Young People Support Worker

Young People Support Worker

If you are the successful candidate, you will be joining a very tight-knit and supportive team that works tirelessly to ensure some of the most vulnerable individuals in the borough are well-cared for.

Location: Chester, Cheshire

Salary: £26,436 per annum + sleep in payments

Closing Date: 12 August, 2026

Employment Type: Permanent

Hours per week: 37.5

About the Role

Young People Support Worker (+ Sleep-in Payments) – Chester

Make a real difference to the lives of young people leaving care. As a Young People Support Worker at our service in Chester, you'll support young people aged 16–18 to build the confidence, resilience and practical skills they need to live independently. You'll manage a caseload, deliver personalised support plans, promote wellbeing, and help young people access housing, education, training and employment opportunities.

You will be someone with experience supporting young people or vulnerable groups, strong safeguarding knowledge, and the ability to build trusted relationships. You'll be confident in support planning, risk assessment and multi-agency working, while taking a proactive, strengths-based approach that empowers young people to achieve their goals.

Join a values-led organisation committed to preventing homelessness and unlocking potential. In return, you'll receive excellent training, ongoing development and the opportunity to create lasting positive outcomes every day. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

Please note that this job opportunity is offered as a full-time (37.5 hours per week), permanent role.

Shift Pattern

A typical week consists of two shifts. Each shift begins at 9:30am and finishes at 11pm, followed by an overnight sleep-in. The shift then resumes at 07:00am and finishes at 12:00pm the following day. This entire period is classed as one shift. Sleep-ins are a requirement of the role and attract an additional payment. Flexibility to work bank holiday is also required in line with the needs of the service.

In this role, you will:

• Ensure the safety and wellbeing of clients in the service at all times possible, including using safeguarding and emergency alert procedures where applicable

• Carry a caseload of clients for whom you will be the named key worker, and you will also take joint responsibility with your team members for the well-being and day to day support of all clients in the services

• Lead on risk and needs assessment and support planning for your key clients and contribute to ongoing needs and risk assessment of other clients in the service

• Develop and implement SMART outcomes based support plans for your key clients

• Deliver one-to one and group support opportunities within their accommodation and in the local community aimed at increasing resilience in the clients we work with

• Proactively work in partnership with multiple agencies including statutory teams, to support the well-being of Depaul clients in accordance with data protection and information sharing protocols

• Adopt a flexible, reflective and creative approach in your engagement with clients and personalised in your support to them

• Involve clients in the decisions made about them and encourage participation in Depaul’s wider community programme of activities

• Support all clients to participate in Education, Training, Employment and Volunteering opportunities as appropriate to the development of their skills, assets and aspirations

• Have responsibilities as part of the team for ensuring the health and safety of the environment for clients, staff, visitors and volunteers through regular checks and reporting

• Have responsibility as a member of the team for preparing the accommodation for new clients to move into and supporting the client to settle in

• Support and facilitate the work of the volunteers who add value to the work that we do

• In conjunction with Senior Worker, ensure that regular health and safety inspections are carried out in DePaul’s managed properties. To respond to reported repairs in a timely manner and to review health and safety risk assessments with the senior worker

• To interview and assess suitability of referrals to the criteria and objectives of the project

• Undertake further duties as commensurate to the role and identified by your line manager

• To participate in internal/external meetings and attend Core training events

• Demonstrate a commitment to client involvement by advocating client involvement opportunities, for example by actively promoting the Voice of Depaul to clients and holding residents meetings

• To maintain appropriate young person files and ensure clear and concise written records

About You

When completing your application form please address all the points set out below.

• Experience in working with care leavers, young people or other vulnerable groups

• Experience of Safeguarding in children and adults and operating safeguarding requirements and procedures

• Experience of using Risk Assessments and Support Planning tools

• Experience of managing a case load, recording and record keeping

• Experience of lone working

• Excellent communication skills, literacy, numeracy and IT skills

• Commitment to promoting an environment, which has the highest regard for the Health and Safety of others.

• High level understanding of professional boundaries and ability to maintain boundaries

• An understanding and commitment to working in an assets based way

• Commitment to working in a manner, which promotes diversity and equality ensuring that everyone is treated with respect and dignity and no one, suffers from discrimination

• Commitment to promoting an environment, which has the highest regard for the Health and Safety of others

• High level understanding of professional boundaries and ability to maintain boundaries

• Effective collaborative working

• Ability to effectively reflect on own practices for ongoing learning and development

• Respect for the values and ethos of Depaul and its founding partners

What You’ll Receive

· Tailored training and development

· Flexible working options where suitable

· 26 days annual leave, rising with service

· Family friendly leave policies

· Pension scheme with employer contributions up to 7%

· Employee Assistance Programme with 24/7 GP access

· Discounts across retail, travel, food, fitness and more

· Cash health plan for you and your family

· Death in service benefit

· Access to legal and practical support

Safer Recruitment

Depaul UK is committed to fair and inclusive recruitment, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. If a role requires it under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, we will carry out the appropriate Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. We only look at information that is relevant to the role, and a criminal record will never be treated as an automatic barrier to employment. All DBS information is handled sensitively, confidentially and in line with the DBS Code of Practice, and we encourage applicants to discuss any concerns with us openly.

About Depaul UK

In the 1980s, high unemployment and steep inflation was contributing to a shocking rise in youth homelessness across London. Thousands of young people were sleeping rough every night, with many areas notoriously dubbed “cardboard cities” due to the visible rise in street homelessness. Appalled by the scenes playing out across the capital, a group of people came together to tackle the challenge head on. Led by Cardinal Basil Hume and Mark McGreevy OBE, in 1989 Depaul UK was born.

What began as a single housing project in North London soon expanded across London, Greater Manchester and the North East of England. Today, Depaul UK provides accommodation, prevention and support services to thousands of marginalised young people across the UK each year.

As our name suggests, the work of Depaul UK has been inspired by St. Vincent de Paul – a man who devoted his life to helping vast numbers of people throughout the 17th century. St. Vincent de Paul’s belief in the intrinsic worth of all people and his commitment to taking bold action remain central to our values today. Depaul UK now forms part of a family of Depaul charities around the world. We each focus on the specific challenges in our own countries, but we’re united by our shared values and mission to end homelessness.