On-Call Client Engagement Specialist - DEAC

Socket.dev; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 56,000 - 69,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Safe & Sick Time

Retirement Plan

Job summary

DESC is seeking On Call Client Engagement Specialists to work across Hobson Clinic and the Downtown Behavioral Health Center. The role focuses on engaging clients, de‑escalating crises, and applying harm reduction and trauma‑informed care principles within a supportive clinic environment.

Minimum qualifications include a relevant Bachelor’s degree and ability to drive, with preferred experience in behavioral health and crisis intervention. Active employment and shift coverage are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, or related behavioral science.
• Experience with behavioral health or substance use conditions is preferred.
• Ability to engage clients, provide de-escalation, and support crisis intervention.

Responsibilities

• Be present in clinics to engage clients and de-escalate situations.
• Provide trauma‑informed, harm‑reduction support to clients and staff.
• Monitor safety, assist in emergencies, and document significant events daily.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to maintain a safe clinic environment.
• Participate in meetings, trainings, and ensure lobby cleanliness and order.

Skills

de‑escalation

trauma‑informed care

harm reduction

client engagement

Education

Bachelor's in social work / psychology

Job description

Description

Pay Range: $41.47 per hour, $50 per hour Premium Pay for applicable shifts

Shift: Day (9am - 5pm)

Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Safe & Sick Time, Retirement Plan

Union Representation: This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

About DESC:

Recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in developing solutions to homelessness, DESC is a social services organization, supportive housing operator, and licensed behavioral health treatment provider focused on meeting the needs of people experiencing long-term homelessness and living with complex behavioral health and other medical conditions. Approximately 3,000 people are actively receiving services from DESC at any given point in time. Our vision is a community where all people are shown compassion, treated with dignity, and everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.

DESC operates five shelter/emergency housing programs, 19 permanent supportive housing facilities with over 1,750 units, several hundred additional scattered site apartments, and a range of behavioral health services including outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, residential crisis stabilization, street outreach, mobile crisis response, and treatment for opioid use disorder.

JOB DEFINITION:

We are looking for On Call Client Engagement Specialists (CES) who will work within the larger Client Engagement Team spanning two locations: Hobson Clinic and the Downtown Behavioral Health Center.

Hobson Clinic is an integrated behavioral and physical health outpatient clinic jointly operated by DESC and Harborview Medical Center (HMC). The Clinic provides holistic health care services to thousands of community members annually with a focus on improving health care access for people who have experienced barriers to conventional health services. The Clinic specializes in serving people living on lower incomes, people living homeless, and people living with complex physical and mental health conditions and substance use disorders.

The Downtown Behavioral Health Center is operated by DESC and support a variety of clinical staff and programs ranging from outpatient behavioral health, substance disorder treatment, supportive employment, medical, and drop-in services. The clinical programs located in Pioneer Square serve a myriad of clients daily to address complex needs related to their mental and physical health.

The CES team monitors the safety and security of the clinics by managing the milieu of the main lobby/building and engaging clients. The CES team will also be tasked with providing trauma-informed support to clients and patients utilizing Hobson clinic and Pioneer Square by employing various de‑escalation skills and tactics, both verbal and hands‑on approaches, while in coordination and consultation with the wider clinical and medical teams.

