Advice Worker - Sheffield, United Kingdom - Firvale Community Hub

Description

About us
Firvale Community Hub is a small business in Sheffield.

We are an award winning organisation committed to improving social equalities and inclusion for communities experiencing disenfranchisement and marginalisation in Sheffield.

Firvale Community Hub empowers groups and individuals to find their voice and find leadership, to influence and inform a more inclusive society, through targeted and deeply personalised education and confidence building based projects.

Our work environment includes:

• Modern office setting
• Workfromhome days
• Growth opportunities
• Wellness programmes

Advice worker

We provide generic and specialist advice, we seek to empower our clients and support them to improve their confidence and capability, including in relation to finance.

We advise mainly on welfare, debts, housing, employment, immigration and discrimination. We provide advice in numerous languages.

We offer bespoke services for people with mental health problems, the gypsy and traveller community, people in hospital, and refugees and asylum seekers.

We provide mental health advocacy services. We have well established partnerships and referral pathways with private /social landlords and statutory services.

We aim for excellence.

Our ambition is to be among the best advice services in the country, and one of the leading voluntary and community organization in Sheffield.

We campaign for change to social policy to improve the well-being of the people and communities we support.


Purpose of job

Our advice workers alongside volunteer advisers are responsible for providing generalist and specialist advice to clients including advice about financial confidence, welfare benefits, debt, housing, employment, immigration, discrimination and other areas of public and social welfare law.

Advice workers seek to support and empower clients to address their needs and provide tailored casework when this is needed.

Advice worker provide advice that is accessible by all clients, taking full account of clients communication skills and other needs.

Advice workers provide services in a wide range of settings including our own offices, those of partner agencies and clients home.

Advice workers are required to undertake all their duties in accordance Firvale Community Hub policies and procedures, utilizing national and local sources of information and guidance.

Main duties and responsibilities
All advice workers are required to;

• Welcome clients to the service
• Enables clients to explain their needs
• Assess clients needs and advice on the options for meeting these needs
• Research the options for meeting clients' needs
• Support clients to develop and implement action plans to meet their needs
• Assist clients to implement their action plan, including liaising with relevant agencies
• Undertake casework for clients, including where appropriate court and tribunal representation
• Contribute to telephone, drop in and prebooked appointment services
• Contribute to multiagency service provision
• Create and maintain comprehensive client and service provision record using information technology and other systems
• Provide service in accordance with all relevant quality standards
• Contribute to ensuring that service performance standards and targets are met
• Identify and report evidence to support social policy campaigns
• Support all the other FCH projects, directing clients through referrals. Aim to recruit 5 new clients for other projects monthly.
• Help in ensuring that the overall work of the organisation is championed and promoted.

Advice support

• Supervise other advice workers and volunteers advisers including advice session supervision case checking and independent file reviews
• Support and develop volunteers
• Support the design and delivery of training

Professional learning and development

• Advice workers are all required to under take learning and development including
• Keeping up to date with legislation
• Keeping up to date policies and procedures
• Attending internal and external training
• Obtaining and maintaining accreditation for specialist practice

Person specification

• Comprehensive knowledge of one or more of financial confidence support and intervention and /or welfare benefits, debts, housing, employment, immigration, discrimination and public law.
• Advice giving processes and systems
• The communities supported by Firvale Community Hub

SKILLS

• High Quality Skills
• Listening, verbal, written and presentation communication skills
• To communicate well with clients colleagues and other agencies
• To work in partnership in multiprofessional and multiagency settings
• To utilise case recording and other information system that support advice provision
• To undertake analysis and research to support the formulation of action plans to meet clients' needs
• To represent clients and negotiate on their behalf
• To supervise advice sessions and undertake case ch