Street Outreach Specialist

City of Durham; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 51,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holidays

Vacation

Sick leave

Retirement plans

Insurance coverage

Job summary

City of Durham in Durham, NC is hiring Street Outreach Specialists to join the DCSD HEART team, focusing on Housing First, harm reduction, and compassionate crisis response for neighbors experiencing homelessness.

You will build trust, connect people to housing and services, and work with a multidisciplinary team to develop person-centered plans while meeting confidentiality and safety standards.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required or equivalent.
• Mental health related certificate program or peer support certificate preferred.
• Personal lived experience with homelessness or related challenges.
• Two years of relevant street outreach/crisis experience.
• Valid NC driver’s license or willingness to obtain one within 60 days.
• Commitment to confidentiality and HIPAA requirements.
• Willingness to travel across Durham neighborhoods.
• Ability to walk/stand for majority of shifts.

Responsibilities

• Champion Housing First so housing is an immediate solution.
• Meet neighbors where they are to build trust and housing stability.
• Persistently connect residents to ongoing services and housing options.
• Provide culturally competent engagement and peer counseling.
• Coordinate outreach, care, and housing with team members.
• Collaborate with 911 crisis staff on interactions with neighbors.
• Develop relationships with external service providers for housing needs.
• Maintain compliance with documentation and policy standards.
• Contribute to strategic planning for street outreach direction.

Skills

Housing First philosophy

Trust building

Team collaboration

Cultural competency

Spanish language

Education

High school diploma or GED

Mental health certificate or equivalent

Lived experience with homelessness or related challenges

Two years street outreach/crisis experience

Valid NC driver’s license or able to obtain

Ability to maintain confidentiality (HIPAA)

Willingness to travel within Durham

Ability to stand/walk up to 75% of shift

Job description

Position Description

Work. Serve. Thrive. With the City of Durham

Advance in your career while making a real difference in the community you serve.

Hiring Range: $50,732-$61,688

Hours: 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Shifts will be either 7 am to 3 pm or 1 pm to 9 pm. Please keep in mind that, eventually, the Street Outreach program intends to have weekend hours as well. This may involve a change in shift schedule for the entire team. More information on schedule will be given during the interview process.

About Us

In 2022, the Durham Community Safety Department (DCSD) launched four 911 crisis response programs—collectively known as HEART (Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams)—to meet the needs of people in crisis with compassionate care and behavioral health expertise. (Interested applicants can visit our website and dashboard, watch this CNN clip, listen to this NPR segment, or read this piece from The Assembly to learn more about our department.) Recently, DCSD has expanded to include Street Outreach. As part of that expansion, we are hiring three Street Outreach Specialists, who will be part of DCSD’s first ever Street Outreach Team!

About Our Approach To Street Outreach Candidates Specifically

We are looking for candidates excited about and committed to Housing First, harm reduction, and the long, arduous work of systems change on behalf of neighbors experiencing homelessness. If you're someone who takes pride in meeting people where they’re at (literally and figuratively), who persistently pursues housing solutions for willing neighbors (even if it takes a whole lot of creativity and determination), and who works exceptionally well on teams (which means engaging in and resolving difficult conversations), then you’re the kind of rockstar we want in our department.

