Outreach Housing Specialist

Locations

BR871, 871 W Oakland Park, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33311, USA

• On-site
• Travel Required:
  
  Yes
• Social Services
• Full-Time
• Requisition #: OUTRE
  002183

Position Overview:

Minimum of 1 year of homeless community outreach experience required

The Outreach Housing Specialist is responsible for coordinating the assessment of individuals and families with homeless needs and subsequent engagement for shelters, rapid re‑housing, permanent support housing, and referral to medical, dental, mental health, substance use disorder care, pharmaceutical, treatment education, and other services needed by Care Resource clients. Outreach Housing Specialists provide housing assistance through available resources including the homeless continuum of care’s coordinated entry system.

They participate in homeless coalition meetings, coordinated entry case conferencing, maintain appropriate client data in case files, the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and PATH‑specific data systems, including spreadsheets and grant‑prescribed data systems.

The Outreach Housing Specialist moves homeless individuals and families into permanent rental housing as quickly as possible, in conjunction with case management, workforce and support services being provided simultaneously. After rental assistance ends, clients will move into aftercare case management to provide ongoing support and assistance to prevent future homelessness. The Outreach Housing Specialist assists program participants in locating and securing permanent housing as quickly as possible and works and collaborates closely with landlords and Case Managers to mediate landlord‑tenant issues and ensure successful tenancies.

• Serves as a liaison, coordinator and/or advocate between the Homelessness, Housing case management, medical care departments or other community medical or agency service provider to remove homelessness barriers to housing/care for clients.
• Accompanies clients to housing, medical, mental health, substance use disorder treatment or social service appointments to improve housing stability and medical care. Creates rapport within client interaction to help each progress in their housing issue to avoid homelessness situations.
• Interviews prospective clients to determine homeless need, individual needs, and eligibility for various medical and social services, enrolling them into available community programs.
• Maintains an organized system of tracking client outcomes through the services point systems (HMIS) and follows up with the goal of seeing clients progress toward improvements in their lives.
• Conducts initial interview/intake and client housing barriers and other assessments. Gathers and documents all necessary information for program eligibility and case plans.
• Helps program participants identify potential neighborhoods where they wish to live, conduct housing searches in said areas and negotiate with potential landlords on behalf of the participants.

• Conducts research, outreach, education, and public relations to build a pool of landlords and property management companies willing to rent to program participants.
• Coordinates, supports and follows up on medical treatments.
• Maintains an average annual active caseload as assigned by the supervisor.
• Assists in the processing and submission of applications for housing (subsidized and unsubsidized).
• Inputs client information using electronic data entry according to agency and departmental guidance.

• Maintains comprehensive knowledge of community services to apply knowledge of services to individual client needs.
• Supports billing through concurrent documentation of services provided and budget activities as required (i.e., reconciling billing across data systems including PCIS, Web‑based systems, CASEWATCH, HIMS, Next Gen and client electronic health records).
• Participates in staff training sessions within the time frames specified and as required by the agency and the funding source.

• Participates in agency developmental activities as requested.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Participates in agency…