Finance, Benefit, & Debt Caseworker

Company Description

Catch22 exists to help build a society where everyone has a good place to live, good people around them, and a fulfilling purpose. We call these our ‘3Ps’.

We achieve this in two ways: we improve lives through frontline delivery of public services, and we use our knowledge to change ‘the system’ by fixing the complex web that can trap and disempower those it was set up to help. With the heart of a charity and the mindset of a business, we are uniquely placed to deliver on this challenging agenda.

Job Description

About the Role

Working within the Catch22 Justice team (London region), this post presents an exciting opportunity to become a frontline practitioner within our Finance, Benefit, and Debt (FBD) services. Commissioned by Her Majesty’s Prison and Prison Service (HMPPS), this service is focused on rehabilitating and supporting adult males ex-offenders, who have experienced the Criminal Justice System and are currently on probation. Our aim is to understand and address their financial needs by exploring the causes of their finance and debt needs, such as their motivations, rationale, habits, behaviours, and social capital. In addition, looking at how to tackle and address their financial hardships and improve their wellbeing, ensuring they are confident to address them independently in the future.

As a Financial Wellbeing Advisor, you will be joining an enthusiastic, energetic, experienced, and supportive team, with a collaborative and hardworking culture, and a passion for social impact.

Working autonomously following standardised processes, you will have the opportunity to manage your own caseload of Service Users, undertaking the ongoing assessment and management of their individual needs, capacity, and motivation to rehabilitate. This will include delivering and accessing risk-informed interventions, in partnership with local providers, to support rehabilitation.

About You

You are exceptionally well organised, and process driven. Keeping on top of workloads, and following processes effectively, in order to clearly communicate information, and balance working pressures skilfully. You will help others to do the same, in a professional and organised manner, to successfully keep on top of a high demand service. You will have the ability to bounce back quickly when encountering inevitable setbacks, and during times of high pressure.

Your written output is excellent, and you have an eagle-eye for detail. You will produce high quality case management entries in a timely way, incorporating diverse feedback from a range of voices. You will constantly check back to documentation, guidelines, or other information sources, to ensure that no question or task has been missed.

You will be proactive, energetic, and a fast learner. You will receive plenty of supervision and guidance, and will bring energy, curiosity, and thoroughness. You will have the opportunity to manage a lot of interesting cases, and will gain new skills quickly, enhancing both the team and your long-term career. You will have an interest in services that make an impact on peoples’ lives.

You will be professional and easy to be around There will be periods that require significant amounts of effort to get things done, and the learning curve will be steep. You will relish the opportunity to get ‘stuck in’ and will be professional, committed, and motivated to our collective success.

Qualifications

Main Duties & Accountabilities

Supporting our service users holistically

• Undertake structured assessments to understand the specific finance, benefit, and debt (FBD) needs of the service user. Constructing tailored action plans accounting for these needs to aid their rehabilitation based on information provided by their probation officer.
• Support service users to claim the correct benefits, gain access to relevant entitlements, and manage under/overpayments, alongside obtaining a national insurance number, personal photo identification, birth certificate, or other documentation.
• Help service users to access banking and financial services, to meet FBD needs, through supporting service users to develop online banking skills.

Building working relationships with stakeholders

• Sign-post service users to relevant agencies/organisations that will support them with their FBD needs.
• Ensure brilliant solutions come together through the interplay of the FBD team and working closely with FCA Specialist advisors.

Horizon scanning, research, opportunity scoping, and continuous improvement

• Demonstrate proactivity, researching services that create opportunities to build a wider support network for service users.
• To share innovative ideas within the team and work collaboratively to help support the development of the service.
• Continuously spot opportunities for our work to be higher quality, utilising support to make change happen. For example, developing new content with teams, and analysing our resources for improvements.

Grow your internal relationships and take Catch22 forward

• Build strong relationships with colleagues in the team and beyond, ensuring you seek out opportunities for collaboration across the organisation.

Qualifications

• Good basic education, including Maths and English GCSE, or equivalent.
• Skills and experience working with Microsoft Office suite: Word, PowerPoint, Excel.
• Evidence of continual professional development.
• Desirable: Any qualification relevant to working with those in the Criminal Justice System.

Knowledge

• Experience of working within the Criminal Justice System, offenders and/or disadvantaged people.
• Knowledge of how financial issues can impact on re-offending.
• Confidence to incorporate wellbeing strategies within the role, to promote emotional resilience and healthy coping mechanisms to support their progress
• Desirable: the importance of risk assessment and management, and knowledge of local partners/statutory agencies/associated services.

Skills and Abilities

• A good relationship builder, with strong interpersonal skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to write compelling narratives and present engagingly.
• Ability to manage multiple and competing priorities simultaneously, and able to manage a process from beginning to end.
• Research skills.

Other

• Share Catch22 values.
• Awareness of, and commitment to, Equality and Diversity.
• Desire to develop and undertake training as required.
• Willing to travel and work flexibly across London.

Please click here to view the full job description.

Additional information

Salary: £27,300 per annum

Hours of work: Full time, 38 hours per week (Monday-Friday)

Contract: Permanent

Start Dates: To be confirmed after passing DBS and Vetting checks.

When submitting your application:

Please use the 'Message to Hiring Manager' section to tell us why you would like to work for Catch22, and why your skills and experience would make you a great fit for the role.

This role involves travelling across one of the 8 Cluster areas below, to support your service users in the community when on licence. In your cover letter to the hiring manager, please specify your first preference of location (preferences for successful candidates will be considered but are not always guaranteed):

• Romford
• Canning Town
• Ealing
• Tottenham
• Kings Cross
• Brixton
• Croydon
• Lewisham

Unless otherwise stated, interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Benefits of working for Catch22:

• 28 days annual leave + bank holidays, rising to 33 days with service.
• Pension scheme with matching contributions of up to 4%
• Discounted shopping opportunities
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• See the benefits of working for Catch22.

Whilst Catch22 is a Ban the Box employer as part of conditions working for this particular contract successful candidates may be asked to gain HMPPS vetting (if ever required to satisfy business need), there are certain previous convictions that may prevent you from being successfully cleared. Catch22 has no influence on this decision nor autonomy to override the outcome.

See the benefits of working for Catch22 here.

Unless otherwise stated, interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

At Catch22 we value equality, diversity and inclusion. We are wholeheartedly committed to the principle of equality of opportunity, both as an employer and as a provider of services. Diversity and Inclusion is part of what we do every day, working to deliver our vision to build a strong society where everyone has good people around them, a purpose, and a good place to live.

At Catch22 we are proud of our commitment in supporting people develop in their careers and progress in our organisation. In 2024, within our Justice Hub, we have 68% of those in management roles that originally joined Catch22 in the frontline workforce and some worked across a number of roles and Leadership positions before joining management. This allows us to have a highly experienced management group and provides development opportunities for those in our much valued front-line.

Catch22 is committed to rigorous safeguarding and safer recruitment practices; ensuring that every individual within the organisation has been safely and appropriately checked.