What are the responsibilities and job description for the ERF Mental Health Specialist position at Housing Matters?
Housing Matters partners with individuals and families to create pathways out of their homelessness into permanent housing. We are a leader in working to end homelessness – and we want you to be part of our team! We are looking for individuals eager to make a difference and willing to enthusiastically commit to join in our vision that homelessness in Santa Cruz County should be rare, brief, and non-recurring.
The ERF Mental Health Specialist will be an early point of contact for participants in the community with Mental Health disorders, and will work to engage them in conversations about services and pathways to mental health and housing. ERF Mental Health Specialists will utilize trauma-informed care principles and a person-centered care model to communicate with participants, and remain patient, non-judgmental, and understanding.
Hours and Benefits
- ERF Mental Health Specialist is a full-time, hourly, non-exempt position, eligible for our generous benefits plan:
- 6 Medical plans - 100% employee coverage
- Dental - 100% employee coverage
- Vision - 100% employee coverage
- Life insurance (UNUM) - 100% employee coverage
- Chiropractic and Acupuncture (for those who elect medical insurance) - 100% employee coverage
- 403b Retirement Savings matched up to 3% dollar-for-dollar with no vesting period
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Travel Assistance
- PTO: 20 days annually, 1 paid floating holiday, 9 paid holidays
- Regular hours are Monday through Friday.
Compensation
Preferred Experience and Education Requirements
Minimum one year of diverse experience performing social work services and documentation- A Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college with a major in social work, social welfare, human services, human rights, or one of the social or behavioral sciences.
Special Requirements
- Lived experience with homelessness or housing instability preferred
- Personal or professional experience with mental health support and recovery
- Previous outreach experience with underserved populations preferred
- De-escalation, Harm Reduction, and Motivational Interviewing skills are required (training available upon hire and offered by the facility).
Bilingual preferred
Thorough knowledge of:
- Social casework objectives, principles, methods, and caseload management and organization.
- Mental health disorders, support, stabilization and recovery modalities.
- Principles of human behavior and development, psychological defense mechanisms, and reactions to stress.
- Social and economic factors that lead to homelessness for individuals and households.
- Knowledge of local community health, welfare, social, and legal support systems, as well as other resources available to participants.
- Interviewing and record-keeping techniques, including the documentation of all actions and contacts in case files.
Typical Job Duties:
- Provide an early point of contact and engagement for unhoused individuals/ families with active or untreated mental health disorders.
- Perform daily street outreach to engage unhoused adults with mental health disorders, assist with coordinating desired referrals for medication support, outpatient or residential treatment, and complete coordinated entry assessments.
- Collaborate with local partner agency staff to provide cohesive outreach as a team.
- Assistance with identifying outreach sites.
- Staying up to date with local resources.
- Provide mental health education, safety assessments, and harm reduction intervention training.
- Provide Medi-Cal and Benefits Advocacy. Assist with signing up for benefits.
- Assist with coordination with ERF Program staff to support participants with completing coordinated entry assessments and obtaining housing documentation.
- Attend and participate in program and organizational meetings.
- Providing and tracking referrals in HMIS.
- Help participants build and mobilize social support, facilitating participant empowerment to fully engage with all members of their health care team.
- Transport clients to medical and benefit appointments to aid with connecting to primary care and patient advocacy as well as housing and benefits.
- Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate medical and social needs.
- Support monthly reporting requirements for the ERF program.
Other duties as assigned.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment at Housing Matters without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer-related and genetic characteristics), marital status, sexual orientation, age (over 18), veteran status, gender, pregnancy, or any other non-merit factor unrelated to job duties. Such action shall include, but not be limited to, the following: recruitment; advertising, layoff or termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation, selection for training (including apprenticeship), employment, upgrading, demotion, or transfer.
Salary : $26 - $33
