Specialist family support worker (role scope) – Housing

Early Help and Prevention
Specialist Family Support Worker – Role Scope
Housing (May 2018)

The post holder will hold a caseload where secure housing and sustainable finances are a significant factor in the family’s identified needs. This work is likely to be more complex and challenging than the family work held by family support worker colleagues.

There may be occasions were joint home visits are undertaken to support the lead professional with specific interventions.

This role is the ‘go to’ place for the provision of information, advice and guidance (IAG) regarding housing policy, resources for families and the key mechanisms available to secure housing.

This centres on having a robust knowledge of resources and tools to provide IAG for the Early Help and Prevention team and the wider workforce.

In addition, the post holder will develop a robust professional network to ‘sign-post’ EHP colleagues and the wider workforce to when taking forward work with families. As part of this the post holder will be able to support practitioners to explore issues with families, identifying interventions and tools to use alongside their and own profession knowledge.

The post holder will need to raise their profile across the City to develop a professional network, which could be done through some ‘quick wins’ at network meetings (i.e. issuing ‘Top Tips’).

Developing professional relationships with key service providers across the city to ensure that there is a two-way understanding of both the Early Help and Prevention Service and theirs. This will support both general inter-agency discussions and more robust joint working moving forward. This could be through semi-formal planned consultations or discussions, group advice sessions or through establishing ‘Topic Champions’.

Building on the existing delivery of relevant training for EHP colleagues and the wider workforce through workshops for front-line practitioners.

The family lead professional will record case specific advice and actions agreed within EHP team on relevant family files.

Finding appropriate opportunities to link with relevant strategy working groups and plans (i.e. Tackling Poverty).

• PCC Housing Options
• PCC Private Sector Housing
• EC Roberts Centre
• PCC Area Housing teams
• Troubled Family Employment Advisors
• Budget Buddies
• PCC Family Information Officer