Housing Specialist

Housing Specialist

Salary Range $19.46 - $22.00

The Housing Specialist provides housing-related assistance to clients entering into housing. This position works directly with clients to guide them through rental application, resource identification, and lease signing processes. The position helps to coordinate and track housing inspections, ensure documentation is obtained, and safety standards are met. The position also provides tenancy-based education, conflict resolution and landlord mediation assistance to promote housing retention.

Central to this position is ensuring clients move seamlessly from temporary housing placements into permanent supportive housing.

Key Role Responsibilities

• Helps clients identify, secure, and retain housing placements. Assists with the inspection process to ensure that housing units meet established safety standards.
• Provides housing-based counseling and education regarding tenant rights and responsibilities. Reviews past housing history and identifies possible barriers to obtaining and retaining housing
• In partnership with clients, develop and implement individualized housing plans to promote housing success. Promotes successful implementation of housing plans by providing information and referrals to community resources. Assesses and responds to tenancy problems such as late payments, damage or lease violations, inadequate income and financial assistance needs.
• Partners with interdisciplinary team members and external partners to ensure clients are able to rapidly exit homelessness.
• Develops new landlord relationships and cultivates existing partnerships to create a robust pool of safe and affordable housing options for clients exiting homelessness and relocating. Networks with property managers and provides mediation services when needed.
• Prepares and maintains client records, documentation, and up-to-date files required for the leasing process. Conducts annual review of files to ensure grant compliance and provides statistical information for reports.
• Completes and updates HMIS documentation to include program entry, monthly and annual client assessments in accordance with grant requirements. Accesses and collects data from HMIS database to promote care coordination activities
• Completes documentation within the client's electronic health record in a manner that is easy to understand and in accordance with established formats and required time frames.

Key Agency Responsibilities

In addition to role responsibilities, every staff member has the following responsibilities as a part of their employment:

• Models and reinforces the core values of dignity, authenticity, hope, justice, passion and balance
• Actively participates in performance improvement and advocacy activities that support the mission
• Protects clients' personal health information by maintaining compliance with HIPAA and other relevant health care-related IT security regulations
• Performs other duties on an as-needed basis

Qualifications

Knowledge, Experience, and Skills

Formal Education and Training

• Associate's degree in human services or related field preferred
• A valid Driver's license, access to a personal vehicle during work hours and clean driving record

Experience

• Two years of experience linking clients with housing placements in the community
• Experience working with permanent supportive housing programs that utilize rental assistance, tenant-based vouchers and project-based vouchers strongly preferred
• Experience using HMIS preferred
• Experience working in a health care, housing or behavioral health setting preferred

Skills

• Displays personal integrity and has well-developed interpersonal skills necessary to engage clients and promote positive relationships with other community agencies and providers
• Willingness to adopt and apply Harm Reduction and Housing First principles
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work with ill, disabled, emotionally upset and sometimes hostile clients
• Ability to be flexible and work as part of an interdisciplinary team
• Ability to work in sensitive situations and maintain confidentiality
• Capacity to tolerate frequent interruptions
• Approaches change with a positive, open-minded attitude

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

Activity
- Some
- Freq
- Work Position %

Lift - 0-50 lbs.

- x
- Sitting - 30%

Carry - 0-50 lbs.

- x
- Walking - 40%

Push - 0-50 lbs.

- x
- Standing - 30%

Pull - 0-50 lbs.

- x

Stoop, Kneel - X

Crawl - X

Climb - X

Balance - X

Physical Requirements
- Hazards

Mark with an X if this is a physical requirement…