Macmillan Welfare Benefits Caseworker

The Macmillan Welfare Benefits project is funded by the Macmillan cancer charity and provides Money Advice to people (or their carers/families) who have a cancer diagnosis.

You will have lots of support from an experienced and friendly team and you will be responsible for managing your own caseload and achieving agreed project KPIs.

For this role you will:

-Provide a full welfare benefits casework service for people affected by cancer, including disability benefits and other sources of financial support such as grants and help with health and travel costs.

-Liaise and negotiate with other statutory and voluntary organisations to progress the clients case and ensure they receive all assistance available.

-Maintain detailed case records for the purpose of continuity of case work and information retrieval in line with the requirements of Citizens Advice and Macmillan Cancer Relief.

-Refer clients on to colleagues or other agencies as appropriate for specialist help with issues that fall outside the remit of the service, including housing, debt and employment.

-Provide advice and information on welfare benefits and other sources of financial help to health and social care professionals working with the client group.

-provide cancer-specific benefits awareness training to colleagues and other health and social care professionals working with the client group.

-support Macmillan/Citizens Advice’s social policy work by providing case studies, and feedback on issues of concern to people affected by cancer.

Professional development:

-Keep up to date with legislation, policies and procedures and undertake appropriate training.

-Read relevant publications.

-Attend relevant internal and external meetings as agreed with the line manager.

-Prepare for and attend supervision sessions/team meetings/management team meetings as appropriate.

-Assist with Service initiatives for the improvement of services.

Essential Criteria

-At least two years’ experience of advice work

-Demonstrable in-depth knowledge of welfare benefits including those related to disability and sickness

-Proven ability to work sensitively with a diverse range of clients

-An understanding of the issues involved in interviewing clients, particularly clients for whom English is not their main language, and who may be experiencing stress and anxiety

-Good professional boundaries and emotional resilience when faced with complex and potentially life threatening situations

-An ordered approach to casework and an ability to follow set procedures concerning casework and file management etc.

-Ability to use IT in the provision of advice and the preparation of reports and submissions.

-Good oral communication skills with particular emphasis on negotiation and representation skills on the telephone.

-Ability to communicate effectively in writing with particular emphasis on negotiation and representation skills and on preparing reviews, reports and correspondence.

-Numeracy skills required to understand statistics and check calculations.