Enhanced Support Worker

We’re looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Enhanced Support Worker to join our Young People's service in Hounslow.

We are recruiting for Enhanced Support Workers to join our dynamic service and team. You will be able to be creatively engage young people in order to minimise risks and increase their independence. Partnership working is the heart of supporting our young people and Enhanced Support Workers are required to build and maintain those relationships to coordinator the young person’s support.

£25,580.78 per annum, working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.

Want to feel like you’re part of one team? You’ll feel at home here.
Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren’t token gestures - we’ve thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

Our Hounslow service supports young people with medium to high and complex needs including looked after children, care leavers and teenage parents across 6 sites. Support is provided by support workers and specialist workers, aiming to achieve the very best outcomes including tenancy sustainment, ETE, enhancing life skills, managing mental health and emotional wellbeing and a successful move on from the service with greater independence, confidence and resilience.
This role requires a valid Right to Work for the UK as Look Ahead are not a sponsoring organisation.

What you’ll do:

This role requires working on a rota pattern encompassing mix of shifts between 7:45am and 10pm including weekends.
- Responsible for key-working a caseload assigned by the Management
- Undertake initial and continuous assessment of needs and potential risks and agree levels of support and actions to professional standards
- Co-develop a positive behaviour support plan with the individual that identifies triggers and actions required to enable positive risk taking through reduced risks
- Support customers to engage with agreed support programme
- Support customers to claim and receive eligible benefits, deal with relevant agencies to develop life skills, budgeting, financial literacy, and managing finances effectively
- Encourage tenants to pay their rent and to ensure that rent accounts are managed effectively
- Motivate individuals to prepare and cook healthy meals safely, going shopping and offering guidance on buying balanced nutritious food
- Enable customers to improve their skills to manage their day-to-day activities such a making telephone calls, dealing with correspondence, attending appointments and form filling
- Support customers to access other services including CMHT, substance misuse agencies and/or work in partnership with other agencies as part of the support planning process
- Develop and maintain links with key agencies and service providers in the local community
- Lead on an area of specialism (e.g. ETE, health and wellbeing) and build partnerships and develop internal and external opportunities for service-users in this area
- Support customers to maintain activities including but not limited to education, employment, training, informal accreditation and volunteering opportunities
- Promote customers to develop social skills, positive and healthy relationships and keep safe in a variety of settings
- Engage customers to place their voice, aspirations, and interests at the heart of service delivery Promoting inclusion, equality, diversity, and community cohesion
- Positively support customers to understand their child’s development in line with best practice guidance
- Advice customers to move on to housing opportunities, offering assistance in finding accommodation and offer support to ensure they are bidding regularly once approved for move on
- Ensure that referrals are chased proactively to fill vacant properties efficiently
- Adhere to Look Ahead’s Policies and Procedures
- Undertake any other duties consistent with the grade and nature of the post as may be reasonably assigned
This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead.

About you:
- A passion to support young people to reach their potential, succeed and thrive independently given the right support with a ‘can do’ attitude
- A strong customer focus and commitment to putting customers’ interests and voices at the heart of all aspects of provision
- A commitment to asset based approaches – considering what matters to individuals, not just what is the matter with customers
- An outcomes focus and approach to working
- Strong self-awareness and commitment to acting as a positive role model
- A commitment to non-discriminatory practice and to promoting equality and diversity
- A commitment to acting as a corporate parent in all aspects of practice where applicable
- A commitment to effective joint working with partners to meet customers needs
- A strong sense of personal accountability
- The ability to critically reflect on practice to improve future approaches
- Engage in learning and development activity to increase knowledge and skills

What you’ll bring:
Essential:
- Up to NVQ Level 2/3 or equivalent or experience in the social care/charity sector
- Ability to adapt to challenging environments
- Excellent communication skills both verbal and written
- Ability to plan, manage and evaluate outcome focused activities and support programmes
- Interpersonal skills to build relationships with young people in 1:1 and group settings
- Strong personal resilience and excellent teamwork skills
Desirable:
- Understanding of the Service legal framework including the Children Act and Homelessness legislation and how to use it effectively

About us:
Look Ahead is a dynamic, leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. As an organisation we deliver over 110 services, providing support to around 7000 customers each year. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.
If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.