Job Title:                          Senior Family Responses Manager

Reporting to:                   Head of Homeless Services

The Role

The Senior Family Responses Manager has responsibility for the leading, coordination and delivery of all of COPE Galway’s services for families who are homeless or at risk of 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. They hold the responsibility for ensuring adherence to Children First and Child Protection policies and procedures within all Family Responses.

The role is a strategic one which sits between Service Managers and the Head of Homelessness, Managers in homeless services that work with families 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 responses to family homelessness.

Current Family Services

COPE Galway Family Services works with and supports families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including providing, and placing families in, emergency accommodation (including private emergency accommodation such as B&Bs’ and Hotels, own door self-contained units and a separately run Family Hub); homeless prevention interventions, resettlement and tenancy support and the provision of information and referral to mainstream services and assistance is securing long term housing.  

The work of the Service is encapsulated under the four headings of;

Prevention – early identification and intervention for families at risk of becoming homeless

Emergency Accommodation and Support – assessments and arranging of appropriate emergency accommodation placement

Resettlement – supporting families to exit homelessness and supporting them in taking up a tenancy and re-establishing a home

Tenancy Support – providing on-going support to families to sustain their tenancies

COPE Galway Corrib Haven Family Hub is an emergency accommodation facility for 10 single parent families experiencing homelessness. Corrib Haven provides intensive keyworking supports especially focused on housing to support a successful exit from homelessness.

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

Leadership and Management

• To lead COPE Galway’s responses to family 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 Family Services management team and to other team members in the absence of their manager
• To collaboratively lead the rollout of Trauma Informed Practice across Family Responses
• To play a leading role in the rollout of reflective practice in Family Responses
• To ensure a proactive approach on the part of the service to working with families who are either at risk of homelessness or homeless and to continue to promote and imbed this proactive approach when families 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 Family Homeless Responses, 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 Family 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 take a leadership role within COPE Galway Homeless Services in relation to child protection and welfare and to ensure adherence within Family Responses 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 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 including increasing the focus on families at risk of homelessness
• 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 instill a culture of Health and Safety as a priority within Family Responses whilst prioritising client needs and to provide guidance and leadership in this area
• To ensure that health and safety standards across Family 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 provide on call management support when scheduled.
• 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:           €60,092 per annum

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 (homeless services, community services, health services, family services etc.)
• 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 homeless families or families 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 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