Specialist Support Worker (Applications are now closed)

Justlife overview

Justlife works with the hidden homeless community who live in B&B’s and Guesthouses, and are considered ‘unsupported temporary accommodation’ (UTA). Our vision is to make people’s experience of housing vulnerability as short, safe and healthy as possible.

Based in Higher Openshaw, East Manchester, Justlife currently works across Manchester and Tameside providing re-housing advice, benefits advice and one-to-one key work support to empower vulnerable adults housed in UTA to move towards more secure housing, independent living and improved health and wellbeing. This includes supporting UTA managers and landlords.

The role of Specialist Support Worker involves playing an active part in the Specialist Support Team by taking part in regular outreach visits to UTA’s across Greater Manchester and supporting a caseload of clients that are experiencing varying stages of housing vulnerability.

Job summary

The role requires the use of specialist knowledge and relationship skills to support clients with varying degrees of mental health, addiction and trauma related issues to engage with health services and to access suitable housing solutions. The Specialist Support Worker is also expected to develop good working relationships with UTA Landlords and Managers, recognising the important role that they play in ensuring that their tenant’s experience of UTA is as positive as possible.

This will include advocacy in registering them for medical services and accompanying them to appointments; assisting them in addressing all aspects of physical and mental health and addiction needs, as well as advocating for them to get access to suitable housing and social security benefits. The role is dependent on excellent communication and joint working with colleagues and a variety of partners and professionals.

The role requires a high degree of motivation in addition to creativity and flexibility to support people with multiple and complex needs. With a passion to work collaboratively with others for the good of our clients, and with experience of working in a related field in a voluntary or paid capacity.

A high degree of emotional intelligence is required to support clients, many of whom have complex emotional needs, with backgrounds of trauma, neglect, abuse, crime and low self-worth. In a role of this nature, you will experience a range of emotions from joy to grief and as such it requires a high degree of resilience and self -awareness to cope with the emotional demands of the role. The role sits within a highly supportive team with all staff in receipt of regular line management, external clinical supervision and professional training; with reflective practice actively encouraged in weekly team meetings.