The CES team supports DESC’s Good neighbor policy in public spaces adjacent to clinics and ensures the community milieu around DESC buildings are welcoming and approachable.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Be present in all main operating areas of both Hobson and Pioneer Square clinics for client engagement and de‑escalation purposes only. Be a welcoming presence and direct clients to the services they are seeking, at times escorting to designated area, and walking regular rounds in both low and high‑risk areas of the clinic, including area immediately outside of the clinic.
• Be present in outside spaces near to the clinic for community visibility and client engagement. Be a welcoming presence, orient community members and clients to DESC services, walk regular rounds in the neighborhood, escort clients and prospective clients to nearby DESC buildings, and participate in clean‑up activities.
• Initiate and maintain appropriate social interactions with clients. Integrate experience with behavioral health and substance use conditions into work with clients.
• Monitor the general milieu, lobby, entryway, immediately outside of the clinic, security systems, and other common areas to monitor the safety and security of clients and staff. Work to maintain a comfortable milieu, even in the presence of potentially unusual client behaviors.
• Commitment to the Harm Reduction and Trauma Informed Care models and working to incorporate those principles through an equity and social justice lens.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and applying to all areas of work responsibility.
• Intervene when necessary to support clients, maintain order, and communicate/enforce clinic rules and policies.
• Intervene in client crises and emergencies (medical, behavioral health, interpersonal), participate in verbal de‑escalation and hands‑on de‑escalation in emergent situations, and initiate action as required, including contact with emergency response systems, and facilitating a higher level of care.
• Write significant events involving clients and Clinic operations activities in a daily log; read log daily and coordinate with relevant staff.
• In collaboration with an interdisciplinary team, promote a safe and secure clinic environment by responding to emergent safety issues using a layered active response approach.
• Assist clinical staff in engaging clients through creative, resourceful strategies that build trust and confidence.
• Provide support to staff related to safety issues upon request.
• Help ensure cleanliness of lobby area and other common spaces within the building.
• Participate in staff meetings, team huddles, and training, with both DESC and HMC staff.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

MINIMUM EXPECTATIONS:

• Be reasonably available to accept 8 am to 5 pm per‑diem shifts with less than 24 hours' notice.
• Maintain current contact information with supervisor, including phone, email, text, etc.
• Once a full shift is accepted (no partial shifts), work that shift from start to finish, except in extraordinary circumstances that make this impossible.
• Attend to work responsibilities while on duty and limit personal phone calls and other interruptions to break times except for emergencies.
• Ability to learn and incorporate required DESC protocols and procedures with limited training and orientation (typically 1 day of training and two shift shadows).
• Picking up at least two shifts per month as shifts are available.

Requirements

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Ability to meet Washington Department of Health requirements for registration as a Registered Agency Affiliated Counselor (AAC) or any other superseding credential
• Relevant Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, or related behavioral science, OR a combination of 1 year of relevant paid work experience and demonstration of the ability to perform required job duties.
• Ability to drive an agency or personal vehicle to conduct agency related business. A current Washington State driver's license and insurable driving record are required.
• Interest in working with clients who are difficult to engage and maintain in traditional mental health/substance use disorder programs.
• Experience working with behavioral health conditions and intervening with de‑escalation and hands‑on approaches using Crisis Prevention & Intervention (CPI) or the equivalent and must be familiar with behavioral health treatment services.
• Willingness to become certified in enhanced behavioral de‑escalation training, which trains to use hands on techniques.
• Experience in human services (paid or volunteer), preferably working with adults living homeless and/or living with a mental illness and/or substance use disorder.
• Proficient in de‑escalation skills, crisis intervention, and stabilization strategies and possess the ability to use these skills in high‑risk, high traffic areas.
• Have a strong understanding of recovery and resilience, the value of client partnerships, and client choice.
• Experience working with adults living with mental illness and/or co‑occurring disorders.
• Interest or experience in working with clients that traditional health care programs have turned away.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with clients and staff from various backgrounds and utilize good customer service skills.
• Ability to work effectively with clients potentially displaying unusual and bizarre behaviors.
• Subscribe to the philosophy of working in an integrated team approach which fosters cooperation and continuity across programs and of consideration and respect for clients.
• Have experience working in collaboration with law enforcement, and neighborhood stakeholders that do not always agree with the harm reduction, trauma informed, or person‑centered work philosophy.
• Able to prioritize multiple job responsibilities, work independently, and exercise good professional judgment.
• Able to maintain client confidentiality.
• Ability to pass criminal background check.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Has work experience as an Emergency Medical Technician or Psych Technician in the field.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish.
• Skill in operating office equipment, including computers (including e‑mail), software (e.g., Microsoft Word, Excel) and telephones.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be required to sit, communicate with other employees, required to lift and carry items weighing up to 40 pounds and to operate computer hardware systems. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Works in a climate‑controlled office environment with frequent interpersonal interactions. Works outside in all weather. May escort clients or have professional meetings in environments which are not climate controlled. Also works outside of the office in the community.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

DESC is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment practice, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.