Case Manager, HomeStart Program

Homestart Case Manager

Doorways is an Arlington-based non-profit agency helping individuals and families create pathways out of homelessness, domestic violence and sexual assault leading to safe, stable, and empowered lives. We envision a community where all people live free of violence and have safe and stable housing regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, age, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, abilities, language, or national origin. We see a future without homelessness or domestic and sexual violence.

Doorways began in 1978 when a group of concerned community members saw there was no safe place in Arlington for families in crisis. What began then with one shelter and one response has grown into a series of pathways individually tailored for adults, youth, and children seeking safety and shelter. From immediate crisis intervention to counseling, housing, and employment support, we offer real options and multiple pathways for people of all ages and genders—women, men, youth, and LGBTQIA+ people.

The Home Start Supportive Housing Program offers short-term rental assistance and supportive housing services for survivors and families exiting shelters into apartments of their own. The program provides housing location and rental assistance and housing-focused case management, rooted in trauma-informed care, strengths-based, motivational interviewing, harm reduction and low barrier practices. Home Start clients receive Doorways' children's, financial, and counseling services as they opt in.

Home Start staff, in partnership with each client, begin their work by developing a Housing Goal plan, focusing on safety and goals to secure and maintain housing; once in housing, the team continues to work toward maintaining safe and stable housing after graduating from Home Start.

Reporting to the Home Start Housing Program Manager, the Home Start Case Manager (HCM) performs ongoing psychosocial assessment and provides trauma-informed counseling, interventions, support, and referrals to adult clients enrolled in the Doorways Home Start Supportive Housing Program. The HCM provides services in client homes and community settings. The HCM assists clients in establishing and fulfilling goal plans that enable them to achieve emotional wellbeing and housing stability, safety, and self-sufficiency.

The HCM serves as clients' primary in-house source of support and leads collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of providers, including a Housing Locator and Advocate, Financial Counselors and Children's Services Case Managers. Where needed, the HCM refers clients to other community programs for additional services (such as legal assistance, medical care, and treatment for serious mental illness and substance abuse) and collaborates with community partners to ensure client needs are met.

The HCM position is full-time (40 hours/week) and requires flexible working hours including some evenings. This position requires reliable personal transportation for frequent travel to client homes and community settings. This position is included in the Doorways' on-call Tier response team, which will require 24/7 availability on a rotating schedule.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities :

Program Duties (client service delivery):

• Provide ongoing psychosocial assessment of individual adult client needs, including assessments of housing needs, mental health needs, strengths, social supports, risk and protective factors, vocational and educational needs, life skills, and other domains that affect clients.
• Provide both formal and informal assessments to children and youth as necessary.
• Provide trauma-informed counseling, utilizing motivational interviewing skills and a strength-based approach. Providing psychoeducation to assist clients in overcoming personal challenges impeding achievement of goals and self-sufficiency.
• Utilize crisis intervention counseling and strategies with clients encountering significant life events.
• Home Start Case Managers serve in after-hours on-call rotation to provide 24/7 support and leadership to staff and clients of agency's housing and residential shelter programs in the event of emergencies, staff, or client crises, or prospective Safehouse or shelter admissions.
• Utilize understanding of domestic violence to provide trauma-informed care, safety planning, and court advocacy services to survivors; refer survivors to community resources as needed for additional legal and physical/mental health support.
• Through the administration of the initial assessment and ongoing client contact, utilize a harm reduction, low barrier approach to assess clients for mental health and substance abuse needs and implement interventions with clients based on presenting needs; work with community resources and referrals to provide and coordinate mental health and substance abuse treatment.
• Assist clients in developing effective goal plans to achieve housing stability and support them in becoming self-sufficient. Refer clients to other…