Job Description
Purpose
The role is twofold: supporting clients directly and coordinating a pool of volunteers with the training, knowledge, and skills they need to provide basic advice. Practically, this will mean undertaking benefit reviews, helping clients apply for welfare and health benefits, supporting clients in challenging benefit decisions and sanctions, referring clients to our trusted partners for energy, debt, and housing, and supporting our clients in the most appropriate way to empower them to change their situation.
Principal Responsibilities
* Setting up the Client Support Advice Service
o To coordinate a support and advice service for all FRC Clients.
o To ensure the resources for operating a sound advice service are in place, including policies and procedures (training for this will be provided).
o To link with the Trussell supervision, accessing regular support to ensure quality checks of the service being provided.
o Uphold safeguarding, health and safety, professional boundaries, data protection and confidentiality, policies, and reporting any concerns to the Food Services Manager.
* Advice & Advocacy
o Meet with clients to establish their current financial situation and ascertain the underlying causes of their crisis.
o Agree with clients on their priorities for addressing their current difficulties, being careful to manage their expectations and not overpromise what you can support them with.
o Hold a caseload of clients who need in-depth support and undertake a benefit review if appropriate, and support the client to make an application for welfare or health benefits.
o Refer clients to Citizens Advice, CPAG & others for specialist debt advice where the client's situation demands it.
o Support clients, where necessary, to calculate, negotiate, draft/write letters & emails and use the telephone.
o Supporting clients with individual grant and funding applications and making follow-up appointments with clients.
o Negotiate with third parties, such as statutory and non-statutory bodies, as appropriate, and, with permission, refer them to other specialist partner agencies as appropriate.
o Ensure accurate recording of all details of advice and casework on our database.
o Maintain detailed, up-to-date, and confidential case notes and supporting documentation for information retrieval and continuity of casework.
o Along with the Food Services Manager, review cases regularly, ensure actions are followed up, and close cases at the appropriate time.
* Triaging volunteers
o Create a welcoming, caring and friendly atmosphere for volunteers and people coming to the food service locations.
o To train, coach and support a pool of volunteers, so they have the knowledge and develop good advice-giving and triaging skills.
o Train volunteers to offer a listening ear and signpost clients as required, to support further, using information from the signposting portal and other resources.
o Ensure through regular refresher training and monitoring that volunteers work within our policies, uphold safeguarding, health and safety, professional boundaries, data protection and confidentiality, and report any concerns to the Food Services Manager.
o Monitor and quality check the information being given to clients by volunteers to ensure consistency and accuracy.
o Follow up with volunteers offering additional support where appropriate.
o Adhere to all Data Protection Act requirements.
* General
o Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the benefits system, case law, the effects of welfare reform, and any forthcoming changes.
o Prepare for and attend supervision sessions/team meetings as appropriate.
o Attend relevant internal and external meetings as agreed with the Food Services Manager.
o Working to KPI's and reporting.
About you
* Background working in benefits, PIP, and DWP environments.
* Able to coach and mentor others.
* Experience of working with and supporting volunteers.
* Strong, proactive team leader.
* Excellent communication skills.
* Empathetic and understanding of supporting vulnerable people.
* Good IT skills and knowledge of using databases.
* Organised and self-motivated.
* Sympathetic to our Christian ethos.
Training
Trussell training will be provided in all aspects of the role, and ongoing training will be made available to the successful applicant in areas such as changes to welfare benefits, debt, housing, GDPR, H&S, safeguarding, other legislation, and personal development skills.
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