Street Outreach Specialist

Street Outreach Specialist

The Street Outreach Specialists, individually and collectively, reach people who might not otherwise seek assistance or come to the attention of the homelessness service system. This position works to meet unsheltered people's basic needs while supporting them along the path toward housing stability. Street Outreach Specialists embrace a person-centered approach that inherently requires flexibility, patience, strong engagement techniques, and empathy. Due to the independent nature of frequently working solo and directly in the community, Street Outreach Specialists must be skilled in handling encounters and interactions that require problem-solving and independent judgement in situations such as individuals needing immediate housing, medical care or psychiatric hospitalization.

Job Responsibilities:

• Provide targeted street outreach, assuring appropriate geographic coverage, to communities within Housing Forward's service area to identify unsheltered homeless persons living on the streets or other places not meant for human habitation.
• Establish rapport and reduce harm by providing critical resources such as food, water, clothing, blankets, and other necessities.
• Determine the person's immediate safety needs.
• Using a trauma-informed approach, provide crisis intervention, and other skills and strategies as needed for engagement.
• Perform assessments and prioritize for assistance as sheltered person assessed through the coordinated entry process. Refer unsheltered families to the Family Support Specialist and unsheltered homeless youth to the System Navigator.
• Perform intake and complete VISPDATs as necessary.
• Work as a team with the other Street Outreach Specialists.

Service and Housing Coordination Responsibilities:

• Make immediate connections to emergency shelters or temporary housing to provide safe options while individuals and families are on a pathway toward stability.
• Make connections to stable housing with tailored services and supports of their choice, such as health and behavioral health care, transportation, access to benefits, and more.
• Perform warm handoffs to Coordinated Entry or to shelter, housing, and service providers (e.g., outreach staff may offer to physically accompany the individual to appointments to provide support).
• Collect and maintain required program documentation and data in input into the HMIS system and agency SharePoint site.

Partnership Relationships and Stewardship:

• Establish working relationships with community stakeholders - law enforcement, libraries, first responders, hospitals, health and behavioral providers, townships, homeless education liaisons, faith-based organizations, and other community-based providers.
• Conduct joint outreach with Loyola's Street Medicine and Live4Lalli teams to identify individuals that may be appropriate for harm reduction interventions.
• Provide access to primary medical care, both onsite and offsite, though warm handoff to Loyola Health clinicians.
• Communicate and cooperate with staff from other programs as needed to ensure seamless delivery of service to clients.
• Create linkage to medically assisted treatment and harm reduction counseling enrollment.
• Provide evidence-based training to community organizations regarding the challenges and issues confronted people living on the streets and programs and strategies including, services offered by the street outreach team that are designed to help individuals on the street.
• Participate in regular program, administrative and planning meetings with the partners in the project.

Other:

• Log activities and time as required by the agency and its funders.
• Attend team and agency meetings and trainings.
• Provide technical assistance to other Outreach Specialists with data entry and client files.
• Ensure Outreach Specialists are accurately retrieving Sales Force referrals.
• Other tasks as assigned.

Qualifications:

Education: BA, B.S. Advanced degree or credential or certification in Social Work, Family Services, Human Services, Counseling or in related field; with a minimum of one year experience. Individuals with lived experience and two years' working in related fields will also be considered.

• Must work Thursday evenings, start time will be adjusted to accommodate evening hours.
• Driver's license, clean driving record, auto insurance, and access to personal vehicle.
• Must have smartphone to utilize Agency communications and collaboration tools.
• Mindful of racial and other inequities and disparities among people experiencing homelessness and tailor and customize their efforts to ensure that equity is being achieved within their outreach activities and outcomes.
• Adept at problem-solving to identify strengths and existing support networks, explore possible safe housing options outside the homelessness service system, such as reunification with family, and connect the individual to community supports and services.

Key Competencies:

• Bilingual Spanish and English fluency highly desirable.
• Encounters and interactions are respectful and responsive to the beliefs and practices, sexual orientations, disability statuses, age, gender identities, cultural preferences, and linguistic needs of all individuals.
• Follow safety protocols for vulnerable populations that involve fleeing domestic violence, as well as dating violence, sexual assault, trafficking, or prostitution.
• Sensitivity to cultural diversity is required ability to communicate and cooperate with diverse families, various professionals and community groups.
• Understanding and application of a trauma-informed care approach.
• Exercises discretion and independent judgment in executing tasks.
• Must demonstrate the ability to establish helping relationships
• Comfortable using a tablet in-the-field to document encounters.
• Proficient in utilizing trauma-informed care, de-escalation and crisis-intervention techniques.
• Ability to keep appointments punctually, be organized and demonstrate accountability and follow through.
• Openness to new ideas and skills and commitment to learning though reading and with hands-on-training.
• Ability to problem-solve and make decisions in chaotic and/or stressful situations.
• Strong interpersonal and direct communication skills.
• Good communication and listening skills
• Represent the agency in a professional and ethical manner.
• Ability to maintain an active team approach with all staff in all work-related situations and with the staff of other agencies/organizations.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Competent in Microsoft Office tools and inputting services in an online database.

Physical Requirements:

The physical requirements 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. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms balance, stoop, kneel or crouch, walk stairs drive a vehicle and use a computer.

Environment/Working Conditions:

This position operates in a professional office work environment. Work schedules and/or locations may vary, depending on the department's scheduling needs. May be required to attend meetings at other locations; require travel outside of normal work hours. This position requires constant traveling and driving in western Cook County. Ability to tolerate being outdoors in all weather for several hours at a time.

American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement: External and internal applicants, as well as position incumbents who become disabled, must be able to perform the essential job specific functions (listed within each job responsibility) either unaided or with the assistance of a reasonable accommodation to be determined by the organization on a case-by-case basis.

Housing Forward does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, citizenship, ethnic or national origin, age, disability, medical status, military status, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, ancestry, or any legally protected status. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits and training. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, national origin, or disability.

Job descriptions are not intended and should not be construed to be all-inclusive lists of all responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions associated with a job. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the job requirements, management reserves the right to modify, add or remove duties from particular jobs and to assign other duties, as necessary. This job description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment.