Street Outreach Specialist

Work. Serve. Thrive. With the City of Durham

Advance in your career while making a real difference in the community you serve.

Hiring Range: $50,732-$61,688

Hours:

40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Shifts will be either 7 am to 3 pm or 1 pm to 9 pm. Please keep in mind that, eventually, the Street Outreach program intends to have weekend hours as well. This may involve a change in shift schedule for the entire team. More information on schedule will be given during the interview process.

In 2022, the Durham Community Safety Department (DCSD) launched four 911 crisis response programs—collectively known as HEART (Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams)—to meet the needs of people in crisis with compassionate care and behavioral health expertise. (Interested applicants can visit our website and dashboard, watch this CNN clip, listen to this NPR segment, or read this piece from The Assembly to learn more about our department.)

Recently, DCSD has expanded to include Street Outreach. As part of that expansion, we are hiring three Street Outreach Specialists, who will be part of DCSD’s first ever Street Outreach Team!

We are looking for candidates excited about and committed to Housing First, harm reduction, and the long, arduous work of systems change on behalf of neighbors experiencing homelessness. If you're someone who takes pride in meeting people where they’re at (literally and figuratively), who persistently pursues housing solutions for willing neighbors (even if it takes a whole lot of creativity and determination), and who works exceptionally well on teams (which means engaging in and resolving difficult conversations), then you’re the kind of rockstar we want in our department.

DCSD’s approach to work is flexible, highly collaborative, and evidence-driven. Our departmental culture prizes equity, care, and the health and safety of our staff. If you resonate with the statements below, you’ll be a great match for our approach to work.

• You are committed to Housing First and its core principles. You also understand the need for pragmatism in the long work of systems change.
• You love serving unhoused neighbors and walking alongside them as they journey through housing, recovery, employment, medical care, and any number of other avenues.
• You thrive in collaborative spaces – teamwork is at the core of your desired work-life.
• You enjoy a workplace that emphasizes learning and translating insight into real change—both in the workplace and in how we engage with the people we serve.
• You’re eager to learn—about people, about social systems, about new ways to approach care.
• You love caring for others and you know how to take care of your own needs, too.

• Champion a Housing First mentality that sees housing as an immediate solution for neighbors experiencing homelessness, not as a secondary step once neighbors are deemed “housing ready.”
• Meet neighbors where they’re at (both literally and figuratively) to develop trusting relationships that can lead to housing stability.
• Demonstrate persistence and creativity in connecting neighbors to appropriate and ongoing services and finding stable housing options for neighbors willing to move inside.
• Provide culturally competent engagement and peer counseling services to neighbors experiencing homelessness.
• Work closely with team members and supervisors to coordinate the outreach, care, and housing of neighbors.
• Collaborate closely with 911 crisis response staff on any interactions with unhoused neighbors and assist in developing person-specific protocols if needed.
• Nurture productive and highly collaborative…