Accommodation
The Role of an Accommodation Officer
The role of the accommodation officer is becoming increasingly significant and specialist. The YJB now recognises that the post should develop as a full-time post with a strategic, as well as operational, focus within all but the smallest youth offending teams. The post should have some managerial responsibilities attached and efforts should be made to ensure its development is more consistent across the country.
The YJB does not regard the direct purchasing and management of housing provision as being within the scope of YOTs’ work, although it recognises that some YOTs may have already diversified into this area. It is for individual YOT managers to determine what proportion of their overall budget is allocated to accommodation work.
This section provides a template for an accommodation officer’s post.
Role definition
The accommodation officer will have a central role in all YOT activities that contribute towards the prevention of youth homelessness and helping young offenders access suitable accommodation. The post holder will have clear strategic and operational responsibilities and be responsible for ensuring that the YOT has a local accommodation strategy that links effectively to the local YOT plan, local housing or homelessness strategies, the local Supporting People Strategy and crime reduction and community safety strategies.
The post holder will be responsible for:
- ensuring that all young offenders in the area access appropriate housing services, accommodation resources and the support they require to meet their needs
- ensuring that the necessary systems and processes are in place to identify the risk of homelessness amongst young people who offend or who are at risk of offending.
The post holder will need to be capable of undertaking a broad range of functions working across a range of diverse partnerships and organisational levels.
Click below for more information on an accommodation officer's:
Click here for a selection of case studies from around the country, demonstrating a range of different ways the role might develop.