Homeless Outreach Practitioner

You have an understanding of homelessness, alcohol/drug and health related issues, and experience of working with adults in an addictions, housing or social care setting. All you need is the perfect environment to put your skills to great use. Welcome to Aquarius as a Homeless Outreach Practitioner.

We are looking for a Homeless Outreach Practitioner to join our team. Solihull Integrated Addiction Service (SIAS) is a partnership between four organisations jointly responsible for the delivery of the drug, alcohol, homelessness and gambling services, in the Borough of Solihull. We offer services for adults who use or are affected by substance use, homelessness and gambling. The housing service covers support for clients who are homeless and at risk of becoming homeless, as well as a more structured longer term floating support service to enable clients to maintain their tenancies.

As a Homeless Outreach Practitioner, you will be working with clients who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. You will understand the barriers clients face accessing accommodation, recognising that secure and stable housing is key to recovery and the ability to engage in treatment is impacted by those experiencing homelessness. Working in various locations, including advice surgeries in community settings, home visits/outreach visits and office-based, the role entails reaching out to hard to engage clients.

To succeed you’ll:

• Have a qualification in health/social care, youth and community work (e.g. NVQ Level 3 or above, DipSW, Mental Health Nursing, Counselling, Addiction Studies). Alternatively, we’ll consider candidates with experience of working in the substance misuse field with a commitment to complete NVQ Level 3 Health and Social Care.
• Be an energetic and confident self-starter.
• Have experience of supporting clients in finding accommodation and supporting to prevent those at risk of becoming homeless.
• Have experience of liaising with voluntary and statutory agencies and health professionals and engaging effectively with clients in a variety of settings
• Have a flexible approach, a commitment to the principles of confidentiality and excellent record keeping and Microsoft Office. You will need to be able to work flexibly in terms of working hours to support your clients.

Due to the nature of the role, a driving licence and access to a car is desirable.

In return for your skills and enthusiasm, this role comes with some really great benefits and excellent training and development opportunities. Benefits include:

• 32 days holiday + bank holidays
• Cultural celebration day
• Access to blue light card discounts
• Flexible working

This is a permanent full-time role requiring the post holder to work 37 hours per week.

This is a rolling recruitment process. Candidates will be interviewed as and when they are shortlisted.

We are committed to increasing our diversity and we would welcome applications from those with lived experience.

Learning and development is important to us, and we are pleased to be able to offer a wide range of apprenticeships. We hire apprentices into specific roles as well as offering apprenticeships to the workforce. Anyone can apply to undertake an apprenticeship relevant to the role as long as they are in a permanent post and have successfully passed probation.

Aquarius is a subsidiary of Richmond Fellowship, with both organisations being part of Recovery Focus, a national group of charities highly experienced in providing specialist support services to individuals and families living with the effects of mental ill health, drug and alcohol use, gambling and domestic violence. From 1st June 2024 Richmond Fellowship will be merging with the mental health charity Humankind to form a single organisation that provides the joined-up mental health, housing and drug and alcohol support we’ve all known has been needed for decades. At the same time, Aquarius will become a subsidiary of Humankind, with no impact to terms and conditions of employment. In October 2024, Humankind will then be renamed to reflect the new, bigger and better organisation, of which Aquarius will remain a subsidiary.