Children in TA Support Officer – AR Job London area,Greater London England UK,Social Work

Location: Greater London

Basic DBS required

Main Purpose of the job

The Children in TA Support Officer will proactively engage with households in temporary accommodation (TA) with dependent children, through outreach, telephone engagement and home visiting. They will assess the initial needs of families and assist them by signposting and referring to the relevant services that will support the children’s needs.

The aims of the role are

To provide advice and guidance to households in temporary accommodation (TA), focusing on the support requirements of dependent children.
To reduce the time that children spend in TA and increase move on into more secure and local accommodation.
Provide tailored support to improve attainment, development and educational outcomes for children living in TA.
Develop strong and well functioning relationships with teams within the Council, such as Children’s Social Care, health and education to develop cross service solutions to support children in TA.
To work with local partners to develop referral pathways and broker new support opportunities.

Summary of Responsibilities and Personal Duties

To carry out inspections of properties to assess suitability and the impact on children within the household.

Explore move on options with households such as private rented accommodation and social housing.

Support households through direct lets and auto bidding to increase chances of move on.

Provide direct casework support to households in temporary accommodation by identifying and addressing barriers faced by children in TA such as medical needs, attainment and accommodation location and size.

Make enquiries with education departments in different boroughs to ensure children’s educational needs can be met and that there are available school places.

Update and carry out Suitability/ Affordability Assessments, Personalised Housing Plans and Housing Needs Assessments with households.

Deploy various schemes to support households with affordability and digital inclusion.

Support households with repair escalation and complaints.

Develop and maintain a thorough understanding of services available to families in the locality.

Develop and maintain close working relationships with other Council services and a wide range of other stakeholders in order to facilitate the flow of information, encourage joint working and co-operation, achieve the prompt resolution of complex problems and ensure that, even where an input is required from a number of teams, service delivery is properly coordinated and the service user is kept fully informed of developments.

Deliver a streamlined high quality customer focused service ensuring telephone calls, emails, letters and complaints are fully responded to promptly and to the highest possible standard in compliance with corporate guidelines or as instructed by the service manager.

Maintain accurate written and electronic records/information with regard to households including general contact information and conversations, keeping this information up to date at all times, and providing detailed reports as requested by management.

Work with the Accommodation Supply Team to refer suitable households for placement and resettlement into the private rented sector.

Carry out tenancy workshops with households in TA to give advice on maintaining a tenancy and budgeting.

Support households with identifying and registering with GP’s, schools, childcare and required support services.

To ensure that appropriate advice and support is given around accessing childcare and employment benefits.

Support with access to basic facilities such as laundry services, Wi-Fi.

Understand and keep up to date with local and national policies affected by legislation with regard to welfare reforms and housing.

Carry out the duties of the post with due regard to the Council’s Equal Opportunities and Data Protection policies and core values.

All employees are required to comply with the Council’s Health and Safety policies and procedures at all times, taking due care for themselves, colleagues and members of the public.

Undertake any other appropriate duties as required by the service or instructed by the Service Manager.

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