Housing Specialist

Position Overview:
The purpose of the Housing Specialist is to assist tenants that have mental health concerns and/or substance use disorders, physical health needs, and barriers to adequate food and transportation. The Housing Specialist will be working on-site at the apartment complex(s) to provide in-person support to the tenants and to continue an increased flexibility of service delivery to support the complex needs of each resident. The services offered may be broad or intensive and could include referrals as well as service coordination with county Social Services, contracted case management, mental/chemical health services, public assistance and benefits programs, community organizations, as well as providing assistance with paperwork and tenant issues. The Housing Specialist will collaborate with RTI, Dakota County, and property management to work together to offer services and referrals to Dakota County residents at the assigned apartment complexes. Role Responsibilities:

• Establish trusting relationships with tenants so they feel comfortable accepting services.
• Prioritize exploring creative solutions to maintaining housing for all tenants. When a disruption does occur, connect tenants to a better suited living environment to reduce the risk of homelessness and the strain on Dakota County Social Services (DCSS), community partners, and other homeless response services.
• Respond to referrals from Property Manager to provide a timely follow-up contact with the tenant to determine if the individual/household is interested and/or eligible for voluntarily programs offered through Dakota County or community-based organization.
• Learn about the mental health crisis and other services offered by DCSS, including the roles and responsibilities of the 24 hour, seven days a week, Crisis Response Unit (CRU) and on-going mental health programs.
• Link or refer tenants to programs and services included in the service grid to promote housing stability and affordability including:
• Coordinate with your assigned system partners: Embedded Social Worker and their Law Enforcement Partner as well as the Multi-Family Officer.
• Building relationships and partnerships with stakeholders is critical to providing site-based tenant support services.
• Coordinate with community organizations to bring services and/or events on-site as appropriate and approved by property management.
• Could include food access program, community events with Parks and Recreation, summer cookouts, etc.
• Respond in accordance with RTI’s policies, when available and assistance is requested, to a mental health crisis or emergency in coordination with Law Enforcement, the DCSS’s 24 hours, seven days a week, CRU, the Embedded Social Worker, and Crisis Stabilization.
• Decrease the number of service calls to apartment complex by connecting tenants to ongoing support services necessary to prevent mental health and physical health crisis and to encourage preventative engagement.
• Track outcome measures based on how many residents receive services, how many participants are POC, number of hours provided, incidents that have occurred, satisfaction of participants and stakeholders, and how the services are being utilized.
• Send out monthly reports to Dakota County and RTI reporting on the program outcomes and how many social services referrals have been made.
• Other tasks as assigned by Area Director/Department Director/Lead Housing Lead.

Required Qualification and Experience: 

• Associate degree in related field of behavioral health OR has 2,000 hours of supervised experience in Housing or working directly with individuals experiencing severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI).
• Minimum one year of housing experience.
• Ability to pass a Department of Human Services background check.
• Must have access to a reliable vehicle and maintain a valid driver’s license and insurance
• Ability to organize and work independently.
• Other, as needed, as company and role expand or evolves.

Benefits of Working at RTI:

• Generous PTO Accrual: Earn up to 4.2 Weeks of PTO after 3 years and 3.2 Weeks of PTO years 0-3.
• 7 Company Paid Holidays 1 Paid Floating Holiday
• Sign-on bonus of $500
• Matching 401k, we are invested in your future.
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Paid Training Sessions
• Advancement Opportunities, around 80% of our managers started at entry-level.

Compensation: 46,000 per year
Type: Full-Time
Location: Dakota County

Be the difference by making a difference. Advance your career in mental health today and change someone’s life tomorrow with Residential Transitions Inc., an award-winning organization that puts the people they serve and employ first.
RTI provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $46,000.00 per year

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Ability to Relocate:

• Dakota County, MN: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $46,000