Job title: Outreach Worker
Responsible to: Service Manager
Location: Worthing, West Sussex
Salary: £24,787.50 per annum
Hours: Full-time, Mon-Fri 37.5 hpw
Annual leave: 30 days including Bank Holidays pa
about asphaleia
asphaleia started with four staff all sharing a passion for meeting the needs of children and young people and a willingness to take a risk!
From those beginnings, asphaleia now comprises a limited company and a registered international charity. These operate as four ventures. We use the word venture because it carries the sense of adventure that has led us on our unique and fascinating journey. The three different ventures sitting within the company are; care, fostering and training. asphaleia action, our charity has been pioneering new projects to meet ever increasing needs of young people both in the UK and internationally for almost 20 years.
our mission
The asphaleia mission is simple – to impact as many lives of children and young people who have experienced disadvantage as we can. We believe it is a simple, but very powerful mission that drives forward every aspect of our delivery and ensures we place children and young people at the heart of everything we do.
our values
Our values are summed up by three simple principles and these, when in action, create the asphaleia way of doing things.
When working with children and young people, other professionals or colleagues we believe service and co-operation can only begin to be achieved to a high standard by considering the world of others.
However, we believe it is not enough to solely believe the world of others matters – this is only a starting place. The asphaleia group believe in demonstrating our value of those we deliver services to, those who pay for our services and those we work with in every possible way.
Finally, we believe we should aim to do everything well. We realise excellence is a journey and not a finitely achievable thing. Therefore even when we have done something well we should then aim to do it even better!
what we can offer you
- We are proud to be an Investor in People.
- We are committed to ongoing personal development for all staff.
- We are proud to an accredited Living Wage employer
- Joining a pension scheme.
- Cycle-to-work scheme.
- We have a social committee led by staff who organise socials for all asphaleia employees.
about asphaleia care
Providing high quality accommodation, outreach and support services for young people living across Sussex and Brighton & Hove. asphaleia care is the longest running venture at asphaleia.
The team supports professionals working with young people aged 16-24, focusing on their wellbeing, welfare and skills development to aid successful transition into adulthood and independent living. We also offer Independent Visitor Services and Specialist Services with particular expertise with UASC (unaccompanied asylum seeking children).
We are committed to making a positive difference to young people who are facing a period of change, uncertainty or are in need of support from a significant adult.
about the role
As Outreach Worker, you will be working with vulnerable young people, supporting them with independent living skills development. You will be required to safeguard and support the young people with key work sessions, be a guardian of the property, facilitate the house clean at all times, support the young people with their day to day routine, support the young people to adhere to the house rules and enabling the young person’s to support their independent and individual lifestyles.
Key Responsibilities
Delivery
- Deliver care support to all young people being supported by care team; make a positive transition into adulthood, improve young people’s chances to progress successfully through education to employment and reduce the number of young people dropping out, acquiring the skills to live independently, support service users to make positive, informed choices about their lives
- Provide outreach support to young people referred by social services and allocated by the Service Coordinator; working with individual young people helping to meet their learning, personal and social needs, helping young people to use information services for young people
- Adhere to outcome targets set by the Service Coordinator; work to targets and individual strategies to maintain continued engagement of service users and completion of targets
- Contribute to the provision of homes for marginalised young people: establishing a safe, warm and comfortable environment
- Promote harmonious living within the homes through group events i.e. participation in house meetings, shared mealtimes, shared living/cleaning practises
- Report maintenance issues according to service practices
- Encourage and equip the young people through ILS training programme e.g. Housemate, Flatmate – to maintain good living standards
- Promote independence via information, advice and guidance; working with individuals assessing independent living skills, creating learning opportunities to develop service users independence skills, introduce/signpost service users to local services and resources
- Assist in overcoming any barriers service users may face by offering information, advice, advocacy and practical support and by brokering access
- Maintain a caseload of individual referrals; complete all tasks identified in referral and in reviews to the agreed standard and timescale
- Accompany service users to meetings as appropriate
- Produce reports for social services routinely and ad hoc for caseload
- Participate in the collection of service users feedback
- Work with other professionals to ensure timely and appropriate progression into independent living accommodation; finding appropriate local accommodation, support recording and reporting completion, supports moving in, settling in, track for initial period as agreed.
