Community Service Homeless Essay

1. Understand the organization as an entity

1.1 Describe the legal entity of the organization you work for and the implication of that legal entity on the structure and management of your organization

As I work for the borough of Havering, which would be classed as public sector. The public sector can be defined as a part of our country's economy in which the government can control and support financially as the government provides a range of services to the public (Collinsdictionary.com, 2019). A legal entity can be defined as an association or corporation for example that can enter into agreements, and contracts, incur and pay debts but also sue others or be sued within its rights as they are held responsible for their actions (BusinessDictionary.com, 2019).

I work for Havering Council, which is a public sector organization that is government-funded. The legal entity for the council that I work for is that we can enter into agreements for example as Housing Solutions officers when conducting assessments clients may agree to let us contact solicitors and doctors to gain information. Clients also sign contracts with housing agents when we find privately rented properties and I would sign a contract that states I as a Housing solutions officer of Havering Council agree to pay the deposit and one month's rent.

I think there are many implications of the legal entity on the structure as within my team when investigating homelessness clients may go get advice which solicitors may not find out decisions fair and decision to take the council to court for our homelessness decision made. This can be very damaging for both the council and team as our managers and the director of housing may be notified of such and this is a very complex situation as the homelessness department may believe they have done what is right.

The structure of the organization is tall as mainly only the housing solutions officer interacts with clients the managers only interact if there is a major issue, which is due to the structure of management.

1.2 Describe the operational functions within your organization

Marketing is a great way to push ideas to the community. It is the marketing responsibility to aid the development and delivery plan, which also helps with functional strategy. (Essexcc.taleo.net, 2019) Marketing is extremely important when marketing and pushing ideas to the community.

Finance in which governments play a vital role in providing public services. The local government looks at spending which helps the distribution of resources in the public sector in housing. The council can charge for services but it isn’t desirable spending can be taken from local general revenue, loans, or grants from the government. (Financing local government, 2019)

Production -

1.3 Identify your role, a span of control, and reporting line in your organization using an organizational chart to illustrate

My role is to take emergency appointments and the pre-evictions and provide final decisions to implement the new Homeless Reduction Act. My role is normally the front line of emergency services therefore I must provide urgent help and assistance for members of our community most in need. If someone is due to become homeless within the next week or so, I will book them in to have an assessment and see what I can do to prevent homelessness which includes negotiating with Landlords and estate agents, applying for DHP, or using money from the prevention fund to stop eviction taking place and clearing arrears. We must complete personal housing plans that reflect the customer's needs and aspirations also focusing on their strengths to enable them to work with us to either prevent or relieve their homelessness. We work with the private rented sector to find homes for people in need.

I think my role has a lot of control as I have to do personal housing plans for my clients and independent investigations into how they became homeless or why they may become homeless soon and then try to prevent it, find privately rented accommodation for the client or refer to social services if could be intentionally homeless.

As a Housing Solutions Officer, I work as a homelessness officer. I report to the Housing solutions manager for Homelessness and reviews and the senior housing solutions officer for homelessness. As you can see below the Housing demands service manager also manages 5 different departments in housing. There are also 5 managers managing each of those 5 departments. I work as a housing solutions officer in the Homeless team. I have edited the structure of the chart found on the Havering intranet to show how many officers there are per role and excluded names.

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1.4 Describe the roles and responsibilities of managers at different levels in your organization

The Director of Housing is in a position to find affordable housing for people in need in the community. To also instruct and supervise staff, deal with other local governmental agencies, and create plans that will contribute positively to the growth of the community while setting financial budgets. They must a lot provide proof of finances, and measure the policies are followed. They deal with major issues surrounding maintenance issues, Lawyers, and Contractors.

As Housing Demand Service managers, they manage the daily operation of the Housing Demand Division. To have the ability to acquire and maintain a comprehensive knowledge of the services delivered within Housing Demand, to lead projects, and to contribute to the vision through the Corporate Plan and strategies of housing and homelessness. To be responsible for managing a team. Ensure the Division and staff are following housing regulations by maintaining knowledge of relevant legislation, including the Housing Act 1996, Part VI and VII, the Homelessness Reduction Act, and the Localism Act 2011. To ensure that services are delivered cost-effectively, without unnecessary expenditure or cost, and by maximizing income also updating all financial records including monitoring and managing budgeting. Ensure complaints and FOIs are completed and risks and threats are identified which could affect the reputation of the council. (Lbealli.webitrent.com, 2019)

The manager of Housing solutions homelessness and reviews:

To deliver emergency homelessness services and ensure assistance is provided to those in temporary accommodation and ensure a consistent process is followed to provide support. To work with other agencies like Probation, and prison to provide services to address homelessness and offer alternative solutions and support. To carry out customer reviews to vulnerable people who may have been homeless or have a history of failing tenancies. To ensure advice, guidance, and signpost to other agencies, like mental health and social care professionals. To manage the budget for Homelessness services.

The senior housing solutions officer is responsible for providing leadership and appropriate management, guidance, and mentoring to the team. It is essential they set goals and achieve targets, including monitoring staff development for example managing sickness and absence, 1-1 supervision, 6-month reviews, and annual appraisal

1.5 Explain the relevance to your organization of its different stakeholders

Clients who are homeless and maybe about to be homeless come to my organization for help as they might not be able to afford the cost to get into a privately rented property or be able to pass all the criteria of an estate agent to get a property. This is good as we can help people in our community.

Shelters are important stakeholders as they look at equality and human rights in housing. They value diversity and want to ensure everyone in need can access services, which sometimes means challenging the council. Often they provide housing law advice for housing applications to help clients. (Shelter - PROMOTING EQUALITY, VALUING DIVERSITY, 2019)

Social services are an extremely important stakeholder. We often complete referrals to social services for them to help accommodate families with children under 18 years old. They also work with us to support families. (Citizensadvice.org.uk, 2019)

Local government - Stakeholders which can be directors and government agencies can affect an organization's plan, objectives, and policies as they look at the business and resources available to maximize the positive outcomes for the community. They are a key stakeholder.

Benefits teams can affect clients both positively and negatively. The benefits team tries to help people on low incomes to apply for benefits and award them depending on what category they fall in (GOV.UK, 2019). They encourage people back into work or signpost them to relevant organizations which can help individuals. They play a major role within my organization as they supply us with information to help us investigate homelessness and also help us to prevent homelessness.