Introduction
Councils have a statutory duty to give assistance and
accommodation to certain groups of homeless people. Homeless
Persons Officers are involved in the process of providing homeless
people with temporary accommodation and developing strategies to
prevent homelessness wherever possible providing families with
advice and information.
Work Environment
Homeless Persons Officers spend some of their time travelling
within their area to interview homeless people living in temporary
accommodation. They spend the rest of their time working in
council offices. Hours of work are 37 per week but are
flexible. Some evening and weekend work is normally required,
as it may be necessary to be on-call by telephone out of working
hours on a rota basis.
Daily Activities
Homeless Persons Officers place homeless people in temporary
accommodation. Some may have been evicted for non-payment of rent,
for antisocial behaviour or simply following a disagreement with
their landlord. Others may have recently arrived in the area
and have nowhere to live. Homeless Persons Officers may be
involved in a variety of different tasks when trying to house
homeless people:
- finding out why they have no home and if applicable, the reason
for leaving their previous accommodation;
- arranging temporary accommodation - in one of the council's own
empty properties, in a hostel or in rented accommodation in the
private sector such as a bed and breakfast establishment;
- trying to find permanent accommodation by establishing the
people's likely entitlement to accommodation, using a list of
criteria drawn up by the council's housing department;
- helping people to make an application for housing.
Emergency accommodation may be difficult to find - and not of
the type that the homeless person is expecting. Homeless
Persons Officers have to be diplomatic in encouraging them to
accept it or to be firm when explaining that there is no
alternative. They may also have to explain that permanent
accommodation may not be available for some time due to large
numbers of families on the housing waiting list. Some of the
homeless people that Homeless Persons Officers deal with may have
mental health, drug-related or alcohol-induced problems and exhibit
challenging behaviour, which means they must communicate
sensitively with them. If, out of normal working hours, they
are notified (by social workers, police officers or voluntary
workers) that someone has suddenly become homeless, they have to
arrange temporary emergency accommodation.
Skills & Interests
It is essential to:
- have excellent communicators skills with the ability to work
with people who are in distress;
- be able to help people without becoming judgmental;
- be sympathetic yet fair;
- be able to work on their own initiative;
- be able to cope when under pressure.
Entry Requirements
Entry requirements may vary, but often, previous experience in a
housing or homelessness advice setting is desirable.
Councils may ask for a minimum of four GCSEs/S grades at C/3 or
above. Other requirements include:
- must have or be working towards a relevant Housing
qualification;
- an awareness of the issues surrounding homelessness and
experience of dealing with this client group;
- relevant experience of the benefits systems, e.g. Housing
Benefit, Welfare Benefits;
- the ability to produce reports, meet deadlines and maintain
statistical information and prioritise work;
- to be computer literate with excellent communication and
assertiveness skills;
- a full driving licence.
Future Prospects & Opportunities
There may be opportunities to move into a more general housing
related role. It may be possible to progress to housing
manager and also move into work such as benefits, employment advice
or hostel management.
Further Information & Services
Asset Skills www.assetskills.org
Centrepoint www.centrepoint.org.uk
Chartered Institute of Housing www.cih.org
Crisis www.crisis.org.uk
Homeless Link www.homeless.org.uk
Llamau www.llamau.org.uk
You may find further information about this area of work through
Careers Wales (www.careerswales.com/) or
in your local library, careers office or school careers
library.