Senior Community Based Responses Manager

Job Title: Senior Community-Based Responses Manager

Reporting to: Head of Homeless Services

Date of Issue: January 2024

The Role

The Senior Community-Based Responses Manager has responsibility for the leading, coordination and delivery of all of COPE Galway’s community-based responses for single people who have experienced and are exiting homelessness, ensuring the delivery of high-quality services in line with NQSF (National Quality Standards Framework for Homeless Services) and leading and implementing change, identifying gaps in service delivery and designing and operationalising new services into the future. They have responsibility for ensuring the embedding of the values of COPE Galway and a trauma-informed approach within the services.

The role is a strategic one which sits between Service Managers and the Head of Homelessness. Managers in homeless services who work in community-based responses for single people will directly report to them. It is also a collaborative one where the person works closely with two other Senior Homeless Services Managers as well as the wider Homeless Services and COPE Galway Teams. The person will also strategically develop and nurture close collaborative relationships with statutory and voluntary agencies across Galway City and County.

This is a new role with space for the person to contribute to shaping the role and to creatively and dynamically lead the future direction of COPE Galway’s community-based responses to homelessness.

Current Community Based Responses

COPE Galway Resettlement Services works with a total of 117 clients across two strands of service delivery:

74 people across 23 houses in scatter site Community Based Housing across Galway City, including

Bridge House, our Towards Independence Project

43 people receiving tenancy sustainment support across Galway City and County.

Community Based Housing is a housing led approach to homelessness. Shared accommodation is a solution to the current shortage of appropriate and affordable one bed units for single people and provides an exit from homelessness. Our work is focused on providing dedicated move-on support to all community based housing clients to ensure reintegration into the community as well as throughput through the service.

Tenancy sustainment support is provided to people who have exited homeless services. The central and primary focus of this work is to support people who have exited homelessness to reintegrate into the community and to sustain their social housing and HAP tenancies in order to break their cycle of homelessness.

Housing First is being jointly delivered in the West Region by Galway Simon and COPE Galway. As part of a joint Intensive Case Management Service, a ‘Housing First’ approach where a person’s housing need is met, and wraparound supports are put in place to support the sustainment of their new home, is provided.to individuals who are long-term homeless experiencing significant, severe and complex mental health issues across the region.

Our Values, Our Work, Our People

Our Vision is a community where every person is valued, cared for, and supported at every stage of life. We work to achieve this by providing essential supports for people at challenging times in their lives, and by advocating for systemic change to remove the root causes of inequity and disadvantage that constrain the wellbeing and development of individuals, families and communities.

Our Mission is to make a difference by empowering people, creating change and strengthening communities. We understand, respect and respond to the needs of our clients who are always at the forefront of our work.

COPE Galway is committed to becoming a Trauma Informed Organisation through an implementation plan that includes training for all team members across all roles and departments. Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) aims to support us to recognise trauma and to react and respond to it in ways that minimise triggering and retraumatising people, so that we continue to provide the best possible services to those who need us most. TIP also encourages us to focus on our organisational culture and how we each interact with one another to create psychologically safe environments for clients, volunteers and staff. It encourages us to reflect on our own triggers and responses and considers personal and organisational responses to staff wellbeing to ensure that our people are supported to deliver the best services they possibly can to those who need them most.

Everything we do is guided by the COPE Galway Approach to help us achieve our vision of a community where every person is valued, cared for and supported at every stage of life.

This assets-based and person-centred approach recognises that each person has attributes and strengths that can make positive differences in their own lives. We achieve results for the people we work with because of our Approach.

The COPE Galway Approach is built on:

• Understanding – Deep listening, storytelling, learning, developing, openness, connections.
• Respect – Valuing the whole person, empowering, trusting, believing in the potential of others, drawing on strengths and abilities.
• Response – Quality, professionalism, making an impact, challenging ourselves, continuous improvement.

Strong human relationships form the basis for the COPE Galway Approach. These relationships are established on how we understand and respect those we work with and how we respond so that we positively impact people’s lives.

Our Team is supported by regular support and supervision, and access to our Employee Assistance Programme. Our people receive a wide variety of on-the-job training, with core training including Trauma Informed Practice, First Aid Responder, MAPA (Management of Actual and Potential Aggression), Overdose Response and Naloxone Administration and additional trainings including Values Workshops, Diversity Workshops and Harm Reduction Workshops.

Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership and Management

• To lead COPE Galway’s community-based responses to homelessness, heading up and line managing a team of managers and leads, and to develop and build capacity within the team
• To support managers to participate in recruitment, ensuring processes are fair and in line with those recommended by HR, and to participate when required
• To provide support and supervision to the Community Based Responses management team and to other team members in the absence of their manager
• To collaboratively lead the rollout of Trauma Informed Practice across Community-Based Responses
• To play a leading role in the rollout of reflective practice in Community-Based Responses
• To ensure a proactive approach on the part of the services to working with people who are either at risk of homelessness or homeless and to continue to promote and imbed this proactive approach when people move into tenancies
• To proactively identify gaps in service provision and design solutions for these, including the development of new services culture
• To be a role model, coach and mentor for all staff in COPE Galway’s Community-Based Responses to homelessness, embodying the values of the Organisation
• To model leadership behaviours and embed a positive values-led culture
• To co-develop plans for services in line with COPE Galway’s Strategic
• Plan and to ensure that staff at each level understand how their role contributes to the organisational achievement of this
• To encourage, support and role model collaboration across Homeless Services and the wider Organisation
• To ensure that COPE Galway’s Community-Based Responses are part of an integrated and unified Homeless Services
• To remain up-to-date on models of best practise practice and bring this learning into the Organisation

