Residential Counselor

DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center); Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 45,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

The Crisis Respite Program Counselor at DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center) is part of a multidisciplinary team serving homeless and mentally ill adults in Seattle. The role provides ongoing assessment, crisis stabilization, engagement, monitoring and short-term case management support.

Responsibilities include maintaining client rooms, coordinating with clinicians, documenting services, and enforcing program rules with dignity.

Qualifications

• 6 months+ experience in human services, preferably with homeless adults or mentally ill individuals.
• Ability to communicate effectively with staff from diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to work with clients displaying a wide range of behaviors.

Responsibilities

• Monitor safety and cleanliness of client rooms and common areas.
• Provide supportive counseling and crisis stabilization as part of the CRP team.
• Coordinate with clinicians and outside agencies regarding client needs.
• Document services and monitoring in logs and client charts.
• Enforce program rules in a respectful, assertive manner.
• Assist with registration and data entry as needed.

Skills

Communication

Empathy

De-escalation

Education

BA in Social Work or related field

Job description

Job Type: Full-time

Description

Days Off: Sunday, Monday

Shift: Night (11:30pm - 8:00am)

Shift Differential: $1.00 per hour

Insurance Benefits: Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)

Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), 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

The Crisis Respite Program (CRP) Counselor is a member of a multi-disciplinary team responsible for providing ongoing assessment, crisis stabilization, engagement, monitoring and supporting short term case management services to homeless and mentally ill adults.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Monitor and maintain safety and cleanliness of CRP client rooms, common room and team office.
• In concert with CRP Treatment plans, consult with other staff and outside agencies as needed regarding client issues and needs.
• Promote personal and environmental cleanliness among clients.
• Answer telephones and record messages for clients and staff.
• Monitor clients and be alert for signs of anxiety, depression, and crises.
• Intervene in client crises; chart/log these interventions and other significant interactions in CRP and Emergency Housing logs as appropriate.
• Answer questions about program procedures, goals, rules, and limits.
• Provide supportive counseling to those clients in need of it.
• Consult with clinicians regarding program and client issues.
• Support service plans of CRP clients.
• Enforce program and Emergency Housing rules in respectful and assertive fashion, and maintain order, while preserving dignity of all concerned.
• Conduct hourly client room safety checks.
• Facilitate healthy milieu and positive interaction in client common areas
• Review client charts for missing documents and bring to the attention of clinicians.
• Assemble blank charts, as instructed, to meet on-going program needs.
• Maintain cooperative and respectful working relationships with other DESC staff and staff of other agencies.
• Work in compliance with state regulations, King County and DESC policies and procedures.
• Work with and support community volunteers who volunteer during shift.
• Actively participate in staff meetings and in-service trainings as required by supervisor.
• Monitor and ensure the return of all linens and other DESC property issued to clients.
• Bring program and client concerns to the attention of the CRP Program Manager.
• Document services provided during shift.
• Comply with medication monitoring procedures.
• Assist with registration and data entry as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Living Conditions

Support your clients with achieving and maintaining healthy living conditions. This can include but is not limited to attending care conferences related to living conditions, outreaching and supporting clients in their residential units with tools and skills to maintain their units, coordinating with housing staff, participating in cleaning out clients’ units, and documenting barriers to maintaining healthy living conditions.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• At least 6 months' experience in human services, preferably working with homeless adults, the economically disadvantaged, mentally ill, or chemically dependent.
• Basic understanding of homelessness and various characteristics of homeless adult population.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with staff from various backgrounds.
• Ability to work effectively with clients displaying a wide range of unpleasant and/or bizarre behaviors.
• Subscription to philosophy of cooperation and continuity across programs and of consideration and respect for clients.

Preferred Qualifications

• BA degree in social work or other social or behavioral science.
• Experience with the issues of mental illness and Substance Use Disorder (SUD).
• Bilingual Spanish/English.

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 accommodations 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, stand, walk and go up and down stairs. The employee will be required to bend, stoop, kneel, and reach as well as lifting and/or carrying items weighing up to 40 pounds. The ability to operate computer hardware systems is also required. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. Considerable stress may occur.

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.

Salary Description

$32.72 - $36.12 per hour