Practitioner (Floating Support within Accommodation Services)

Four Square Scotland is an Edinburgh charity working for more than 40 years to prevent homelessness and promote inclusion. We provide services directly to people who are homeless, or who are at risk of homelessness to overcome any barriers they may face in creating a stable life for themselves in their community. At the core of Four Square are the values on which the organisation is based. These are equally applied to the people we support, our colleagues and our partners and are: Integrity; Excellence; Dignity; Support.

Alongside our support services we have social enterprises, which provide independent income for our charity as well as volunteering and training opportunities for those who use our services.

We are driven by our mission to ensure everyone has the opportunity to have a home and a place in their community.

The Role:

The role of Practitioner is vital to help us achieve our aim of ensuring everyone has a home, a place in their community and a network of positive relationships that support them to build the life they want.

Practitioners recognise people’s strengths and work alongside them to build their confidence, self-efficacy, resilience, and motivation. They help people develop practical skills, maximise income, develop healthier coping skills, problem solving skills, social skills, and employability skills.

Practitioners use a flexible approach to work with people using services ensuring they receive the support they want and need to have the best chance of getting and keeping a home and living their best life in a community.

This post has been designed to respond and support our accommodation services covering shifts where needed to reduce the use of multiple agency and relief staff and provide people we support with staffing cover from a consistent and well-known staff member. This could be within our Keymoves women’s refuge, Number 20 and Stopover young persons supported accommodation or the MySpace project which are 18 move on flats. You will work a month to month rota of early and late shifts Monday to Friday with occasional weekend cover required.

***Due to a number of the services being for women who have experienced gender-based violence this post is for females only. ***

To be a Practitioner (Floating Support) within Four Square you will need:

• Work flexibly responding to staffing need within a variety of accommodation services.
• To be proactive, highly organised, a problem solver, have a positive outlook, be approachable, friendly, patient, confident;
• Experience of working within a safeguarding framework working with vulnerable people who may have complex support needs;
• Proficiency using a range of IT tools to carry out your work, including using case management systems, Microsoft Office applications, the Internet and email;
• Strong personal and professional values that align with our organisational values of integrity, excellence, dignity, and support;
• Excellent interpersonal skills with people who use our services, colleagues, and partners;
• Understanding of homelessness, trauma, youth issues, gender-based violence and adversity and how it impacts life outcomes;
• In-depth understanding of benefits, housing processes and legislation;
• Membership of regulatory bodies required of the role and application of the codes and standards to their practice;
• A commitment to your learning and development and putting knowledge and skills into practice;
• Commitment to working in partnership with other organisations and professionals to support people;
• Honest, trustworthy, and respectful to colleagues, people they support, partners, commissioners, and all other stakeholders;
• Keep up to date with and apply policies and procedures, standards, and codes of practice;
• Apply a strengths based approach to working with people using the Outcome Star tool to support assessment and support planning;
• Have a good standard of English and math's and able to produce clear written communications in the form of log books, case notes and diary entries.

Requirements:

• Be registered with SSSC or achieve registration within 6 months of starting;
• Be qualified in a relevant subject e.g. HNC social care etc. to SCQF7 as a minimum;
• To comply always with Four Square’s Code of Conduct, together with its policies and procedures with regards to the maintenance of professional relationships between colleagues, the people we work with and external organisations;
• To adhere to Four Square's Confidentiality and Data Protection Policy;
• To adhere to Four Square’s policy on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion when working with colleagues, the people we work with and external organisations;
• To adhere to and maintain all health and safety standards;
• To work in accordance with Four Square’s core values and mission statement.
• To undertake any other reasonable duties as directed (including providing cover for colleagues, as directed);
• To comply always with the Safeguarding Policy and Procedure;
• To attend conferences / seminars / training, as required.

The Organisation’s Offer to Practitioners:

• Induction and core training programme relevant to the role;
• Annual appraisal and CPD opportunities

Terms & Conditions:

• £24,000 per annum
• Fixed term of 12 months initially with a 6-month probation period
• 35 days holiday rising to 40 on completion of 5 years' service
• Based in the city of Edinburgh

How to Apply

If you are an exceptional candidate looking for a challenging and exciting role a job description and application form can be downloaded from our website or by emailing tracys@foursquare.org.uk

Closing Date

Closing date for applications is Wednesday 22^nd December 2021.

If you have not heard back from us the day after applications close then unfortunately you have not been shortlisted for interview.