Operations

• To ensure continuity of service delivery, including adequate staffing, and to step in at times of staffing crises in Homeless Services
• To ensure that managers are operating the day-to-day functions of the service to run smoothly and in accordance with the policies and procedures of COPE Galway
• To ensure that confidentiality is maintained in accordance with the COPE Galway Data Protection Policies and Procedures and agreed information sharing protocols
• To ensure that administrative and financial procedures are carried out in accordance with organisation policies and requirements
• To ensure that administration and recording systems are continuously developed and in place and appropriately operated
• To support managers in the use of the database systems in place including PASS (Pathway Accommodation & Support System)
• To support managers to ensure that all incidents, emergencies, events and handovers are recorded using the recording systems in place
• To ensure that services work in line with NQSF (National Quality Standards Framework for Homeless Services)
• To analyse the training needs of staff in collaboration with HR and service managers
• To develop talent and plan for succession and progression
• To support managers with HR tasks and ensure their completion in conjunction with the HR Department and to actively participate when required
• To involve managers in financial planning for their services and ensure to the greatest extent their involvement and ownership of their service budgets

Client Services

• To support managers to ensure a safe, welcoming and friendly environment is established and maintained in the operation of the services
• To support the development and embedding of a proactive and flexible approach to client engagement
• To ensure that services operate a care and case management system in line with best practice
• To ensure that appropriate and effective procedures are in place for communication and consultation with clients including supporting the organisation’s policy of encouraging client involvement in a wide variety of ways
• To support managers to ensure that clients are consulted and involved in the operation of the project to the greatest practical extent
• To embed a culture of positively receiving complaints and feedback, to ensure that complaints are processed and dealt with in line with policy and procedure, to engage in the processing of escalated complaints
• To support managers and teams to reframe challenges in positive terms as learning opportunities for individuals and the Organisation and to support compassion, understanding, pragmatism and resilience in teams

Interagency

• To work effectively and in collaboration with Galway City and County Councils and the HSE and voluntary agencies as required
• To communicate effectively and respectfully with colleagues across agencies
• To develop and nurture positive and strategically beneficial relationships with relevant external agencies
• To support managers to report on work and activities to funders as appropriate
• To represent COPE Galway at external meetings and events and present the work of the Organisation when required

Health and Safety

• To instil a culture of Health and Safety as a priority within Community-Based Responses whilst prioritising client needs and to provide guidance and leadership in this area
• To ensure that health and safety standards across Community-Based Responses are maintained and to ensure adherence to COPE Galway’s Safety Statements and related policies and procedures at all times
• To provide leadership in the development and operation of Health and Safety procedures and practices across all services and properties linked to the family services, including the office spaces and accommodation units

General

• To work positively and effectively as a member of a management team, a Homeless Services team and the wider Organisation
• To facilitate, attend and contribute effectively to meetings as required
• To participate in regular supervision and annual appraisal and assist in job-related training needs
• To continue to learn and develop professionally through participating in training and workshops
• To adhere to all of COPE Galway’s policies and procedures
• To carry out any other reasonable duties as requested Please note, this list of duties is not exhaustive.
• This job description will be subject to review to take account of any changes necessary in response to changing needs and development of the services over time.

Key Terms and Conditions

Frequency of Work: 37 hours per week, roster to be agreed with Head of Homeless Services

Contract Period: Permanent

Salary/Pay-scale: EUR58,747 – EUR62,946

Method of Pay: Monthly by credit transfer

Annual Leave: 27 days per annum pro rata

Person Specification

Essential

• A minimum of five years’ experience of working in a management role in a comparable area of work
• A minimum of five years’ experience of working with vulnerable communities
• A recognised third level qualification (minimum level 8) in Social Care or a related field
• A minimum of three years’ specific experience of working with people experiencing homelessness
• A commitment to the Vision, Mission and Values of COPE Galway and to the achievement of the
• Organisation’s strategic goals
• A thorough understanding of the nature of homelessness and of the complex needs of homeless families
• Full clean driving license and own transport

Desirable

• Management qualification

Core Competencies

• An ability to develop and promote a culture of understanding, ownership and delivery of the Organisation’s vision
• An ability to drive and maintain a culture of expected standards of behaviour within the Organisation
• Strong Management, Leadership and Mentorship Skills
• Strong change management skills
• Strong advocacy skills
• A vision for the future of Homeless Responses for families
• Dynamism and creativity
• An ability to strategically evaluate the services provided by our Organisation and outcomes for our clients
• A commitment to working with a diverse client and staff group
• A commitment to collaborating with other agencies and services in the delivery of services
• An ability to build and maintain positive effective relationships and networks
• An ability to take responsibility for service delivery and outcomes
• A commitment to encouraging and promoting a healthy working environment which fosters trust, respect and hard work
• Innovation in identifying new ways of work with, liaise with and engage with clients
• An ability to solve complex problems, creating effective and innovative solutions
• Promotion of a culture of high-level trust and integrity
• An ability to remain calm and composed within a demanding and stressful environment and situations, focusing on tasks and goals and role modelling effective management of challenging situations to staff
• An ability to model the highest standards of professional practice and encourage others to strive for the same
• Excellent report writing, IT, communication and presentation skills