Independent Living Support Worker
Depaul
Independent Living Support Worker
Depaul
Provides compassionate, person-centered housing and services
Independent Living Support Worker (Peer-Led)
Salary: £ 25,394.88 Contract: Fixed Term December 2027
Hours: 35 per week - Varied 7 day rota with several shift patterns
Location: Unit 4 Nelson Street BT15 1BH
Employee Benefits
Why work for us?
Depaul is a cross border charity supporting some of the most marginalised individuals, couples and families experiencing homelessness. Our mission is to end homelessness and change the lives of those affected by it. Would you like to help us to meet our mission?
We are a values led organisation and aim, at all times, to live and breathe these values in our everyday work. Our values are based on four key principles:
If you choose to work for Depaul, the Independent Living Support Worker (Peer-Led) role is a key part of our Housing First/Complex Lives portfolio. As a values-led organisation, the Lived Experience Support Worker will utilise their personal experiences of homelessness, substance use, mental health, or the criminal justice system to inspire, guide, and mentor clients who are currently navigating similar challenges.
This role bridges the gap between service users and professional systems, fostering trust, reducing isolation, and facilitating smoother paths to stable housing and well-being. The role focuses on providing authentic peer support to service users whose complex needs may include addiction, mental health, or criminal justice involvement in combination.
Service users may be in temporary accommodation or their own homes, with you engaging them individually and in low-barrier group/social settings. You will help service users navigate their personal support plans, break down long-term goals into realistic daily steps, and develop independent living skills.
Key aspects of the role include providing harm reduction advice & guidance, personal development through lifeskills development, tenancy sustainment, system navigation and advocacy, community integration, and building supportive social networks.
You will be part of a wider network of Subject Matter Experts within the organisation. As a peer expert, you will contribute to co-production, research, strategic forums, and service evaluations to ensure the voices of service users actively shape organisational policy.
Key Responsibilities
● Peer Support & Relationship Building: Establish authentic, trusting, non-judgemental, and empathetic relationships with vulnerable adults with complex needs to support them in building resilience, capacity, and achieving their personal goals.
● Boundary Management: Maintain strict professional boundaries, ensure confidentiality, and prioritize safety and risk management (including lone working) while working closely with service users.
● System Navigation & Advocacy: Assist clients in understanding their rights and navigating the housing sector, mental health providers, benefits systems, legal services, and support services.
● Engagement & Outreach: Deliver community outreach, accompany clients to medical, legal, or housing appointments, and promote services across homeless settings.
● Facilitating Safe Spaces: Set up and lead low-barrier activities, confidence building sessions, information sessions, practical life skill activities, check-ins, and coffee mornings.
● Co-production & Service Design: Actively contribute to staff meetings, strategic forums, research, and service evaluations to ensure service user voices inform policy and service delivery.
● Project Administration & Care Continuity: Carry out project administration tasks such as record keeping of Service User files, incident reporting, financial records, and liaise with referring agencies (such as Complex Lives and external providers) to ensure continued care.
● Team & Self-Development: Participate in team meetings, mandatory training, regular supervision, annual appraisals, and assessing new referrals alongside your line manager.
● To respect service users’ rights to confidentiality as per the Depaul Confidentiality policy and code of conduct. ● To promote respect, diversity, and equal opportunities across all duties.
The above list is not exhaustive; additional areas of responsibility may be added over time and flexibility to cover for other staff roles is required from time to time.
Experience
1 year paid relevant work experience or 2 years relevant volunteering experience.
Personal Requirements
● Personal lived experience/insights into the challenges of homelessness, substance use, mental health, or the criminal justice system.
● Demonstration of personal stability, showing sufficient time and distance from personal crisis to safely support others without impacting your own well-being.
● Ability to build authentic, empathetic, and trusting relationships while maintaining clear professional boundaries.
● Good standard of literacy and basic IT skills.
● Willingness to engage in personal development, training, and growth.
● Knowledge of practical skills required for independent living and harm reduction.
● Comfortable working alone with service users and maintaining awareness of personal safety and risk management.
● Willingness to travel outside of Belfast when required.
Enhanced Checks & Criminal Records
As a values-led organisation, Depaul considers candidates on a case-by-case basis and actively encourages applications from individuals with lived experience of the criminal justice system.
This post is subject to an Enhanced Access NI check. Having a criminal record will not necessarily debar or eliminate you from working with Depaul. Suitability will be assessed on a case-by-case basis depending on the nature of the position, the circumstances and background of your offences, and your distance from past crisis.
NISCC
This post is subject to NISCC registration. If you do not currently hold valid registration, this must be completed within your probationary period.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Depaul strives to create a diverse and inclusive programme and is committed to ensuring equality of access to our opportunities and equality of treatment for our staff in all our policies and practices. We welcome applications from individuals aged 18 and over from a diverse range of backgrounds.
View our privacy statement here: https://ie.depaulcharity.org/about-us/careers/
Depaul provides housing and supportive services to people in need, focusing on compassionate, person-centered care. Its offerings combine stable housing with tailored supports such as case management, counseling, and employment assistance to help individuals address housing, health, and social needs. This approach helps clients achieve lasting change and greater stability rather than just short-term shelter. Depaul differentiates itself by prioritizing individualized, humane support and a holistic view of each person’s path to stability, rather than offering generic programs. The company’s goal is to create a foundation for lasting change by delivering housing options paired with services that empower people to improve their lives.
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