Careers: Hostel manager

Who do hostel managers work with?
Different hostels will focus on homeless young people with different needs – some may cater for young mothers, some may provide emergency accommodation and have a high turnover of residents, while others house young people for longer periods.

Young people in hostels often have multiple needs, such as mental or physical health problems, substance misuse, not being in education, employment or training, or an offending background, in addition to their housing needs. More than one in four local authorities are finding that the needs of young people presenting as homeless have become more complex over the last year, according to research from sector body Homeless Link.

Who employs hostel managers?
Hostels, or foyers, are generally run by voluntary sector organisations such as Centrepoint, the Foyer Federation, Shelter, St Basils, Roundabout and Depaul UK. Some are run by the private sector.

Do hostel managers work with other professionals?
Absolutely – in order to meet the needs of the young residents, hostel managers must work closely with local authority housing departments and, if dealing with 16- or 17-year-olds, children’s services, as well as the likes of voluntary sector groups, health agencies, education institutions, and substance misuse programmes.

What qualifications are required to manage a hostel?
There are no specific routes into this kind of work. Employers look for experience, whether voluntary or paid, as well as, or instead of, qualifications. Professionals can study toward NVQs in Housing at Levels 2, 3 and 4. Level 4 is aimed at fully developed and experienced housing practitioners, with a “substantial degree of personal responsibility and autonomy and responsibility for management of staff”. Awarding body ABC offers Level 3 and 4 awards and certificates in Working With Vulnerable Young People, with an optional unit on supporting young people who are homeless or in debt.

The Chartered Institute of Housing accredits a range of housing qualifications, including a Level 3 certificate in Supporting Homeless People, while Shelter also provides short training courses for people working in the housing sector.

What skills are needed?
“You have to be very flexible, and have a level of compassion for young people, understanding what their needs are and having no expectations of where they should be,” says Dionne John-Baptiste, a Centrepoint hostel manager (see below). “You need to be able to develop a trusting relationship with young people while also letting them know where the boundaries are. You must be reliable and accessible, clear about what you are offering and when you can offer it, and able to look at the whole picture of a young person’s support needs.”

Are there any professional bodies representing the sector?
Homeless Link is an organisation that supports and represents 500 organisations working with homeless people in the UK. Its website contains information on careers, work and volunteering opportunities, policy updates, and research.

What are the challenges of the job?
The challenges of the role will be recognised by many across the children and young people’s sector: an increasing client base – 51 per cent of homelessness organisations report working with more young people aged 16 to 24 since 2011 – coupled with an ever-decreasing amount of resources, increasing paperwork and long hours. The work can be emotionally challenging, because most of the young people a hostel manager works with are coping with complex problems.

Is the job being affected by the economic climate?
According to Homeless Link research, “there is evidence that downwards pressure on salaries is affecting the skills and quality of staff in the sector”, with organisations supporting homeless people in England undergoing an average budget cut of 15 per cent in 2011/12. However, there is some funding available to organisations. The £20m Homelessness Transition Fund is currently supporting five youth homelessness organisations, among other services.


My Job: Dionne John-Baptiste, manager, West London services, Centrepoint
For Dionne John-Baptiste, voluntary work proved a successful route into her career as manager of two Centrepoint hostels for homeless young people.

She volunteered in mentoring and administration roles with the charity before getting a job as a frontline floating support worker, providing vital experience to draw on in her current position, which she has held for four years.

John-Baptiste is based in a hostel that supports 12 young people and she also manages a 10-bed service nearby.

Her days involve lots of meetings and paperwork, with an emphasis on finances and funding. “We are a high-support service so I meet with all staff one-to-one to set targets and approve support plans,” says John-Baptiste. “My door is always open for the young people here, and I attend the monthly residents’ meeting, where they can bring their concerns to us.”

John-Baptiste says the greatest reward of the job is “seeing the difference you can make for a young person with the smallest thing, like a card on their eighteenth birthday,” or the satisfaction she gets when “they start to attend appointments and take up opportunities”.