Prevention & Engagement Officer

Want a job that makes a real difference?!

Help tackle homelessness!

We are providing critical help and support to 1000s of households every year in Cornwall who are facing homelessness or who are already homeless. We offer a variety of exciting and challenging roles from providing early “upstream” prevention support for people experiencing issues that may need to lead to homelessness to helping families move from emergency accommodation into a settled home and everything in between. Whatever the role, you will be working with passionate, supportive colleagues committed to make a difference to our communities and our residents.

If you have no direct experience of working in homelessness but you have energy, learn quickly, are caring and have great people skills then we still want to hear from you! We can teach you the rest.

This role is in the Housing Options Directorate and is linked to delivery of Cornwall Councils statutory duty to those homeless or threatened with homelessness under Part VII Housing Act 1996 (as amended) and the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy.

The role aims to deliver the Three main priorities identified in the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy:

• Prevention - we will deliver creative and personalised services that help people sustain their homes and ensure they receive early support when they are at risk of homelessness;
• Intervention – when people fall into crisis, we will act swiftly to give them targeted support to get them into accommodation or off the streets;
• Recovery – we believe that ending homelessness is about more than a roof over someone’s head and we will support people to live independently and lead meaningful quality lives.
  

The role will:

• seek to identify people who may be at risk of homelessness at the earliest possible opportunity and work proactively with those identified as being at risk of homelessness or already homeless to prevent and relieve their homelessness wherever possible.
• provide specialist advice on housing and related matters in a manner that is flexible, person-centred and responsive to the individual needs of the client. All clients will be supported to identify their strengths and to develop the skills and knowledge needed to achieve their housing related goals.
• build on strong partnerships, with a view to maximise opportunities to prevent homelessness in the first instance or if not possible, relieve homelessness as quickly as possible
• provide an effective, professional homelessness service on behalf of the Council including assessment, investigation and decisions making in line with the Councils’ statutory duties under Housing Act Part VII Housing Act 1996 (as amended), code of guidance, best practise and relevant case law
• drive the council’s reduction in the use of temporary accommodation by ensuring that all other appropriate avenues are thoroughly explored to prevent or relieve homelessness as an alternative to needing to provide emergency accommodation.

The function of the post requires face to face and remote (telephone & other IT solutions) interaction with customers. The role will be primarily be home or office based but on occasions there will be a requirement for visiting customers at their accommodation and attending meetings.

The jobholder may occasionally be subject to emotional demands due to the nature of the customers presenting issues.

There are 4 main service areas that this role may cover and the individual may move between areas depending on changes in demand:

• Housing Assessment Hub – this is the first point of contact for all people who are seeking advice about their housing situation, are threatened with homelessness or already homeless. The hub will provide immediate advice and interventions to people who are homeless that night. They will also triage and assess other people who approach to determine what statutory duties may or may be owed under Housing Act Part VII Housing Act 1996 (as amended)
• Nos Da Kernow – this is our early homeless prevention service which works in partnership with other agencies to provide intensive casework and support for those who are at risk of homelessness at least 56 days prior to them losing accommodation or living in other insecure accommodation/arrangements.
• Casework – these teams are responsible for delivering effective casework in line with statutory duties to prevent or relieve homelessness.
• Move-on – providing intensive support to homeless households in emergency and temporary accommodation to help them find, secure and move into a more settled home. In cases of breaches of accommodations Terms & Conditions or refusal of a suitable offer this team is responsible for ending the duty.
  
  

A role profile can be found here.

Please ensure you answer all of the pre-screening questions in full, within the application form. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g. race, disability, sex, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.

Whilst the location/work-base for this role has been specified our evolving ways of working means that the role may require you to also work remotely (e.g. from home/other locations). We will discuss this with you during the recruitment process.

More information about working for Cornwall Council is available here.

We are happy to talk about flexible working options.