Triage Specialist

Overview

Description:

Schedule: 40 hours, full time (Wednesday - Saturday; 9:00am – 7:30pm). May include early mornings, nights and/or weekend hours by prearrangement. This position is non-essential in the event of an emergency.

Pays: $23.48-$26.00 per hour DOE. Salary ranges provided are based on relevant experience and skill set.

Location: 444 Harrison Ave, Boston, and any other Pine Street Inn site as needed.

The Triage Specialist engages new shelter referrals in a triage assessment process designed to determine a guest’s immediate level of need and assertively moves the guest to safe housing. The Triage Specialist may work with community providers of health and behavioral health services to coordinate care plans which do not rely on emergency shelter when other more appropriate medical and behavioral health services should be explored and utilized.

The Triage Specialist will work within a best practice framework of Harm Reduction, Motivational Interviewing and Trauma-Informed Care and, whenever possible, will provide support toward family reunification and mitigating barriers to securing alternative options for safe housing. If diversion is not possible or appropriate, the Triage Specialist will initiate a full guest intake, frame the guest’s understanding of a limited stay in emergency shelter, and establish the foundation for the guest’s work toward a more permanent housing solution.

This will include referrals for placement within the first 30 days of Shelter. The Triage Specialist will provide exceptional customer service both internally and externally and will work in partnership with case management teams to provide integrated service delivery which furthers our mission to eliminate homelessness. The Triage Specialist will work under tight time frames for accurately entering guest information into Pine Street Inn’s approved Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).

Attention to detail and accuracy is critical in this position.

• Shelter is a temporary safety net, not a home. The Housing Placement Team must assertively motivate guests and incentivize them to seek better alternatives using best practices.
• All people experiencing homelessness, regardless of their housing history and duration of homelessness, can achieve housing stability in permanent housing.
• Never warehouse or institutionalize our guests in our shelters.
• Everyone is “housing ready.” Sobriety, compliance in treatment, or even a clean criminal history is not necessary to succeed in housing. Housing programs and providers must be “consumer ready”.
• Leverage guests’ strengths, assets, and connections to move quickly out of shelters and to any other housing.
• Recognize the impact of violence and victimization on development and coping strategies.
• Employ an empowerment model.
• Maximize guest choices and control over her/his recovery based in a relational collaboration.
• Create an atmosphere that is respectful of the guests’ need for safety, respect, and acceptance.
• Emphasize the guests’ strengths, highlighting adaptations over symptoms and resilience over pathology.
• Minimize the possibilities of re-traumatization.
• Strive to be culturally competent and to understand each person in the context of his or her life experiences and cultural background.
• Solicit guest input and involve guests in designing and evaluating services.

Education/Training REQUIRED:

• Associates in a human services related field or High School Diploma with a minimum of two (2) years of equivalent experience in a social service setting
• Strong computer and math skills, including familiarity with MS Word, Excel and ability to learn and successfully use MIS & HMIS programs

Preferred:

• Certification, training, or formal education in counseling and/or case management
• Bi-lingual – Spanish/English

Required:

• Minimum of two (2) years’ experience delivering services to a challenged population often struggling with addiction and untreated or under-treated mental health concerns
• Working knowledge of local resources available to Boston’s homeless population
• Working Knowledge of Housing First and Rapid Rehousing
• Knowledge of the issues related to homelessness
• Strong written communication skills

Preferred:

• Practical experience in client assessment, diversion, mediation, negotiation, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma-informed Care, Crisis Prevention and Intervention, household budgeting, and service planning, recovery services – including mental health, substance use/abuse and traumatic brain injury
• Minimum of two (2) years’ experience in a triage or intake position