Support Worker Independent Living and Life Skills (18546)

Would you like to be involved in this unique opportunity to support Children and Young People in Swansea?, Barnardo's Swansea delivers a number of services supporting care experienced young people and young people at risk of homelessness aged 15 to 25 to:

• Access support when in crisis


• Identify accommodation options suitable for them


• Understand the realities of living independently


• Develop key independent living and life skills as they transition to adulthood


• Build their confidence and self-esteem through social inclusion


Our services include:

• Youth Homelessness Prevention


• Bloom - Life coaching and befriending


• Supported Lodgings


• Transition and Training Flats Service - independent living experiences and life skills support


As part of the Transition Training Flat Service you will undertake direct, planned and structured one to one and group sessions with young people. Working toward distinct outcomes you will support young people to reach their person-centred goals in a trauma-informed way.

Key elements of the service include:

• Group work promoting independent living skills to young people in preparation for their 'move on' housing options. This will include delivering accredited Independent Living Skills programmes, facilitating visits to accommodation providers, as well as providing opportunities to develop practical skills such as cooking, budgeting, cleaning and bill paying in a home environment


• Support for those at risk of homelessness or those at risk of placement breakdown, for young people aged 16+. This is targeted one-to-one support for those young people who may be experiencing instability in their accommodation or placement.


• This service will provide young people aged 16+ with an independent living experience in order for them to better understand their accommodation needs and options. Intensive individual support will be provided to those young people accessing the training flats (includes evening and weekend working).


What does the Job Role involve?

Your duties will include:

• This service provides support to young people from 9am until 8pm Monday to Friday and from 10am until 6pm on weekends.


• The service requires flexibility of work as we support young people around their needs. This means rota working including the evenings and weekends.


• Working with young people and professionals to develop agreed support plans.


• Delivering accredited group work programmes in the areas of Independent living and tenancy readiness.


• Visiting and supporting service users in their placements providing support to young people and their carers.


• Visiting young people accessing the training flats on a regular, planned basis. Undertaking entry/exit tasks, safety and welfare checks as well as responding to emergencies and crises that may arise within service hours.


• Supporting young people to ensure they are aware of their accommodation options and entitlements in readiness for move on. This will include assisting young people to complete benefit applications, offering support through appeals as well as supporting service administrators with the monitoring of data.


• Supporting young people to integrate into their communities and to encourage participation in community events and activities.


• Tracking a young person's support journey through the use of outcomes scoring. To discuss, score and record outcomes, implementing a young person-centred approach.
  
  Knowledge of the issues affecting young people particularly those who have been 'looked after', are care leavers, or are homeless/threatened with homelessness.


• Experience of direct work with young people in a relevant setting.


• Experience of creating tailored support plans with young people and demonstrating the positive outcomes achieved.


• Experience of delivering group based sessions such as issue-based workshops and independent living skills programmes.


• Experience of managing a workload and prioritising competing demands


• The ability to travel independently to meet the requirements of the post.
  
  We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.


For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out 1st April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a key pillar of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to grow and develop in their career at Barnardo's as it will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues to progress through the pay band of their role., At Barnardo's we believe in children - no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is reflected in our values and our practice, and we have invested in this area of our work to ensure that we can deliver on our commitments to be an inclusive employer. EDI is a key enabler of our purpose as a charity and we want to ensure that the diversity of our teams is reflective of the communities we serve and that we continue to learn and develop our work with a focus on inclusion. We particularly encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic Communities, candidates who are LGBT+ and Disabled candidates.

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.


• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service


• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme


• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options


• Service related sick pay from day 1


• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution


• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension


• Cycle2work scheme


• Interest free season ticket loans


• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal


• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores


• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc


• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support


• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer