ROLE PROFILE Specialist Advisor (Chemsex Gay Men s Sex Advisor) role RESPONSIBLE TO: HOURS OF WORK: SALARY: LOCATION: Service Manager LGBT Links/Embrace Life 20 hours per week (working evenings and occasional weekends) 9,880 per annum (pro rata 35 hrs per week 17,290) Based at The Hive, 63 Inkeman Street, Luton, LU1 1JD About LCH At Luton Community Housing (LCH) we pride ourselves on being a great place to work, where everyone feels fairly treated and enjoys their work in a welcoming and friendly environment. We re a not-for-profit housing association that has been providing affordable housing in Luton and South Bedfordshire since 1962. Our services don t stop there. Our mission is HOMES SUPPORT HOPE - as well as providing housing for our customers we firmly believe in proactively supporting them to improve their lives. Social Housing is an increasingly scarce resource, much needed but only a small percentage of the population are lucky enough to be able to access it. LCH sees its tenants and residents as individuals who have choices; although at the time they come to us they may not be aware of that. That s why we call them customers. Perhaps that s where the analogy ends as LCH does not want to retain the same customers for ever. We want them to come to us, benefit from our services and at some future date, move on, in a way that suits the individual customer. LCH refuses to stand still; having a strong local identity we may be small but we re growing and our ambition coupled with a compelling strategy is part of the momentum that carries us forward. We want to work with like-minded people who believe in our values and like to get things done. About the team LGBT Links LGBT Links Luton, a vital division of LCH, is a local charity that offers support and advice to the LGB & T community in the Luton area. LGBT Links was established in 2015 and is already a very successful arm of the LCH business, with an eye for future growth and further success.
About the job You ll play an important role at LGBT Links Luton addressing the rising trend of MSMs (men who have sex with men) engaging in sexual encounters while under the influence of drugs. This role will require a knowledge of safe drug use, risk reduction, care plans, motivational interviewing techniques and sexual health (reducing risks). You ll manage and lead your own cases both within LGBT Links and with external clients. These are the things you ll need to do in your role. You may be asked to achieve additional objectives as part of your development or as the role evolves. Meet service users accessing support around the use of recreational drugs in a sexual context (the practice often referred to as Chemsex), in one-to-one or group settings. Provide interventions that include safer sexual practice, safer drug use/harm reduction strategies, identifying goals for behaviour change, developing a short-term care plan and affecting appropriate referrals to structured support/medical specialists when necessary. Abide by the code of practice of LCH to observe confidentiality that is paramount to working with clients in a sexual health setting. All personal and medical details relating to clients are to be kept confidential and within the realms of the Data Protection Policy. Liaise with clinicians at Luton Sexual Health and with Key Workers at Resolutions on the topics of medical advice and substance misuse. This will include assessment and management of service users with organic conditions. Ensure effective handover at the end of each shift to the Service Manager or as soon as any difficulty with service users arise. Attend regular support and training sessions with LGBT Links, drug & alcohol services and Luton Sexual Health and all other necessary service providers. Liaise with colleagues regarding service users appointments and logging attendances. Support service users to facilitate paper registration. Deliver outreach interventions (attending saunas and other places frequented by MSMs) to raise awareness and ensure possible service users know about the service. Ensure engagement with potential service users via online platforms, including apps such as Grindr, Scruff, ETC.
Work closely with statutory and non-statutory services in Luton to promote the Chemsex service in a professional and informative manner. Understand and follow LCH s policies and procedures at all times, including Health and Safety, Fairness, and Business Continuity Planning. Take responsibility for undertaking the appropriate level of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check every 2 years, updating your Manager of any changes in your status. About you You ll play an important role in LCH both now and as we develop and grow. LCH is searching for innovative ways to enable as many people as possible to benefit from our limited housing resource. We need a flexible and knowledgeable individual with experience of working in the field of sexual health and drug and alcohol. You ll be a rare individual who is capable of marrying strong relationships with skills of empathy and support for individuals in the position to make positive lifestyle changes. You ll be a proactive and motivated, hard-working self starter, and you will be organised, efficient, able to work quickly and accurately under pressure whilst maintaining excellent client care at all times. You will also be someone who is used to working alone and working evenings. Needless to say, you ll be willing to go the extra mile to get the job done! The table below details the essential and desirable qualifications, knowledge, experience and skills you will need to perform in the role successfully. Our selection process will be based on assessing you against this criteria and how you fit with the required behaviours and values. The behaviours and values particularly relevant to this role are detailed in the following section About Your Journey With Us. Essential Desirable / Added Value Qualifications Educated to A Level/GCSE standard in English and Mathematics or equivalent Knowledge Understanding the reduction methods of drug and alcohol Understanding use of online Apps and tools Understanding of sexual health and risky behaviour Experience Motivational interview techniques Working with different demographics Experience of building robust and strong
Understanding of risk assessments and care plans Excellent partnership and relationship building Working in a demanding, customer focussed environment relationships with external third parties Skills IT literate, including the ability to use a range of office software packages e.g. Microsoft Word and Excel Excellent written and verbal communication skills Numeracy and English competence Excellent administrative skills Ability to prioritise work load, and meet/exceed demanding targets High accuracy and attention to detail Full (clean) driving licence and access to a car for work. About your journey with us We have always worked really closely with our values at LCH and have a way of doing things to make sure we are all travelling in the right direction. We call this the Navigator. It s how we create a great place to work, provide the best possible service to our customers, and build ourselves enjoyable and rewarding careers. We ve built this on four key themes:
In particular you ll need to be the sort of person who: Understand: is consistently approachable, friendly and welcoming, adapting to individuals from different backgrounds and cultures and supporting equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion. Maintains confidentiality and clear boundaries with customers and colleagues, you ll offer balanced and constructive feedback to others and be sensitive to situations and problems that others are facing. Grow: takes ownership for meeting deadlines by prioritising, planning and organising work whilst listening to others and valuing their input; is accountable for your decisions and actions, challenging yourself to go beyond the comfort zone. You ll also thrive on networking and building relationships. Recognise: delivers what you say you will, gaining credibility by being calm, capable and confident, reliable and punctual; treating customers and colleagues with genuine respect. You ll communicate clearly, showing warmth and respecting others preferences for a way of communicating
Deliver: ensures that what we do makes business sense, so we can achieve our goals; showing your enthusiasm and passion for what LCH does and our values, providing the highest possible standard of service to customers. About our ways of working The Navigator behaviour framework helps us to check that our ways of working exemplify our values. This is important in looking at our performance. As part of your journey with us you ll have a Personal Review Framework in place to help you work towards our values both company and personal, take ownership for what you do and deliver on your promises.