Quality
- Uphold staff protocols; engage in improving the quality of care provision; be proactive in matters relating to health and safety and child protection, attend and participate effectively in supervision, team meetings and staff days being supportive of other team members; shows proactive initiatives in problem solving; support and participate as required in all new staff induction programmes
- Maintain/produce data reports for internal and external purposes as agreed
- Maintain data management of all information regarding services users in line with Data Protection and asphaleia policies; storage, retention, archive and access to information
- Deliver recording of information and activities according to the standards set by asphaleia and managed by the Service Coordinator; use of appropriate paperwork, service users files timely, legible, presented to a high standard, all reporting is of the standard and timeframe required.
- Represent asphaleia and set a good example in terms of dress, punctuality and attendance, uphold the organisations behaviour practises; maintain professional relationships with staff, service users and external companies/other professionals
- Observing asphaleia’s equal opportunities policy act as a personal advocate and intermediary where young people are prevented from progressing due to ethnic background, gender, sexuality, learning difficulty, disability, lack of confidence, motivation or any other factor. Foster awareness in young people of ways to combat racism, stereotyping, bullying and discrimination
- Implement all policies and procedures in relation to caring for young people including all required reporting e.g. ensure house rules are understood and adhered to, addressing and resolving problems as they arise, incident reporting is effective and timely
- Maintain regular and consistent contact with young people, be encouraging and inspirational, providing personal support to young people, particularly during periods of transition or crisis, arranging and ensuring appropriate assistance from specialist professional and voluntary services for young people, in accordance with the assessed needs of the individual
- Monitor attendance, punctuality and engagement of service users in all aspects of the activities and interventions provided by the role
Development
- Liaise with other asphaleia staff in other locations as directed by the Service Coordinator
- Fully engage and participate in team meetings with colleagues, managers and senior leadership team as appropriate
- Seek to improve the service provision within the venture
- Be proactive and innovative in devising new methods of working with service users
- Develop relationships with other professionals; local organisations, agencies and colleges to support the service to service users
- To fully participate in creative meetings and discussions towards development
- Identify resources to meet the needs of the service users and communicate with the Service Coordinator regarding their potential introduction
- Initiate, develop, produce new document practises to enhance the provision
- To respond to service and organisational changes as required
- Implement any agreed developments as directed by the Service Coordinator
Finance
- Implement financial policy and practise as managed by the Service Coordinator
- Engage in dialogue and action in regards to good financial management decision with the Service Coordinator
- Be economical with resources to improve financial impact of your department e.g. photocopying, printing, etc.
- Ensure all relevant and appropriate expenses are authorised for you by the Service Coordinator in a timely manner
- Comply with the finance policy in relation to petty cash and staff expense procedure
- Maintain information and records of all work undertaken for audit purposes
- Liaise with other professionals regarding reimbursements where appropriate
- To be responsible for any required reporting as agreed with your line-manager
- Manage Petty Cash and receipts system as required
- Complete and submit all receipts on a weekly basis when required
- Participate in managing a house keeping budget, purchasing food and household items.
Person Specification
Qualifications & Experience
- Minimum 5 GCSEs or equivalent (Grade A-C) including Maths and English
- Qualification related to youth work or health care
- Experience maintaining accurate records, paying attention to detail and meeting deadlines
- Experience of working with young people in either an educational or care setting
- Experience of working on own initiative and effectively prioritising workload
- Knowledge and experience of working with young people from diverse backgrounds and with various needs
Skills and knowledge
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills e.g. the ability to adapt communication according to setting or person.
- Energetic approach to work
- Solution-focused
- Knowledge and commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young people
- Technical skills including proficiency with Microsoft Office
- Ability to manage caseload
- Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
- Enthusiasm and capacity to engage with people at all levels
The asphaleia Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Successful applicants are recruited according to safer recruitment practices and required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and other vetting checks.
Safeguarding responsibilities for this role are detailed in the job description and person specification.
asphaleia is an equal opportunities employer.
At asphaleia, we take your data privacy very seriously. We will keep your personal information for recruitment purposes only and we will not share it with anyone else. We would like to keep this data until our open role is filled. When that period is over, we will either delete your data or gain your consent for keeping it in our database for future roles.
To apply, please email us to express your interest in receiving a job application pack which includes:
- Request for an up to date CV including explanation of any gaps inbetween employment and education
- Application form
- Job Description and Person Specification which includes safeguarding responsibilities
- Employment monitoring form
- Organisaiton Child Protection policy and practices
- Organisation policy and practices on the employment of ex-offenders
- Relevant forms to be returned within 7 working days unless otherwise stated.
- Please note CVs alone will not be accepted. All applications must be supported by a completed application form and up to date CV.
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time
Pay: £24,787.50 per year
Work Location: In person
