Mental Health Case Manager

Description

Days Off: Saturday, Sunday

Shift: Day (9am - 5PM)

Insurance Benefits: Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)

Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan

Union Representation: This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

Recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in developing solutions to homelessness, DESC is a social services organization, supportive housing operator, and licensed behavioral health treatment provider focused onmeeting the needs ofpeople experiencing long-term homelessness and living with complex behavioral health and other medical conditions. Approximately 3,000 people are actively receiving services from DESC at any given point in time. Our vision is a community where all people are shown compassion,treated with dignity, and everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.

DESC operates five shelter/emergency housing programs,19 permanent supportive housing facilities with over 1,750 units, several hundred additional scattered site apartments, and a rangeof behavioral health services including outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, residential crisis stabilization, street outreach, mobile crisis response, and treatment for opioid use disorder.

The Mental Health Case Manager for HOST is part of a multi-disciplinary team serving homeless adults experiencing severe and persistent mental illness and co-occurring disorders. The team prioritizes services to those who are highly vulnerable, lack service connections or other support, and are unwilling or unable to engage in traditional service models. The team works throughout the greater Seattle area to provide critical survival services and engagement with the ultimate goal of addressing acute mental and physical health needs, increasing stability, obtaining housing, and transitioning to long-term services.

Referrals to this program will often include individuals with a history of involuntary detainments or observable behavioral health challenges, they often will not endorse a mental health or substance use issue, or have the insight into the impact of their well-being and access to care and resources.

The Mental Health Case Manager provides outreach, engagement, and ongoing services to a small caseload of homeless adults with severe & persistent mental health disorders and/or co-occurring disorders. This position requires a high degree of coordination and collaboration with other DESC programs as well as outside agencies to ensure successful transition of consumers to ongoing care.

• Provide outreach and engagement services as assigned, in office, on the streets, in shelters, encampments, DESC projects, and other community areas. On occasion services may be provided in outlying King County areas.
• Interact with general client population, intervene in crisis situations with individual clients and screen clients for HOST eligibility when appropriate.
• Develop and maintain cooperative relationships with current programs providing services for homeless and mentally ill persons.
• Participate in community education regarding the needs of homeless clients with mental illness/co-occurring disorders, techniques of engagement and service provision.
• Provide survival resources, hygiene products, and harm reduction supplies to meet basic needs and build rapport, as appropriate.

• Participate as a member of a multi-disciplinary team of clinical, outreach, medical, peer support, and substance use specialists to provide a variety of services focused on stabilization and transition to long-term behavioral health or other appropriate ongoing services.
• Conduct needs assessments, intake evaluations, and mental health assessments. With client participation, develop service plans; facilitate linkages to housing, psychiatric and physical health care, financial benefits, and other support services to meet the individual's needs.
• Assume primary responsibility for coordinating all aspects of clients’ support and treatment plans. This includes coordinating survival services with a focus on access to food, shelter, and clothing; acquisition, retention, and stabilization of housing; acute and ongoing medical care, psychiatric treatment, benefit enrollment, criminal justice system coordination, and substance use treatment.
• Advocate for clients’ access to community resources and services, ensuring that clients' needs are met and rights maintained; consult and collaborate with community providers to ensure continuity of care.
• Prioritize crisis intervention with clients as needed. This may include de-escalation, outreach to emergency departments, and/or making referrals to the county Designated Crisis Response system.
• Develop and maintain strong…