Aberdeen Cyrenians is a charity dedicated to supporting people affected by homelessness, violence, domestic abuse and other forms of social exclusion.

With the help of the local community, Aberdeen Cyrenians has been providing support to vulnerable people in the city for the past 50 years.

Through a range of services both in community and residential settings, the support focuses on:

• Prevention of homelessness - through outreach support and advice
• Alleviation of homelessness - through short-term and medium-term accommodation places along with Housing First programme
• Rehabilitation - tackling underlying issues such as domestic and sexual abuse, substance misuse and mental health
• Resettlement - practical help to learn the skills needed to live in the community, sustain a tenancy and gain employment.

We aim to help people to make planned changes in their lives, often at crucial periods of transition. All services are provided on a voluntary basis in recognition of people’s rights to choose if they want to access the support provided.

Job title

Lead Practitioner - Ending Violence and Abuse in Aberdeen ("EVAA") Project - CLiCK Partnership 

Responsible to

Service Manager

Hours of Work

36.25 hours per week.

Salary

Scale points 28 - 30 - £23,399 - £25,184

SSSC registration level

Practitioner

Job Purpose

CLiCK is a pilot partnership initiative funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, through the Tampon Tax Fund.  The project is funded until 31 March 2021 and throughout this time will engage and support women advertising and selling sex online, and provide one to one outreach support. 

The Lead Practitioner will be pro-active in providing support to women, who sell or exchange sexual activity by working alongside key partners, including other Third Sector organisations.  This will be led by the needs of each individual women and using a harm reduction approach. 

The Lead Practitioner will also carry out induction and mentoring new staff, supervising practitioners and deputising on behalf of management as required.

We can only accept applications from female applicants for this role.  This post is covered by a Genuine Occupational Requirement (Schedule 9: Equality Act 2010).

Main Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver support to women who advertise online and who sell or exchange sexual activity through online outreach services. 
• Provide women who sell or exchange sexual activity with one to one support to allow them to access other relevant services. 
• Provide online advice and support through an online website.
• Assess and follow up referrals on a monthly basis through accurate & appropriate information gathering and the summarising of needs
• Form, develop, sustain and maintain relationships with women through which individual lifestyles and situations can be addressed.
• Work and support women on a day-to-day basis with a support plan.
• Intervene in crises to effectively avoid and pre-empt incidents and threats to personal safety.
• Liaise/work with a range of agencies in relation to meeting the needs of women.
• Advocate on women’s behalf and generally assist them with issues around communication.
• Ensure easier access to support for women who sell or exchange sexual activity by identifying and responding to needs and gaps in existing service provisos. 
• Support and encourage women to become involved in the development of the programme.
• Record and monitor service users progress and when required report these findings to your line manager.
• Ensure that women’s views and needs remain paramount and ensure that potential obstacles and issues are assessed and addressed.
• Assist women in their transition into the service and ensure that their basic needs are addressed and met (personal safety, safety in environment, health, finances, accommodation, etc.).
• Participate in the ongoing awareness raising of issues around violence against women and the around the work of the project and organisation.
• Support the wider work of our gender-based abuse service.
• Induct new staff into the service and provide mentoring, support and guidance to direct reports and less experienced staff.
• Formal Support and Supervision of Support Practitioners.
• Deputise for the Service Manager as and when required.

Systems

• Maintain paperwork – service user documentation (InForm) records, letters on behalf of women, H&S logs, diary entries, hours worked on tasks, etc.
• Handle finance (petty cash, service user finances, devolved budgets).
• Use computers/IT systems – Word, Excel, email, database.

Quality Standards 

• Working to the appropriate Social Care and Social Work Scotland Improvement (SCSWIS) standards – Care and Housing Support, Residential Care.
• Working to N/SVQ Level 3 standards.
• Working to the appropriate Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) standards for the registration of staff.
• Working to the appropriate Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator standards.
• Working to the appropriate commissioners standards (e.g. Aberdeen City Council, Scottish Government).
• Working to the appropriate Environmental Health standards.

General Terms of Reference 

 In carrying out the above activities, the Lead Practitioner will:

• Work on their own and/or as part of a team.
• Maximise her own performance and contribution;
• Ensure they comply with internal and external regulations, procedures and other requirements appertaining to the project;
• Maintain the good reputation of the organisation;
• Keep abreast of developments and legislation relevant to the project's range of activities;
• Seek to improve knowledge and skills by both formal and informal means;
• Carry out other relevant work commensurate with the post as required by the Line Manager.

Basis, Values and Equal Opportunities

• To respect and work according to the mission, aims and values in all aspects of the job and be responsible for the demonstration of these in the course of the daily work
• To respect and work according to our Equality and Diversity Policy and ensure its promotion in the course of daily work

Essential 

• A qualification of N/SVQ3 in Care, or equivalent
• Literacy and numeracy at a level to maintain all the appropriate paperwork, write reports and support plans and give budgeting advice.
• Ability to demonstrate extensive computer based skills and comfortable accessing and engaging with Service Users online.
• Providing assertive outreach to ‘hard-to-reach’ groups
• Experience of working with women with complex social needs
• Experience of inter-agency/partnership working
• Experience of working with disadvantaged people.

Desirable 

• Experience in using Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint
• An understanding of social justice issues such as homelessness, substance misuse and gender-based abuse.
• An understanding of legislation/practice pertaining to the work.
• Experience of facilitating training or group work programmes.

Key Capabilities

• Interpersonal understanding – listens and understands expressed feelings; demonstrates concern for others; encourages others to express themselves

• Emotional awareness – manages strong emotions and responds constructively; keeps own feelings in check; deals with stress

• Service user orientation – strives to meet and surpass service users expectations; maintains appropriate contact until problem is resolved; makes self available to service users at critical periods; able to advocate on behalf of service users

• Flexibility – adapts easily to changes at work; modifies behaviour in response to a situation; sees the merits of differing viewpoints

• Initiative – takes responsibility; looks ahead and anticipates what needs to be done; is able to assess and manage risks

• Team working – contributes fully to team work; establishes positive relationships with the team

• Working within Professional Boundaries – Demonstrates professional curiosity; accepts responsibility for own work; seeks and uses professional support; understands the principle of confidentiality

• Leadership – gives recognition and credit; generates enthusiasm and commitment

• Developing others – assumes responsibility for addressing service users’ skills; encourages initiatives in problem solving and making choices.

We can only accept applications from female applicants for this role.  This post is covered by a Genuine Occupational Requirement (Schedule 9: Equality Act 2010).

All positions with Aberdeen Cyrenians are subject to receipt of satisfactory references and completion of a Protecting Vulnerable People (PVG) check with Disclosure Scotland.

We regret that we are only able to consider applications from candidates who are already eligible to live and work in the UK and do not require organisational sponsorship.

Closing Date for Applications: 5pm, Monday 18th May 2020.