Senior Recovery Worker - Intensive

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Senior Recovery Worker - Intensive

Department: Operations

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: NIHCSS Specialist Housing Related Support

Reporting To: Jon Kingham

Compensation: GBP 26,510 - GBP 27,965 / year

Description

37.5 HOURS PER WEEK - MONDAY TO FRIDAY
NO SHIFT WORK
NO PERSONAL CARE

Are you adaptable, conscientious, enthusiastic, self-motivated and have a passion for other people's welfare, needs, wants, interests and goals?

Are you keen to find a challenging position within a forward-thinking organisation where you can increase your experience and develop within a supportive team?

Do you have a desire to make a genuine difference to the lives of people with complex mental health needs?

If the answer is YES, then you have found the right role for you!

The Norfolk Integrated Housing and Community Support Service (NIHCSS) is a partnership between Together and St Martins Housing. NIHCSS supports adults (aged over 18) with severe and enduring mental health needs, including individuals with complex needs.

Due to promotion of the current postholder, we have a rare opportunity within our Intensive team, working with the most complex clients within our service.

As an Intensive Recovery Worker, you will provide support to people through a recovery-focused approach, promoting independence and move-on to more independent settings in the community. You will have skills in positive communication and engagement, and be able to demonstrate unconditional positive regard for the people we support.

We provide an inclusive and supportive environment for all our staff where our team are driven to stay and grow.

Please note: You must be able to drive and have access to a vehicle as the role involves working in the community, in and around Norwich, and you will be required to take clients to appointments. Mileage expenses are paid.

Key Responsibilities

Delivering Support

General Responsibilities

• Support individuals with mental health and complex needs to engage in the service and to achieve their goals and aspirations through individual key work, targeted recovery outcomes-focused interventions and person-centred planning. Use a fully flexible and personalised approach to build on the individual's strengths and act as a support navigator to make creative use of the resources available within the service and in the wider community
• Work with the most complex and hard to engage individuals, providing support at a high intensive level specifically with expertise around homelessness, hard to engage individuals, substance misuse and dual diagnosis
• Use specialist knowledge to provide housing related support enabling people to maintain their tenancies and achieve their housing-related goals
• Empower individuals to exercise choice and control, offering a person-centred service
• Promote engagement within the community as a key factor in recovery and self-management
• Work alongside individuals to develop and review robust assessments, safety management plans and personalised recovery support plans

Specific Responsibilities

• Undertake key worker sessions with individuals, using person-centred planning tools and reviews. Sessions will focus on each individual's choices
• Support the service with the delivery of drop-ins and recovery-focused group sessions as and when required
• Mentor and support recovery workers, providing advice and support around their interactions and interventions

Communication and Building Appropriate Relationships

General Responsibilities

• Communicate effectively with individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and maintain positive and effective relationships with those using the service, staff, the staff of other agencies and the local community
• Maintain appropriate links with individual individuals' mental health workers and other professionals and organisations involved in an individual's care
• Compliment and support any care orders, probation orders or other statutory orders the individual may have and ensure that strong partnerships are developed with these key agencies
• Be an expert navigator of local communities, continually building and sustaining relationships and partnerships with agencies and professionals, promoting the service, sharing recovery principles and the psychologically informed environment approach, and support individuals to access as appropriate

Specific Responsibilities

• Extend the range of community opportunities for people accessing the service by supporting community resources to improve accessibility and tackling mental health stigma
• Support the maintenance of a database of community resources, used by staff and individuals to identify and access a range of opportunities to promote wellbeing and independence
• Take part in professional meetings and reviews concerning those using the service and ensure their best interests are prioritised

Information, Record Keeping and IT

• Work with IT equipment and systems to ensure accurate and timely recording of referrals, individual's data, risk management and support plans, accidents and incidents, as well as the use of shared electronic calendars and a lone worker safety system
• Maintain and build upon good working knowledge of IT and take full advantage of opportunities to use IT to progress the services we offer

Task Planning, Personal Development and Service Development

• Work within set targets and manage time effectively on own initiative and as part of a team
• Contribute to the aims and continuous improvement of the service, including the commitment to delivering within a psychologically informed environment framework
• Share knowledge, skills and experience within the team while observing confidentiality and participate in team meetings and reflective practice groups
• Make a positive contribution to and work constructively within the team, including developing your own abilities to enhance team performance

