Supportive Housing Specialist

Friendship Service Center Inc; New Britain (CT); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Friendship Service Center Inc. in New Britain, CT, seeks a dedicated Case Manager to support neighbors facing housing instability. You will provide case management services, link clients to benefits and housing resources, and document progress in HMIS.

A Bachelor’s in Human Services or Social Work is required, with strong writing and communication skills. You will work from a person-centered perspective, coordinate with health and social services, and may travel locally.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Services or Social Work.
• Proficient use of Microsoft Suite and other databases; excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Valid Driver's License required.
• Bilingual English/Spanish strongly preferred.
• Experience with diverse populations; understanding of mental health, substance use, and trauma.

Responsibilities

• Provide case management services to participants and linkage to services, including advocacy and assistance with benefits, budgeting, medical, mental health, substance use, employment, and transportation.
• Assess and develop goal plans with a person-centered approach and SMART goals.
• Assist households with housing search, inspections, rent reasonableness, move-in paperwork and annual recertifications.
• Explain tenant rights and housing laws; advocate with landlords and resolve conflicts.
• Meet with participants bi-weekly or more; conduct in-home visits monthly; attend meetings with specialists.

Skills

Case management

Bilingual English/Spanish (preferred)

Communication skills

Teamwork

Education

Bachelor's degree in Human Services/Social Work

Tools

Microsoft Office

HMIS (Homeless Management Information Systems)

Job description

Description

• Instill the mission of the FSC in your daily work: “Our work is love made visible”
• Ability to work with diverse populations, individually and as a part of a team, with a commitment to ending homelessness in our community working from a Harm Reduction, Housing First, Person-Centered approach
• Provide case management services to participants and linkage to services, including establishing rapport with clients, advocacy and assistance with obtaining/maintaining bene?ts, budgeting, medical services, mental health and substance use services, employment and vocational services, and transportation.
• Assessment and goal plan development with participants utilizing a person-centered approach and SMART goal setting every 6 months or as contract dictates.
• Assist households with housing search, inspection, rent reasonableness, and complete move-in paperwork and annual recerti?cations with households and landlords to be submitted to program leadership.
• Assist participants in understanding tenant rights and responsibilities, and basic understanding of housing laws and regulations; advocate with landlords for tenant rights and provide con?ict resolution as needed.
• Meet with program participants on a bi-weekly basis or more frequently if needed, including in-home visits at least once a month, attending tenant meetings as needed based on program type.
• Maintain required program documentation, including intake paperwork, client notes, biannual and annual assessments, service goal plans and reassessments.
• Input program intakes, discharges, annual assessments, and case notes into Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) as required on a timely basis (within 48 business hours);
• Attend program, team and monthly meetings with all Specialists to share client information, resources, ideas, concerns, etc.
• Attend Central CT CAN meetings as needed, liaison with homeless service providers and other CAN providers to maintain and expand community contacts and resources to better serve clients
• Attending meetings, trainings and community events, as appropriate or required
• Obtain a minimum of twelve hours of case management training annually
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Services/Social Work
• Pro?cient use of Microsoft Suite and other databases designed to promote productivity and organization in the workplace; excellent oral and written communication skills, including computer pro?ciency and knowledge of email applications
• Valid Drivers License is required
• Bilingual English/Spanish is strongly preferred
• Experience working with diverse populations preferred, with a solid understanding of mental health, substance use, and trauma.

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies to perform the essential functions of this position.

• Community: Staff is a dependable team player within their department, across departments, and with community colleagues (when appropriate); consistently at work and on time, reports to all scheduled shifts; follows instructions, responds to management direction; staff's communication style invites collaboration.
• Initiative: Staff is proactive in identifying and resolving issues, versus leaving them for someone else; staff is solution-focused, and takes pride in their work; able to oversee day-to-day operations of self and a team, staying ahead of deadlines and maintaining productive time-keeping for self and others; solicits feedback to improve personal performance and completes tasks in a timely and accurate manner.
• Accountability: Staff acts with integrity and practices ethical decision-making; takes responsibility for mistakes instead of making excuses, and uses challenging experiences as opportunities to improve; able to navigate hard conversations with staff, participants, and peers with respect;
• Creativity: Staff is ?exible, and engages in outside-of-the-box thinking to ensure work is completed and good decisions are made; open, accountable, and able to work with individuals from various backgrounds and at different skill levels; able to multitask and manage crises;

The physical requirements described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties:

• The ability to safely operate a motor vehicle to transport oneself, others and program supplies as necessary.
• The physical ability to travel to assigned locations, stand, stoop, bend, reach, pull, push, lift, grasp, climb, talk, see, hear and perform basic and light home maintenance activities, and operate of?ce equipment.
• The physical ability to move and lift light objects up to 30 pounds such as mail, supplies, ?les, and equipment.
• The ability to operate of?ce equipment requiring continuous or repetitive hand/arm movements.
• The ability to remain in a sitting position for extended periods of time.
• Maintain auto insurance minimum limits as follows – 1) single liability limits of $100,000 Bodily Injury Per Person / $300,000 Bodily Injury Per Accident / $50,000 Property Damage OR Combined Single Liability Limit of $300,000 (this combines the bodily injury and property damage into one limit per claim) and annually provide a declarations page to the Human Resources Department.