Job Title:                        Homeless Services Manager, Fairgreen STA

Reporting to:                   Head of Homeless Services

The Role

The Fairgreen Hostel Manager has responsibility for the leadership and operation of this STA (Supported Temporary Accommodation) service for individual men experiencing homelessness, focusing on ensuring the provision of a high quality service in line with NQSF (National Quality Standards Framework for Homeless Services) and leading, supporting and supervising our staff to work to their fullest potential. They have a role in mentoring and supporting their colleagues with an aim of collaboratively embedding the values of COPE Galway and a trauma-informed approach within the service.

The Service

COPE Galway’s Fairgreen Hostel is a 24/7 26-bed STA service for men who are experiencing homelessness in Galway. The central and primary focus of the team’s work is to support people to source long term accommodation in order to break their cycle of homelessness. Each individual client is assigned a keyworker to work with them on a one-to-one basis to assess their holistic needs and to together determine a support plan which may include social supports, life skill supports, mental and physical health supports, education supports and addiction supports.

The team includes both social care and ancillary staff and the Manager is part of a leadership team that includes a team leader who they also line manage.

A long-standing service in Galway City, Fairgreen Hostel is part of a suite of emergency responses to homelessness offered by COPE Galway.

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-centered 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

The Manager is responsible to the Head of Homeless Services. Their (not exhaustive) key duties are:

Leadership and management

• To lead the Fairgreen Hostel Team and to build capacity within the team
• To participate in the recruitment and induction of staff as appropriate
• To line manage and provide support and supervision to staff, including the Team Leader
• To support the rollout of Trauma Informed Practice in the service
• To model leadership behaviours and embed a positive values-led culture
• To contribute to the development of reflective practice in the service
• To develop and imbed a proactive approach on the part of the service 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 identify gaps in service provision and work to reduce these through service development

Service Management

• To ensure the day-to-day operations of the service run smoothly and in accordance with the policies and procedures of COPE Galway
• To carry out administrative and financial procedures in accordance with organisation policies
• To ensure that administration and recording systems are developed and in place and appropriately operated
• To oversee the use the database systems in place including PASS (Pathway Accommodation & Support System)
• To ensure that all incidents, emergencies, events and handovers are recorded using the recording systems in place
• To deal with maintenance issues and to ensure the upkeep of the facility
• To ensure that clients are consulted and involved in the operation of the project to the greatest practical extent
• To work in line with NQSF (National Quality Standards Framework for Homeless Services)
• To process and deal with complaints in line with policy and procedure
• To provide regular reports on performance and other issues, as required

Client Services

• To ensure a safe, welcoming and friendly environment is established and maintained in the operation of the service
• To develop and imbed a proactive and flexible approach to client engagement
• To ensure that assessments are carried out in a professional, sensitive and appropriate manner
• To oversee the referral process to the service
• To ensure that the service operates a care and case management primarily focused on assisting and supporting people to exit emergency accommodation and homelessness into long-term housing and accommodation
• To support the team in supporting clients with behaviours that challenge in line with the principles of Trauma Informed Practice
• To support the key working process ensuring it supports clients to access local services such as housing, welfare, medical, education and training and employment services
• To be proactive in addressing difficult or problematic situations as they arise in a sensitive and direct manner within the framework of the organisational policies and procedures
• 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 the development of the service in the future

Interagency

• To work effectively and in collaboration with Galway City and County Councils and where necessary the HSE
• To communicate effectively and respectfully with colleagues and clients
• To develop and maintain positive and mutually beneficial relationships with relevant external agencies
• To contribute to the fostering of positive relations with the local community and in particular with those living in the immediate neighbourhood by responding to enquiries made to the project
• To report on work and activities to funders as appropriate

Health and Safety

• To ensure that health and safety standards are maintained and adhered to, including COPE Galway’s Safety Statement and related policies and procedures
• To ensure that domestic, health, and hygiene standards in the building are maintained to the highest standards.
• To foster a Health and Safety culture in the service

General

• To work positively and effectively as a member of a team and the wider organisation
• To attend and contribute to Homeless Services Leads team meetings and other 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 ensure adherence within the service at all times to the COPE Galway Child Protection and Welfare Policy & Procedure and the Children First Guidelines  
• To ensure that confidentiality is maintained in accordance with the COPE Galway Data Protection Policies and Procedures and agreed information sharing protocols
• To adhere to all of COPE Galway’s policies and procedures
• To participate in on-call management duties
• To carry out any other reasonable duties as requested

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:            €53,068

Method of Pay:               Monthly by credit transfer

Annual Leave:                 27 days per annum pro rata

Person Specification

Essential

• A minimum of two years’ experience of working in a management role in a comparable area of work (homeless services, community services etc.)
• A minimum of three 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 two years’ specific experience of working with people experiencing homelessness or people who are socially disadvantaged
• 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 people experiencing homelessness

Core competencies

• An ability to develop and promote a culture of understanding, ownership and delivery of the organisation’s vision
• A commitment to collaborating with other agencies and services in the delivery of this organisational vision
• An ability to build, maintain and 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 to work with, liaise with and engage with clients
• An ability to solve complex problems, creating effective and innovative solution
• Professionalism and role modelling positive professional behaviours
• Promotion of a culture of high level trust and integrity
• Encouragement of staff to identify strengths and focus on progress, despite the challenges they face
•  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