Are you looking for a sense of purpose in your job? Would you like to support people who are or have experienced homelessness and also struggle with alcohol or drug use?

Being an outreach worker is varied and rewarding work. It also gives invaluable insight into health and social care systems for anyone looking to go into public health and policy work.

You will be a professional and motivated individual who is committed to providing assertive outreach and case management to engage or re-engage people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness into wellbeing services and drug and alcohol treatment. You’ll be able to work independently, but also as part of a supportive team.

Some key aspects of the role include:

• To carry out triage and comprehensive substance misuse assessments, risk assessments and develop person-centred care plans and risk management plans.
• To provide evidence-based psychosocial interventions that align to the individual’s needs and goals, drawing upon Via’s Core Model curriculum and other tools and techniques, such as ITEP maps.
• Conduct street outreach to engage/reengage homeless individuals who are misusing drugs or alcohol.
• Deliver satellite provisions within local services e.g. hostels and day centres.
• Provide effective and relevant harm reduction advice and interventions, including needle exchange, advice about synthetic opioids, and suicide prevention.
• Represent Via by working professionally in collaboration with partner agencies including those in housing, immigration, healthcare, etc.

Strong communication skills, empathy and patience are needed for the post holder to providing care to service users who have diagnosed mental illness, have experienced complex trauma, and who experience difficulties engaging with mainstream services.

Language skills in Punjabi, Romanian, Lithuanian or Russian would be desirable but are not essential.