Key Information
Description
About Outward
Outward is a forward-thinking and inclusive charity supporting people to live with dignity and purpose. For more than 40 years, Outward has been providing high-quality support and care services to vulnerable people in London. We believe in engaging, enabling and empowering the people we support to make positive choices, have genuine control over their lives, play an active role in the community, take advantage of opportunities to develop as individuals and live the lives they want.
We are looking for an enthusiastic, creative, committed and proactive support worker to provide high quality care and support to the people we are supporting in Catherine House in Hackney.
Are you the person we are looking for?
Outward is an Equal Opportunities Employer, however due to the nature of the position, in this instance there is a Genuine Occupational Requirement to recruit female Support Workers.
Can you help a person we support achieve their goals – for example to empower someone who is non-verbal to use assistive technology to communicate via an IPad using communication software, to enable a person we support to keep in contact with family and friends to connect through our Alcove video call system. If these are activities that you can see yourself doing this could be the position for you.
The people we support are living in the community in an adapted supported living environment. They live in their own self-contained fully accessible flat. The service provides excellent support for people with profound multiple learning disabilities and autism to enable the people we support to have a good quality of life through providing access to a varied range of activities both in the community and within the home. People are supported, through a person centred approach, to access personally meaningful educational, sports and leisure opportunities. We ensure other support goals relating to health, housing, personal care etc. are on track. We also need drivers for one of the people we support.
Creative, multisensory approaches, active support, good communication tools and partnership working are critical to ensuring the best possible life opportunities for people with PMLD and autism.
What we expect from you:
- An excellent team player
- Active support
- Person centred approaches
- Being creative and empowering in your support practice
- Having resilience and embracing positive behaviour support approaches
As a support worker your duties will include:
- To share Outward values of enabling, empowering and engaging and be able to implement these
- Provide support to individuals in line with support plans & risk assessments
- Coordinating packages of care & support for people and contributing to reviews of these
- Demonstrate good IT and be able to record information clearly and professionally
- Good verbal & written communication skills to liaise with families, health and other professionals / able to use communication approaches to engage with the people we support
- Deliver a service that promotes and supports choice, empowers individuals
- Putting the people we support at the heart of your work promoting each individual’s needs for independence, wellbeing, dignity.
- Flexible approach to shift patterns that could include evenings, weekends and bank holidays
- To contribute in the compilation of essential documents
- Candidates with valid driving licence will be an added advantage to our service.
Positive behaviour Support
Outward Housing supports people who are known to present behaviours of concern by using the Positive Behaviour support model because PBS puts the person first.
PBS is pro-active and the main focus is getting the environment right for the individual, rather than responses/reactions following challenging behaviour and on better supporting the person through improving their quality of life.
PBS approaches are based on a set of values of enabling inclusion, choice, participation and equality of opportunity. PBS is about working in partnership with the person, their family, staff and professionals.
Existing knowledge/experience in following the PBS approach would be beneficial but not essential as we do provide extensive training. A shared value of understanding and supporting a person’s behaviour and finding ways to work with them to improve this is essential.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of adults at risk and expect all staff to share this commitment. If the post you apply for involves working with or having access to adults at risk and/or their records, we will require an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Services. This will be fully subsidised by Outward.
Benefits
We value everything our staff do for the people we support, so we provide a great benefits package:
- 25 days Annual Leave excluding Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time)
- Comprehensive Learning & Development Programme
- Computing Scheme
- Credit Union Scheme
- Cycle-to-Work Scheme
- Death in Service Benefit
- Health Assured – Employee Assistance Programme
- Eye care Vouchers
- Flu Jab Reimbursement
- Long Service Awards
- Pension Scheme
- Purchase Additional Annual Leave
- Refer-a-Friend Scheme
- Retirements
- Loans (including season tickets and parking permit loans)
- Blue Light Card
How to Apply
If you think you meet the requirements of the role then please complete an application form detailing how by referring to the job description and person specification. This can be completed by following the link below:
The closing date for all applications is 9th May 2023
Interviews will be held week commencing 22nd May 2023
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of adults at risk and expect all staff to share this commitment. If the post you apply for involves working with or having access to adults at risk and/or their records, we will require an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Services. This will be fully subsidised by Outward.
Outward is committed to equality and diversity and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.