Other Responsibilities

• Work flexibly and remotely as part of a geographically spread team, including daily local travel within the service locality and, where appropriate, working within wider localities across Norfolk to support the demand and capacity requirements of the Norfolk-wide Integrated Housing and Community Support Service
• Undertake daytime and evening duties as directed, including some weekends and bank holidays
• Promote, monitor and maintain health and safety and security in the workplace
• Work in a way that ensures the service is delivered in compliance with relevant legislation, the service values, policies and practices and contractual requirements
• Carry out any other reasonable duties within the scope of the role as required

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

Personal Specification

E = Essential
D = Desirable

Qualifications

• Relevant qualification in the field of housing, social work, or similar profession (D)

Experience

• Experience of working in mental health settings, including elevated risk settings, for example with inpatient, drug and alcohol, forensic, homeless or dual diagnosis individuals, or with individuals presenting with increased risks to self (E)
• A minimum of three years' direct experience of working (paid or voluntary) with similar people who have used a like service with at least one of the following support needs: substance misuse, offending history, mental health, learning disabilities, single homeless, and a clear understanding of at least two other related groups (E)

Values

• Commitment to the empowerment of individuals and a belief in user involvement and promoting people's rights (E)
• Commitment to equal opportunities and awareness of issues surrounding BME, LGBT and other minority groups (E)
• Actively seeks opportunities for own development and to share skills and knowledge (E)
• Commitment to delivering outcome and recovery focused services within a Psychologically Informed Environment framework (E)
• Passionate about and committed to the empowerment of people who are experiencing mental distress (E)

Skills, Knowledge and Competencies - Delivering Support

• Understanding of issues surrounding mental health and issues likely to affect those experiencing or recovering from periods of mental illness (E)
• Ability to work with individuals in a user-led, calm, confident and sensitive manner (E)
• Ability to respond to people's needs (including those in crisis) promptly, in a flexible, consistent and appropriate way (E)
• Knowledge and practical experience of using person-centred tools to support individuals to identify and achieve their goals (E)
• Knowledge and experience of supporting individuals to achieve goals relating to their mental and/or physical health (E)
• Understanding of common medications and their interaction with individuals' lives and behaviours (E)
• Understanding of the structures, roles and activities of community and inpatient resources and agencies (E)
• Ability and experience of working in an outcome-focused way (E)
• High emotional resilience for dealing with verbal abuse and threatening behaviour (E)
• Able to remain calm and deal with difficult or challenging behaviour in a non-confrontational manner, including self-injurious behaviour and suicide attempts (E)
• Ability to be innovative and practical in approaching service user needs, particularly those who perceive that they have failed in the past (E)
• A working knowledge of the welfare benefits systems and a good understanding of housing rights in relation to social housing (E)
• Understanding of the impact of drugs and alcohol on mental illness and personality disorders (E)
• Demonstrable knowledge of effective interventions with homeless populations (E)
• Knowledge and experience of supporting those with substance misuse needs (E)
• Experience of organising and facilitating meetings and groups (D)
• Experience of working within and supporting the development of a Psychologically Informed Environment (D)

Communication, Building and Maintaining Appropriate Relationships

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to deal tactfully and sensitively with a range of people, including being assertive when necessary (E)
• Ability to develop, maintain and facilitate positive working relationships with people using like services, staff, volunteers and health professionals (E)
• Ability to build and maintain appropriate and person-centred professional client or worker relationships (E)
• Excellent listening skills and the ability to communicate effectively with people who are in mental distress, including any who may be acutely unwell (E)
• Ability to liaise and communicate well, both orally and in writing, with health professionals, general public, other providers and be assertive where necessary (E)

Information, Record Keeping and IT

• Excellent IT skills including use of Microsoft Office, shared calendars and the internet (E)
• Willing and able to engage with IT systems, including a client record management system, on a daily basis (E)
• Ability to accurately and efficiently maintain appropriate records (E)
• Knowledge and experience of working with confidentiality (E)

Task Planning and Time Management

• Ability to manage a busy workload, work on own initiative, prioritise work, meet deadlines and make autonomous decisions where needed (E)
• Ability to undertake lone-working with minimal supervision, and the ability to plan ahead whilst also retaining capacity for flexible working (E)

Other

• Confident in making decisions within job scope, but defers to line manager as appropriate (E)
• Ability to adhere to all relevant policies and procedures including confidentiality, equal opportunities and diversity (E)
• Willing to learn through training, supervision and day-to-day experience (E)
• Ability and willingness to work flexibly and remotely as part of a geographically spread team, including daily local travel within the service locality (E)
• Ability and willingness to be flexible and work some unsociable hours, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays (E)
• Commitment to work flexibly as required across Norfolk (E)

Job Benefits

The benefits of working for Together

Download the PDF to find out more about what you can get out of working for us.

Benefits of Working for Together