Homelessness Officer - West Sussex, United Kingdom - MMP Consultancy

MMP Consultancy

Verified Company

West Sussex, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Homelessness Officer to join a public sector on a temporary contract based in West Sussex.

Reporting to the Senior Homeless Officer, the post holder will be responsible in undertaking triaging and assessments of those seeking housing assistance, provide advice, options and housing solutions to homeless households and those in temporary accommodation with the aim of preventing or relieving their homelessness.

Responsibilities:

Complete an assessment of the customers circumstances, in all cases, to determine the duty owned to the customer and inform them in writing of the councils decision in accordance with the relevant legislation, seeking advice and guidance where needed from colleagues
Complete a Personal Housing Plan with each customer where appropriate, compiling a tailored set of actions both the customer and staff will compete in order to prevent or relieve the customers homelessness and to interview customers as and when required
Ensure that an accurate, detailed record is kept of all interviews and the follow up action taken in order to assist monitoring, decisionmaking and effective case management including the governments quarterly HCLIC return
Provide advice to homeless customers about the Councils Housing Register including advice to people who are neither eligible, do not qualify or who are disqualified to join the Housing Register
Analyse complex legal, medical and financial information, and research and interpret legislation and case law, to ensure the provision of a professional, high quality casework service
Make optimum use of the opportunities to prevent or relieve homelessness, including the use of the Homelessness Prevention Fund, Discretionary Housing Payments, Tenancy Deposit Loan and the supply of private rented accommodation
Source and book emergency accommodation for customers that the Council has reason to believe a homeless duty is owed

Skills Required:

Currently working in a homeless or housing environment.
Knowledge of homelessness legislation in particular Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homeless Reduction Act 2017) and other relevant Acts
Experience in completing s.189A assessments and developing personalised housing plans
Experience in making and completing enquiries into an applicant's housing circumstances and issuing clear and robust s.184 decisions and duty notifications
A working knowledge of welfare benefits
Ability to identify safeguarding concerns and complete referrals to the relevant organisation
Knowledge of health and safety Issues
Work as part of a team and on own initiative
Excellent written and oral communication skills including able to communicate with a range of people including members of the public, organisations, landlords and agencies and managing expectations
IT user with excellent knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel and be able to learn and use different packages and document management systems
Time management and organisational skills
Able to participate in the Out of Hours homelessness service (approx. 1 week in 10) for which an additional payment is made