How you’ll know if you’re a good match for our department generally

• You are committed to Housing First and its core principles. You also understand the need for pragmatism in the long work of systems change.
• You love serving unhoused neighbors and walking alongside them as they journey through housing, recovery, employment, medical care, and any number of other avenues.
• You thrive in collaborative spaces – teamwork is at the core of your desired work-life.
• You enjoy a workplace that emphasizes learning and translating insight into real change—both in the workplace and in how we engage with the people we serve.
• You’re eager to learn—about people, about social systems, about new ways to approach care.
• You love caring for others and you know how to take care of your own needs, too.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Champion a Housing First mentality that sees housing as an immediate solution for neighbors experiencing homelessness, not as a secondary step once neighbors are deemed “housing ready.”
• Meet neighbors where they’re at (both literally and figuratively) to develop trusting relationships that can lead to housing stability.
• Demonstrate persistence and creativity in connecting neighbors to appropriate and ongoing services and finding stable housing options for neighbors willing to move inside.
• Provide culturally competent engagement and peer counseling services to neighbors experiencing homelessness.
• Work closely with team members and supervisors to coordinate the outreach, care, and housing of neighbors.
• Collaborate closely with 911 crisis response staff on any interactions with unhoused neighbors and assist in developing person-specific protocols if needed.
• Nurture productive and highly collaborative relationships with external providers on behalf of neighbors seeking housing and additional services.
• Maintain standards around and fully comply with federal, state, local, and departmental policies on documentation and records related to supervision, neighbor care, and monitoring.
• Contribute to strategic planning activities and conversations regarding the performance and direction of the department, particularly as related to street outreach the homelessness system.

Minimum Qualifications & Experience

• High school diploma or GED.
• Completion of (or willingness to complete within six months of employment) a mental health certificate program, peer support specialist certificate, or equivalent education.
• Personal lived experience with symptoms of mental illness, Intellectual Developmental Disabilities, alcohol or other drug use, justice involvement and/or homelessness.
• Two years of relevant experience in street outreach, crisis response, or programs working with the unhoused population.
• Must have a valid, unrestricted, North Carolina Class C driver’s license “or” if you currently have another state driver’s license, be willing and able to obtain a valid NC driver’s license within 60 days of start date.
• A track record of demonstrating initiative and sound judgment when handling ambiguity.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, and particularly HIPAA confidentiality, at all times.
• Must be able to travel to and from worksite and other locations within Durham
• Must be able to walk/stand up to 75% of any assigned shift.

Additional Preferred Skills

• Significant experience with outreach/engagement of unhoused neighbors.
• Strong knowledge and experience with service delivery (including counseling/treatment planning), documentation, clinical coverage policies (NC Service Definitions, i.e. ACT, CST IOP, SACOT, Innovation Wavier), utilization review, and data management.
• Knowledge of:
  • the signs and symptoms of mental illness (i.e. auditory and visual hallucinations, aggressive talk and behavior, thoughts of self-harm or harm towards others, isolation, etc.), and
  • methods and techniques used in crisis intervention and crisis de-escalation (i.e. Crisis Intervention Training, Seeking Safety, Motivational Interviewing).
• Ability to speak two or more languages, with a high priority on Spanish.
• Familiarity with Durham health systems and community resources/services for physical health behavioral and mental health, substance use, Intellectual Developmental Disability, family dynamics, sexual/physical abuse, Veterans' Services, vocational rehabilitation, housing, justice involvement, referral processes, and other services.

Benefits – General Full-Time Employees

• 12-13 paid holidays per year
• 13 standard work days of vacation per year
• 13 standard work days of sick leave per year, which accumulates indefinitely; sick leave may be used toward early retirement
• 2 weeks paid military leave per year
• Medical, dental, vision, and supplemental life insurance plans
• State and City retirement plans
• Short and long term disability plans
• Paid temporary disability leave for specified conditions
• City contribution of 13.6% into the N.C. State Retirement System
• Paid funeral leave
• Employee Assistance Program - personal and family counseling
• Paid life insurance equal to annual salary
• 48 hours for volunteer work each year*
• 4 hours parental leave each year
• Workman's Compensation Insurance
• 457 Deferred Compensation Plans

Benefits - Part-Time (1,000 hours or more per year)

• 401(k) retirement plan (5.0% of salary)
• State retirement plan

Benefits Part-Time (Average 30 hours per week over 12 month period)

• 401(k) retirement plan (5.0% of salary)
• State retirement plan effective first day of the month following date of hire
• Health insurance effective first day of the month following date of hire
• Dental and life insurance, after one year of service
• Pro-rated vacation, pro-rated sick, pro-rated floating holiday, parttime holiday pay (based on scheduled hours for that day) after one year of service