Social Services Officer

General Description of the Programme

GOAL, an International Humanitarian Organisation, has had a presence in Turkey since 2013 and has been contributing to the migrant response since 2016 with a focus on responding to needs in health service delivery, social safety nets and the protection of vulnerable and marginalised migrants in southern Turkey.

GOAL has been working in Syria since 2013, responding to the acute needs of conflict-affected communities. GOAL is working in Idleb Governate, both through direct implementation and through partners, delivering food, non-food programming to highly vulnerable populations, and provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) through support to Water units, as well as emergency support to recently displaced households.

GOAL has been working in North Aleppo Governate since 2019, through direct implementation and through partners, delivering food, non-food programming to highly vulnerable populations, as well as emergency support for recently displaced household.

GOAL has two projects (ECHO funded LINK and PRM funded GREEN) in Turkey, LINK program targets refugees from nomadic / semi-nomadic backgrounds and those engaged in seasonal agricultural labour. LINK has been designed to address and mitigate protection concerns of the vulnerable / marginalized refugees through provision of critical information and raising their awareness on their rights, obligations and services available in Turkey, by sensitization/advocacy (targeting key stakeholders and service providers, etc.) activities, and Individual Protection Assistance (IPA) services to enable highly vulnerable refugees to access to basic, social and protective services available under the provisions of Temporary and International Protection regulations in Turkey. On the other hand, Green program aims to improve socioeconomic inclusion, resilience and self-sufficiency of highly vulnerable/excluded women and girls from host and refugee communities (Syrians as well as those living in program locations under the international protection regulation) including nomadic communities and seasonal agriculture workers from both communities through integrated and market driven livelihood opportunities and protection services, including language courses and vocational skills training on greenhouse production and agriculture; case management (CM)/coaching services, establishment of a women cooperative, protection outreach, information provision and awareness raising; and provision of special needs and individual protection assistance services.

Position Summary

Based in Gaziantep and working under the supervision of the Protection and Inclusion Program Coordinator. The position holder will be supporting and working in close collaboration with LINK teams operating in Adana, Mersin, Urfa and Gaziantep (75%), and GREEN teams operating in Mersin, Adana and Hatay (25%). Social Services Officer will be supervising Social Services Assistant based in Adana.

Overall, she/he will be responsible for the GOAL’s LINK and GREEN’s service mapping and management of interagency referrals, follow ups and feedback mechanisms where GOAL Turkey Programs are operating in Turkey. Specifically, the Social Services Officer will support and promote the protection and wellbeing of individuals whose cases require accessing to services and assistances provided by local, national, international NGOs and UN agencies in the southeast region, by developing and sustaining a functioning external referral pathway with the above categorized organizations.

General Functions of the role

• Work with LINK and GREEN teams and other professionals from a range of organizations to develop services that deliver the best possible outcomes for vulnerable/marginalized individuals and their families.
• Work co-operatively with other agencies and stakeholders, particularly with the local, national, international NGOs, local CBOs and UN agencies.
• Contribute to forums, coordination and working groups meetings, as agreed upon with the line manager, to develop and nurture fruitful referral partnerships.
• Develop and sustain a functioning referral pathway with the local, national, international NGOs, local CBOs and UN agencies in the southeast region.
• Collate information regarding service gaps and policy changes, etc. in the region to inform LINK and GREEN service development.
• At all times, be up-to-date on his/her knowledge on the local service and assistances available where GOAL Turkey Programs are operating for appropriate referrals.
• Ensure adherence to internationally recognized protection principles, standards and relevant international and local regulations.
• Ensure adherence with GOAL’s code of conducts and other internal policies i.e. on confidentiality, safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion including the GOAL’s commitments to the protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA).
• Work with supervisors and peers in harmony to achieve LINK and GREEN workplans, objectives and targets.
• Participate in one to one performance development reviews/appraisals and contribute to the identification of own development needs.
• Ensure full compliance with the GOAL’s health and safety policy and all locally agreed safe methods of work.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Supervise Social Services Assistant and manage his/her performance in the designated provinces of Adana, Mersin, Gaziantep, Hatay and Şanlıurfa.
• Manage all external referrals both for incoming and outgoing cases from/to local, national, international NGOs, local CBOs and UN agencies concerning all program locations where GOAL Turkey Programs are operational.
• Build positive and functional relationships and regularly network/liaise with the local, national, international NGOs, local CBOs and UN agencies.
• Actively introduce and promote the LINK and GREEN services with service users, colleagues and others within and outside the organization, particularly, with the I/NGOs, UN agencies and other interagency partners.
• In collaboration with the LINK and GREEN teams, identify and map the organizations in the cities and districts where GOAL LINK and GREEN programs are operational. Develop and regularly update users friendly/detailed service maps of the organizations (including their detailed services, focal points, contact details and selection criteria, etc.) providing services and assistances to refugees and asylum seekers.
• Ensure updated service maps regularly shared with the GOAL Turkey Programs.
• Actively provide detailed, complete, accurate and up to date data for the bi-weekly, monthly and periodic reports and in response to the ad-hoc requests by GOAL Turkey Program Management including DPMs, PICO, Head of Programs and MEAL Manager.
• Manage keeping an updated Referral Tracker with accurate and complete data set for incoming and outgoing cases.
• Ensure that referral activities are compliant with GOAL IPA SOPs, GOAL’s accountability principles, international protection and social work case management principles, including local legislative requirements.
• Provide appropriate information to clients, professionals, colleagues and others in order to maximize good decision-making processes.
• In coordination with the PICO, attend monthly and/or periodic provincial level Working Group meetings to follow up with developments in the field, discuss field related challenges, etc. and share key highlights from those meeting with GOAL Turkey Program team.
• Consult with, coordinate and work closely with the LINK Statutory Services Officers and GOAL Liaison and Partnership teams for mapping and updating of the services and assistances available from the local authorities, municipal and statutory entities.

