Outreach Specialist - South Seattle

Description

Work at Evergreen Treatment Services and make a difference in our community!  

• ETS has been working to transform the lives of individuals and their communities through innovative and effective addiction and social services in Western Washington for over 50 years. Learn more about our mission and values. 
• Change begins within. We strive to foster and sustain a diverse and inclusive community within our organization. Find out how we are working to achieve racial equity, health equity, and community justice. 
• Our Clinic Services and REACH teams bring critical professional expertise and heartfelt compassion to the work they do every day to serve our most vulnerable community members. Check out the compelling stories told by our patients, clients, and staff members that provide more information and a clear picture regarding our organization’s essential work.  

REACH Mission and Values  

The REACH Program works with individuals experiencing homelessness and behavioral health conditions to help them achieve stability and improved quality of life. The REACH mission is to foster community health and safety through outreach, relationship, healing interventions and systems advocacy for people who use drugs.? REACH provides outreach-based-care coordination, multidisciplinary clinical services, and supports to access and maintain housing.? All services are based in principles of harm reduction that offer respect and dignity to individuals moving through stages of change in their lives.  

REACH incorporates a racial equity lens that includes naming the impact and actively dismantling systems of oppression rooted in White Supremacy, while addressing the root causes perpetuating historical trauma and immense suffering in individuals’ lives.? We are committed to building a robust behavioral health response that diverts people away from jail by rebuilding community and providing services to ensure those presently marginalized aren’t just surviving, but able to thrive. 

REACH offers an array of services ranging from survival support provided where folks are living outside to linkages to essential resources such as housing, assistance to resolve legal issues, health care, entitlements and easily accessible treatment for substance use disorders and mental health conditions.  

The REACH team is passionate about creating a hospitable and welcoming environment for all people while providing quality services on an individually tailored basis to our clientele. REACH values diversity of lived experience, is committed to racial equity and social justice, and appreciates hard work, creativity, and a good sense of humor. People who have been impacted by the criminal legal system are encouraged to apply. 

This dynamic position plays an important role in helping ETS accomplish our mission! 

The Outreach Team focuses on engaging clients living on streets and encampments with low barrier resource navigation, maintaining engagement with case management services, and establishing partnerships with other providers and organizations to coordinate care. The REACH Outreach Team conducts assessments and provides referrals to services such as shelter, case management, behavioral and physical healthcare, substance use harm reduction resources and education, and housing, if able. REACH services are person-centered, strengths-based, trauma-informed, culturally relevant, and respectfully provided from a harm reduction perspective to promote client autonomy and dignity in how they access resources and services.

The South Outreach Specialist will also be responsible for supporting partnerships with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA), Seattle of City Unified Care Team, community-based organizations, and neighborhood businesses. The South Outreach Specialist will work with city and service partners to create a coordinated street outreach strategy in their geographical area and district in Seattle to demonstrate an effective, trauma-informed response to people living unsheltered. The South Outreach Specialist will also partner with REACH program staff to support clients enrolled in REACH intensive case management services. 

The South Outreach Specialist will be based in District 2 region of Seattle working with the South Outreach Team. This position will work closely with the City of Seattle UCT to coordinate shelter referrals at eligible sites and partners in neighborhoods such as Mt Baker, Columbia City, and Rainier Beach.

Job Functions (may include):

Provide outreach to folks living outside in Seattle D5 to conduct health and needs assessments and provide recommendations for services and resource distribution 

• Go to sites where individuals experiencing homelessness are located, to make contact and explain the approach to potential clients. 
• Assess client’s needs for mental health, primary medical care, and substance use according to their stage of change, focusing on reducing harmful consequences of behavior.   
• Assess scope of need of unhoused client population in SKC and work with government and community partners to advocate for access to or creation of adequate services 
• Refer clients to resources and services and support-maintaining engagement with service
• Develop and maintain a positive working relationship with program partners and referral sources to facilitate effective interagency collaboration and prevent duplication of services.
• Participate in case conferencing meetings for outreach and other homeless service providers to discuss clients with high barriers
• Maintain up to date data per REACH Outreach standards to coordinate care for clients and have accurate information on sites 
• Document activities according to agency, contract, state and federal requirements.  
• Connect with government and community entities to bring a coordinated system response, which may include:
• City and County coordinators 
• Public health assessments and care 
• Hygiene and sanitation services 
• Waste removal 
• Law enforcement coordination 

Benefits Assistance 

• Participate in relevant stakeholders, government entity, and community meetings to respond to help create an effective system response.   
• Maintain professional and ethical confidentiality practices while communicating with community partners to maintain client privacy rights and advocate for client needs 
• Utilize clinical supervision, psychiatric consultation and peer support for exploring clinical intervention strategies, countertransference, resource development, self-care and burnout prevention.
• Provide services consistent with ETS/REACH program policies and procedures. 
• Local travel on behalf of the Agency is a job requirement.
• Attend REACH team meetings and other required meetings at REACH and with program partners. 

Additional duties as assigned.

Requirements

Qualification Requirements 

Education

•  High school diploma or equivalent required, undergraduate degree with coursework in the social service field preferred.

Experience

• A minimum of two years’ experience in work related to social work or outreach programs.
• Demonstrated ability to respectfully engage with individuals experiencing homelessness and behavioral health conditions essential.
• Understanding and skilled at working with complex governmental and community partners to maintain service provision to clients 
• Experience providing services from a harm reduction perspective highly desirable.

Knowledge Requirements

• Computer literate, with basic knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, as well as a high level of initiative in keeping current with technological change.
• Ability to prioritize workload and activities of self and complete tasks in a timely and efficient manner.
• Dependable, able to work under pressure, receptive to change, willingness to learn, cooperative approach to problem solving.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, clients, and outside contacts from a wide variety of ethnic, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds; good diplomatic skills.
• Must be able to pass a Washington State Patrol criminal background check.
• Flexible team player.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to work very independently and seek supervision when appropriate.

Language Skills

• Ability to read and interpret general business correspondence, policies and procedures, referral information, financial documentation and applicable government regulations.
• Ability to write business letters, uncomplicated reports, instructions and procedures.
• Ability to present information effectively and respond to questions from clients, staff, referral sources and the general public.

Physical Conditions and Requirements: 

The employee may be exposed to illicit drug residues and fumes or other bio-hazardous materials when carrying out job functions. There is also potential for exposure to bloodborne pathogens. ?ETS will provide employees with appropriate training to limit the risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Policies and procedures are in place addressing each item specifically. 

The employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear; frequently required to stand, walk, and kneel; occasionally to climb balance, or stoop; rarely to crouch or crawl. 

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close, color, and peripheral vision and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is moderate. 

Equipment Used

•  Computer, photocopier, fax machine, phone, and use of the program vehicles.

Inclusivity and Reasonable Accommodation: 

Evergreen Treatment Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. 

ETS will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with a disability so that they can perform the essential functions of a job unless doing so causes a direct threat to these individuals or others in the workplace and the threat cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation, or if the accommodation?creates an undue hardship for ETS. We also seek to provide reasonable accommodation for the interview process. 

Salary : $72,000 - $74,000