PLEASE READ ENTIRE JOB DESCRIPTION - A COVER LETTER IS REQUESTED, PLEASE APPLY VIA EMAIL

OUR VISION: A New Orleans where everyone has a safe place to call home.

WHAT WE VALUE: Compassion, Collaboration, Best-Practices, A Commitment to Growth

Position Overview:

The Outreach Case Manager is responsible for assisting clients who are living on the streets (or in other places not meant for human habitation) to end their homelessness and meet their basic needs, with a focus on serving those who are not being served in traditional drop-in or shelter environments for any reason.

Case Managers are trained to assist individuals with identifying and overcoming barriers to housing access and will also be responsible for considering the holistic wellbeing of unhoused individuals by offering service connections to healthcare resources, mainstream benefits/income, identification documents, and other supports in a housing-first, non-judgmental approach.

This is a full-time, salaried position employed at 35 hours per week, with a typical schedule being 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (one-hour non-working lunch) Monday through Friday with rare evening or weekend work for meetings, annual street census counts, and extreme weather events.

Duties:

Each outreach case manager will be assigned a specific area (~1-1.5 square mile) where they’ll:

• Consistently canvass the area on foot, engaging all unhoused individuals residing there to triage for basic needs, respond to emergencies, and offer referrals and/or light case management assistance (20-30% of time, variable)
• Enroll a rolling caseload of 8-14 of the area’s most vulnerable individuals with whom the outreach case manager will have a minimum of weekly contact to build trusting rapport and to develop and pursue active service plans targeted at ending the individual’s homelessness, reducing their vulnerability and exposure to harm/risk, enrolling them in all available benefits, and addressing their health needs through up to 60 days post-housing. (50-70% of time, variable)
• Document all services rendered in case management software, participate in weekly team meetings, yearly point-in-time counts, regular supervision and trainings, etc. (10-20% of time, variable)

Essentials Skills and Qualities of the Outreach Worker:

• Ability to interact with those who have been heavily affected by trauma, marginalization, and oppression without judgment
• Ability to respond with patience and supportive, non-coercive, service offerings to individuals who may be participating in or affected by substance use, sex work, mental illness, institutionalization, unclean living environments, health/mobility issues, and/or distrust of service providers.
• Willingness and ability to conduct outreach in diverse environments (on streets, in abandoned buildings, in parks, etc.) on foot in all seasons (excluding active rain) for 5 hours/day, carrying backpack, sitting on ground, etc.
• The ability to work independently by prioritizing and maintaining your own schedule and to-do list and seeing all clients as needed on a weekly/monthly basis without daily monitoring.
• Additionally, staff must be able to maintain awareness of their surroundings and be willing to work independently in the field during daylight hours in well-populated areas. No outreach will be conducted by anyone alone in evening/nighttime hours, or in settings that are not well- populated/visible/in public.
• De-escalation/crisis response skills/experience
• Experience with navigating bureaucracies including Food Stamps, Medicaid, Social Security, and local health/housing providers.

Qualifications:

• Minimum education/life/work experience is a bachelor's degree (human services field preferred) with 1 year of case management experience serving similar populations or a high school diploma/GED with 3 years lived or professional experience with similar populations, which has exposed you to realities that affect individuals experiencing homelessness and complex health and/or substance use conditions in New Orleans. Peer specialist certification considered equivalent to bachelor's degree.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and/or similar email/calendar systems
• Having a valid Louisiana Driver's License with a clean driving record is strongly preferred

Compensation and Benefits:

• Compensation for this position is $38,500 – $46,750 per year (depending on education, language, experience)
• Employees are granted generous annual vacation and sick time as well as all Federal holidays
• Health/vision/dental plans with affordable premiums
• Free parking and work-related mileage reimbursement
• Employer contribution of 5% to retirement fund after 1 year of employment

Office Location: New Orleans Community Resource & Referral Center at 1530 Gravier Street, New Orleans, LA 70112. Outreach will be conducted in neighborhoods in or near downtown (may include Central Business District, Calliope Corridor/Central City, Lower Garden District, French Quarter, Treme, Marigny, Bywater). Staff must be comfortable working in the field, including completing paperwork, phone calls, and client meetings on the streets, in encampments, in parks, in cars, in local businesses, or in other agencies.

To Apply: Please email PDFs of (a) your resume and (b) a cover letter to jobs@travelersaidneworleans.org

Your cover letter does not need to be more than 1 page - you do not need to repeat your experience from your resume in the cover letter; instead please tell us why you are interested in working specifically in street outreach with this population and what skills you believe you can bring to the specific setting of outreach work with unhoused individuals, many of whom live with severe mental illnesses. Applications sent as requested through email, as opposed to submitted through really, will be given strong preference.

Applications accepted until 07/05/2024.

Travelers Aid Society of Greater New Orleans is an equal opportunity employer.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $38,500.00 - $46,750.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Language:

• Spanish (Preferred)

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Preferred)

Work Location: Multiple locations