SCHEDULE: 40 hours; Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., with availability for early mornings, nights & weekends
LOCATION: Must have the ability to travel to various locations as needed, ie-444 Harrison Avenue, Boston, 363 Albany St, Boston, 1800 Soldiered Field Rd, Brighton, 1 Lingard St, Boston.
Pays $23.48 per hour
This position carries a retention bonus of $4000.00, payable in instalments of: $500.00 at 1 month, $ 500.00 at 3 months, $1500.00 at 6 months, and $1500.00 at one year.
"This bonus is only available to new external hires to Pine Street Inn, including temporary staff who are thereafter converted to permanent employment status. This bonus is not available to Pine Street Inn staff or paid interns or paid co-op students who are seeking a transfer to this role. This bonus is only payable for work actually performed in the role. Employees who leave their position before they have worked all the time required for each bonus instalment will not be eligible to collect further payment for their prior position, even if they stay at Pine Street Inn."
JOB DESCRIPTION:
SUMMARY OF POSITION:
The Housing Placement Specialist (HPS) will partner with shelter guests to reduce barriers to housing and housing supports utilizing actionable decisions and individual housing plans that will rapidly lead to safe, affordable housing with the supports necessary to sustain achieved housing. The Housing Placement Specialists will work within a team of Housing Placement Specialist as well as Housing Search Specialists, Benefits Navigator, and Stabilization Specialists to ensure that we develop and execute sustainable and expeditious housing plans. The HPS and her/his team will work under tight timeframes for accurately entering guest information into the Pine Street Inn’s approved Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). Attention to detail and accuracy is critical in this position, The Housing Placement Specialist will provide exceptional customer service both internally and externally and will work in partnership with other emergency services and housing department staff to provide integrated service delivery, which furthers our mission to eliminate homelessness. Under the discretion of the PMH Director and the PMH supervisor, the HPS will work with the Mobile Enrollments and Benefits Specialist and the PMH Clinician to identify clients who are receiving pre-tenancy support services to be enrolled in Community Support for People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness (CSPECH) Program.
The Housing Placement Specialist will work from the following principles:
- Shelter is a temporary safety net, not a home. The Housing Placement Team must assertively motivate guests and incentivize them to seek better alternatives using best practices.
- All people experiencing homelessness, regardless of their housing history and duration of homelessness, can achieve housing stability in permanent housing.
- Never warehouse or institutionalize our guests in our shelters.
- Everyone is “housing ready.” Sobriety, compliance in treatment, or even a clean criminal history is not necessary to succeed in housing. Rather, homelessness programs and housing providers must be “consumer ready”.
- Leverage guests’ strengths, assets, and connections to move quickly out of shelters and to any other housing.
- Recognize the impact of violence and victimization on development and coping strategies
- Employ an empowerment model
- Maximize guest choices and control over her/his recovery based in a relational collaboration
- Create an atmosphere that is respectful of the guests’ need for safety, respect, and acceptance
- Emphasize the guests’ strengths, highlighting adaptations over symptoms and resilience over pathology
- Minimize the possibilities of re-traumatization
- Strive to be culturally competent and to understand each person in the context of his or her life experiences and cultural background
- Solicit guest input and involve guests in designing and evaluating services
*Please note - All credentials and licensures will be reviewed annually as part of the PSI credentialing process. Additionally, an annual CORI review and OIG Medicaid Fraud checks will be conducted for the Housing Placement Specialist. Acceptable results of annual credentialing and CORI reviews and OIG Medicaid Fraud checks will be required of the Housing Placement Specialist.
REQUIREMENTS:
EDUCATION/TRAINING:
REQUIRED:
- BSW, BA or BS in a human service-related field [can be substituted for High School Diploma and at least three (3) years of equivalent experience in a social service setting]
- Certification, training, or formal education in counseling and/or case management
- Valid Driver’s License in good standing
PREFERRED:
- Bilingual – Spanish/English
KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE:
REQUIRED:
- A minimum of two (2) years of experience delivering services to a challenged population often struggling with addiction and untreated or under-treated mental health concerns
- Strong computer and math skills - including familiarity with MS Word and Excel Experience
- Practical experience in working collaboratively with homeless individuals creating housing plans and individual service plans
- Experience with helping individuals with budgeting
- Experience accessing housing opportunities and subsidy programs for homeless individuals
- Knowledge of the issues related to homelessness and housing
- Experience navigating systems of housing and care for homeless individuals
- Knowledge and experience utilizing Motivational Interviewing, Trauma-Informed Care, Harm Reduction, Housing First, and Change Theory in practice
PHYSICAL ABILITIES/SKILLS:
REQUIRED:
- Ability to stand for moderate periods of time, stretch, bend, lift and assist guests up and down stairs during difficult and/or emergency situations.
- Ability to access various locations for unit viewings and meetings with landlords and Housing Authority in all weather conditions via public transportation, personal vehicle or PSI van
- Ability to operate a 15-passenger van
- Ability to respond safely and quickly in case of emergency situations
- Ability to sit for moderate periods of time at a desk in an office while interacting with clients and/or managing documentation and completing data entry
MENTAL ABILITIES/SKILLS:
REQUIRED:
- Excellent writing, documentation, math and computer skills
- Ability to assess clients and make appropriate referrals
- Ability to establish good working relationships with internal and external program staff
- Strong decision-making and communication skills
- Exceptional customer service
- Ability to perform an array of difficult tasks at the same time
- Patience in working with guests with untreated emotional and/or physical health needs and active substance use/abuse/dependency behaviors
- Ability to work in intense emotionally charged situations
- Ability to help provide critical incident de-briefing
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
- Meet or exceed established performance and program goals.
- Meet or exceed established housing goals.
- Work with guests to quickly and accurately complete housing and support documentation.
- Work with guests to expeditiously obtain appropriate mainstream benefits
- As needed, perform client intakes, assessments, and Notes.
- Extensive knowledge of the HMIS/Clarity systems (Clarity Expert)
- Maintain accurate and timely documentation.
- Actively work with guests to motivate and incentivize the development and execution of actionable and sustainable individual housing plans using best practices.
- Maintain thorough knowledge of human/social services networking opportunities available in Boston and surrounding areas.
- Perform other additional assignments or projects as requested/directed by Program Director, Supervisor and HMIS Manager.
- Comply with and model compliance with all PSI policies, including illness prevention and occupational health policies.
- Accept other duties or work locations as assigned in order to meet the needs of the organization during weather or other emergencies
Documentation and Confidentiality:
- Completes internal enrollment documentation for CSPECH (including consents, payment statement, emergency face sheet, etc.)
- Completes documentation in the electronic health record, CareLogic and other systems as required
- Manages documentation and reporting to maximize billing opportunities
- Maintains confidentiality specifically HIPAA, patient privacy and 42 CFR Part 2