Referral Specific Responsibilities Duties

• In collaboration with the LINK and GREEN teams and on behalf the IPA and Case Management programs, refer cases to the local, national, international NGOs, local CBOs and UN agencies concerning all locations where LINK and GREEN teams are operational by following the agreed format.
• In collaboration with the LINK and GREEN teams and on behalf the IPA and Case Management programs, receive all external referrals cases coming from local, national, international NGOs, local CBOs and UN agencies.
• Receive all external referrals from LINK and GREEN programs and review, translate, revise and update with appropriate and needed information in coordination with the respective protection or case worker.
• Internally refer all incoming cases (from external organizations) to the relevant IPA teams in different program locations.
• Follow up with the IPA / Social Services & Coaching Team Leaders and IPA / Social Services & Coaching workers and seek and record regular updates on the progress and status of the cases received from the external organizations.
• On behalf the GOAL Turkey programs, on regular basis, share timely feedback with the external organizations on the status of cases they have referred to GOAL LINK and GREEN programs.
• On behalf the GOAL Turkey programs, on regular basis, seek feedback from the external organizations to which LINK and GREEN programs have referred cases and share those feedbacks with the relevant teams in a timely manner.
• Review and ensure all incoming and outgoing interagency referral forms have enough and appropriate information on the cases to enable timely and appropriate processing of the cases referred to LINK and GREEN programs or referred by LINK and GREEN programs to other organizations.
• Review and ensure all external referrals are made to appropriate service providers by using the requested format with the provision of the necessary documents / reports.
• Keep track of own activities through the position specific excel trackers/database for internal and external referrals.
• Ensure that all external and internal referrals are thoroughly documented and updated, with due consideration of confidentiality and data protection principles.
• Prepare and submit weekly, biweekly and monthly progress reports when as requested by the supervisor.
• Support MEAL team to ensure that appropriate monitoring activities are undertaken to a high standard to capture lesson learned and best practices.
• Any other duties related to the nature of the job as requested by the supervisor.

Requirements (essential)

• Turkish Citizenship
• University degree in a related field e.g. social work, social sciences, public relation and administration, etc.
• At least 1 to 2 years’ work experience in I/NGO environment preferably with some experiences in individual protection assistance and case management approaches.
• At least one-year experiences in liaising and networking with interagency partners i.e. with I/NGOs, UN agencies, etc.
• Prior experience with service mapping and managing referral caseloads.
• Experience of participation in humanitarian coordination mechanisms including protection, GBV, Child protection and case management working groups, etc.
• Strong communication skills, particularly in English both verbal and written, in Turkish and/or Arabic.
• Skills and experiences in case assessment and analysis including protection risk analysis, and case planning.
• A self-motivated person, prioritises well, works under pressure and manages time and tasks efficiently and effectively.
• Demonstrates strong networking, advocacy, negotiation and diplomacy skills.
• Understands and is committed to diversity and equality and treats everyone with respect.
• Good working knowledge and practices with Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.

General terms and conditions

Safeguarding

Children and vulnerable adults a must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury, and any other harm. One of the ways that GOAL shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

Accountability within GOAL

Alongside our safeguarding policy, GOAL is an equal opportunities employer and has a set of integrity policies. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability:

• Comply with GOAL’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, Code of Conduct, health and safety, data protection and confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.
• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area.
• Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a GOAL staff or partner.

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document. Any published closing dates are estimated. Due to the nature of GOAL’s work we aim to fill vacancies as quickly as possible. This means that we will close adverts as soon as we have found the right candidate, and this may be before the published closing date. We would therefore advise interested applicants to submit an application as early as possible.

Thank you.