Job Title: Female Support Worker

Reports to: Service Co-ordinator
Objective: To work directly with female service users experiencing complex needs and support the
development of a women’s only service.
Hours: 39 hours per week
Contract length: 2 years Fixed Term contract, with possibility of extension subject to funding
Salary Scale: €31,290 – €37,800 (39 hrs per week) dependent on experience.

MQI are looking to recruit a Female Support Worker to work in an exciting new Female Specific service.

These roles will be part of the team responsible for setting up, establishing and operation of a new
female only day service, “Jane’s Place”, temporarily based in Dolphins Barn with in-reach clinics into partner agencies. The female only day service will provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for access to information and supports across health, addiction, life skills, gender-based violence, coercive control, legal issues, education, employment support, counselling and mental health services. The role involves some 1:1 work with female service users, group work, in-reach into other community projects as well as advocating and
giving a voice to female service users, facilitating research.

This is a great opportunity for someone looking to get involved at the start of a new service supporting women in a holistic and trauma informed way.

Main responsibilities:
• Working specifically to target and engage with female service users (women over 18 who are
experiencing multiple disadvantage- homelessness, health and addiction, abuse, marginalisation,
inequality)
• Development of women’s only service/centre – a female specific space that supports and attends to safety needs of women.
• One to one crisis interventions that gives women immediate access to support.
• Inter-agency and collaborative working with specialist services to better meet the needs of women, in a holistic, person-centred way.
• Work to improve outcomes, creating pathways and enabling access of women into appropriate
services.
• Network with other organisations and agencies who support and work with women with complex
or multiple needs and issues.
• Provision of an empowering, peer support and group space/environment that strengthens and
encourages the belief for women in their own ability to make positive change in their lives, at their
pace.
• Develop Peer lead initiatives and programmes within the women’s service.
• To work with and facilitate women’s groups that provide educational, emotional and personal
support to its participants.
• Developing collaborative initiatives with specialist services aimed at addressing complex needs of
women.
• Working to enable access to and pathways out of services.
• Advocacy work, raising awareness of issues women face, in order to promote, inform and influence
policy.
• Developing strategies in order to increase engagement with women.
• Attend training, seminars, conferences, networks, engagement forums etc related to women’s
specific services/representing etc
• Establishing and developing links and interagency working with specialist and statutory services.
• To participate in internal and external meetings as required.
• To have a flexible approach to the work in response to organisational change, development and
review of best practice.
• Reporting to the Service Coordinator for individual support, supervision, performance appraisal and working within the parameters of the MQI HR and H&S policies and procedures.
• To ensure that Health & Safety standards are maintained in accordance with the H&S Statement of
MQI and to attend H&S Committee Meetings.

Client work:
• Build trusting and supportive relationships with female service users.
• Developing classes and programmes that promote personal and social development of females.
• To support female services users in safe, client centred, trauma informed environment.
• To identify the multiple needs of female service users.
• To provide early and crisis intervention, information, referral, advice, advocacy in a person-centred
capacity.
• To provide high quality needs led and targeted supports to women with complex needs.
• To provide crisis and case management support in an outreach and in reach capacity.
• Working within a trauma informed approach to improve outcomes for women accessing crisis
services, with multiple needs.
• To when, and wherever possible, involve and include service users in the ongoing development of
the service and to have their participation built into service plans when feasible.

Reporting:
• Produce standard monthly reports for the Service Co-Ordinator and/or Manager of Day Services in
line with funding agencies requirements and compile any ad hoc information requests as required.
• Responsible for ensuring that service user records and data are kept updated on the CRM system at all times and provide reports to the Service Co-Ordinator in keeping with all required deadlines and on an ad hoc basis as required.
• To complete all administrative tasks such as report writing, collation of statistics maintenance of
accurate service user records, up to date case notes, relevant form filling in order to ensure that the
service runs smoothly, safely and effectively.

Person specification:
– Must have a relevant qualification (minimum QQI Third Level 7 or equivalent) e.g. social care, addiction or related field.
– Must have a minimum of 2 years relevant employed work experience in addiction/community sector.
– Development, health & social care, education or related fields.
– Have experience of key working, case management and group facilitation.
– Understanding of the issues facing women with complex needs
– A knowledge and understanding of a trauma informed approach.

If you are interested in applying for this position, please complete the attached application form and email to recruitment@mqi.ie with a copy of your up-to-date CV by close of business on the 19th September 2022. Please ensure to include the following title in the subject line of your email ‘Female Support Worker C0274’.Employment Application Form REVISED Feb 2021

These roles are subject to Garda Vetting. MQI reserves the right to review and amend this job description as appropriate. Merchants Quay Ireland is an equal opportunities employer.