rights, responsibilities, safeguarding procedures, complaints processes, and available support services.
- Conduct regular support sessions, welfare visits, and property visits in accordance with support plans and local authority requirements.
Safeguarding Responsibilities
- Safeguard young people from abuse, neglect, exploitation, radicalisation, discrimination, and significant harm.
- Identify, record, report, and respond to safeguarding concerns, including Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE), County Lines activity, missing episodes, contextual safeguarding concerns, online risks, self-harm, substance misuse, mental health concerns, domestic abuse, and peer-on-peer abuse.
- Follow safeguarding, missing person, and emergency procedures, escalating concerns appropriately and without delay.
- Contribute to risk assessments and ensure risk management plans are implemented and reviewed regularly.
Recording, Reporting and Communication
- Maintain accurate, professional, and timely records using the organisation's digital recording systems.
- Complete support session notes, welfare visit records, property inspection records, daily logs, incident reports, and safeguarding records within required timescales.
- Produce and submit weekly progress reports to allocated social workers.
- Prepare and contribute to three-monthly progress reports for Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs), social workers, Personal Advisers, and other relevant professionals.
- Attend and actively contribute to CIC Reviews, PEP Meetings, Pathway Plan Reviews, social worker visits, professionals' meetings, and other multi-agency meetings.
- Maintain effective communication with young people, colleagues, social workers, Personal Advisers, healthcare professionals, education providers, and external agencies.
- Respond to professional emails, telephone calls, and requests for information promptly, professionally, and within required timescales.
- Support young people to maintain safe and positive relationships with family, friends, and peers, and encourage participation in community activities and social networks, in line with their support plans and assessed levels of risk.
Property and Community Support
- Conduct regular health and safety checks, welfare visits, and property inspections to ensure young people are living in safe and suitable accommodation.
- Support young people to maintain their accommodation, manage utilities, understand tenancy responsibilities, and develop skills for independent living.
- Report maintenance concerns, property issues, health and safety risks, and safeguarding concerns promptly through the appropriate channels.
Professional Practice
- Work positively and collaboratively with colleagues, parents of the young person (family) and partner agencies to achieve positive outcomes for young people. Attend team meetings, supervision sessions, appraisals, briefings, and mandatory training.
- Maintain professional boundaries, confidentiality, and high standards of conduct always.
- Participate in continuous professional development and maintain mandatory training compliance.
- Work flexibly, including evenings, weekends, and bank holidays, according to service needs.
- Undertake any other duties reasonably required within the scope of the role.
Pay: £14.50 per hour
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Birmingham, West Midlands: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (preferred)
Education:
- GCSE or equivalent (preferred)
Experience:
- support worker: 1 year (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
- Driving Licence (preferred)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (preferred)
Location:
- Birmingham, West Midlands (preferred)
Willingness to travel:
Work Location: In person
