• To ensure the delivery of high quality assessment, support and delivery of group work and programmes for vulnerable homeless young people and in accordance with policies and procedures
• To facilitate the delivery of a ‘lunch club’ and cooking classes, based out of Craigshill Accommodation Unit for residents of Open Door
• To work with young people to put together a range of ‘Health and Wellbeing’ groups and activities to improve their general mental and physical health, including supporting with smoking cessation, general exercise, personal and oral hygiene and sexual health and relationships.
• Signposting young people to other local services to provide additional support as required, in particular those with more complex mental health issues, and provide help with attending appointments, such as physically taking young people to GP or dental appointments, to other community activities or support with mental health,
• To work in partnership with other agencies to secure appropriate move on accommodation and relevant support for young people
• To be an integral part of the Open Door staff team, working closely with Support Workers from accommodation and outreach/ employability projects to ensure young people are afforded a truly holistic support service.

Tasks
• To participate fully in the planning and day to day delivery of operational services.
• To work with accommodation services support workers to assess the needs of young people seeking admission to the Hostel and Supported Flats. This includes the uptake of references and individual risk assessments.
• To work with Community Outreach Officers to support young people in the Community with a particular focus on improving their mental health.
• To facilitate a ‘lunch club’ and other health and wellbeing groups and activities as detailed above.
• Providing a cooking programme for young people and supporting with completion of the ‘Food Hygiene Certificate’
• To use the Outcome Star tool in conjunction with the young person and their Key Worker
• To contribute to Initial and comprehensive assessments carried out by the social work department Youth Justice, YAS and TCAC. You will present your professional opinion of residents needs and support them to communicate their own opinion of their needs and circumstances
• To attend and participate in weekly staff team meetings
• To identify when a resident or young person being supported in the community, may require more specialist assessment and signpost them to that service such as Penumbra or Moving into Health.
• To gather information and statistics on the circumstances of those who refer to Open Doors services to enable stakeholders and other agencies to identify the needs of those seeking a service and address any gaps in service provision
• If the young person wishes, to be involved in joint work with family members
• To ensure that young people receive an appropriate service from external agencies. eg. YAS, TCAC, medical profession, police, benefits agency, employers, education. If required by the resident you will advocate on their behalf.
• To contribute to achieving the agreed standards of service and targets in line reflecting the aims and objectives of the project.
• To ensure a thorough and up to date awareness, application and adherence of Organisational Policy and to contribute to the adoption and promotion of good practice.
• You will participate in the administration of the Community Outreach Project’ and accurately and factually record all work undertaken and communicate affectively to other staff and other services and agencies in all circumstances.
• You will be responsible for petty cash handling.

Personal and Professional Development
• To participate in regular support and supervision sessions with the Service Manager this will include an annual appraisal and a personal development plan.
• The Health and Wellbeing Officer is expected to maintain an up to date knowledge of housing and general health and wellbeing resources throughout the Lothians, all relevant legislation, welfare benefits, policies and good practice in general within the field of youth homelessness and health, care policies and Care Inspectorate standards for a Housing Support service.
• It is Open Door Accommodation projects aim to encourage and enable the personal
Development of staff and to support this you will participate each year in project Core Training and undertake training in line with your own personal development plan
• To actively participate in staff team meetings to ensure information is shared and appropriate Issues are discussed and dealt with. To also participate in training events, and this may include reviewing the hostel procedures and working practice.

Resource Management
• To work with Open Door staff who you will be working alongside to ensure a safe and secure environment within the Craigshill Accommodation Unit for a group of 10 young people and multiple young people in the local community.

Communication
• To participate in the gathering and processing of statistical information to evaluate the effectiveness of the service and the demands being made upon it (performance Indicators such as resident evaluations, referral forms)
• To develop links with external bodies and agencies and to actively promote the Project’s Services
• To contribute to the preparation of material for publicising the service and the project as a whole such as the annual report. To promote the work of the project and inform others on the issues that young homeless people face, this may include public speaking duties and networking with agencies and individuals

Other Duties
• You will work in line with the Scottish Social Service Council guidelines and Open Door Accommodation Projects Code of Conduct and fully understand the sensitive nature of our work with young people
• You will undertake any other reasonable duties as requested by management
• You will operate in accordance with the Equal opportunities and confidentiality policy in operation throughout the project and all other relevant policies and procedures must be adhered to.


Place of Work
You will be based at: Almondbank, Shiel Walk, Craigshill, Livingston, EH54 7EE.There may be times when you will be expected to work in other parts of the Organisation.