HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS SOCIAL WORKER

HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS SOCIAL WORKER

East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) is a non-profit legal services organization, the community-based clinical program for U.C. Berkeley Law School, and one of the Bay Area’s largest and most effective systems disrupters. With a dual service and teaching mission, EBCLC is a racial justice organization committed to buildinga culturally diverseworkplace, centered on equity. With about 50 staff, 90 law students a year, and a $7 million annual budget, EBCLC is the largest provider of free legal services in Alameda County, providing multimodal, collaborative, and holistic legal services to over 4,000 clients annually and engaging in legislative and policy advocacy at the state and local level.

The Opportunity

EBCLC is excited to recruit a Social Worker to join its high-impact Housing Program. The Housing Social Worker provides holistic representation to low-income tenants and unhoused community members with a broad range of housing-related legal problems and contributes to the creation of more just and humane housing policies and practices for Alameda County tenants. The position requires a strong, client-centered advocate with excellent case management and organizational skills, experience working with housing insecure communities, a willingness to work collaboratively across legal and social work disciplines, and interest in teaching and mentoring the next generation of social workers. The Housing Social Worker is one of three social workers at EBCLC and is embedded in the Housing Program. While supervised by the Social Work Director, the Housing Social Worker performs their day-to-day work within the Housing Program working on housing legal cases.

Primary Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with attorneys and staff in meeting the psychosocial and legal needs of Housing and Homelessness clients
• Provide case management, crisis intervention, and systems navigation support to clients and their families
• Support clients in identifying their needs, setting goals, and developing structured plans for achieving those goals
• Meet and advocate for clients in various settings, such as at home, social services, court, government agencies (e.g. local housing authorities), and other community-based settings while maintaining the confidentiality of all case-related information
• Help clients connect with appropriate services and support, including but not limited to medical, mental health, and financial
• Develop relationships with local social service organizations and agencies
• Supervise MSW interns
• Lead and participate in training of the legal and social work teams, including law and social work students
• Complete administrative tasks, such as those related to grant management, reporting, and client case management
• Participate in professional development to improve client services and student supervision
• Additional tasks as assigned by Supervisor

Minimum Qualifications

• Masters in Social Work
• Demonstrated commitment to racial justice
• Experience with or strong interest in MSW intern supervision
• Demonstrated experience working in an interdisciplinary setting or experience working collaboratively with attorneys
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Aptitude to work in a fast-paced environment and under pressure in an empathetic and trauma-informed manner
• Ability to give, receive and incorporate feedback, actively engage in conflict resolution, and take ownership and accountability of work areas
• Demonstrated ability to work independently
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a diverse range of groups, including people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, formerly incarcerated people, people of color, people experiencing homelessness, immigrants, non-English speakers, people with mental disabilities, people experiencing domestic violence, students, service providers, government employees, and community partners
• Demonstrated ability to manage time effectively
• Demonstrated ability to keep accurate records and complete reports or notes in a timely manner
• Demonstrated ability to de-escalate individuals in crisis
• Strong interpersonal skills, flexibility, and demonstrated ability to work well independently and as part of a team
• Spanish, Cantonese, or Mandarin language fluency is highly preferred

Salary and Benefits

Starting salary for this exempt position is $85,000-102,000, based on school graduation date, as dictated by the EBCLC salary scale.

Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) for employees and their dependents, life and disability insurance, and generous paid leave (vacation, sick, and holidays); EBCLC also offers flexible spending accounts for qualified health, dependent care, and commute expenditures; and retirement options.

Workplace Expectations

EBCLC is a hybrid workplace. The Housing Social Worker is expected to work at our Adeline office in Berkeley at least 3 days a week from 9am-5pm to meet the needs of our Social Work and Housing teams and the community. In addition, the Housing Social Worker is expected to work with clients in the field - meeting with clients in their homes, as well as various other locations throughout Alameda County including social services agencies, court etc. The Housing Social Worker’s remote schedule will be determined by the Social Work Director, based on programmatic and client needs. EBCLC will provide the necessary equipment to fulfill the job responsibilities of working from home.

Working at EBCLC

EBCLC is a unionized workplace and members of the bargaining unit are represented by the Engineers and Scientists of California Local 20, IFPTE. This position is part of the bargaining unit. EBCLC is strongly committed to advancing justice through education and advocacy, and the need to transform legal services and legal education. Please take time to review EBCLC’s mission, vision, programs, and website, and ensure that your cover letter reflects how your background, experience, and expertise have prepared you to be successful in performing the responsibilities of the position.

Additionally, EBCLC is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity and providing an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients. To achieve this goal, EBCLC works actively to improve our office climate, systems and structures, communications, and community engagement to create an inclusive and respectful workplace where differences are acknowledged and valued. In your cover letter, please address how your personal background and experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to contribute to our commitment to cultural responsiveness and diversity amongst our staff and high-quality services to EBCLC’s diverse clients.

We strongly encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. EBCLC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior contact with the criminal legal system, or any other basis prohibited by law.

Application Process

Interested applicants should submit an application by visiting www.recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/All/e08277ee-1903-4833-9119-446abffa1ca5/East-Bay-Community-Law-Center. The position will remain open until filled, with priority application review and interview scheduling starting October 10, 2025. EBCLC will review applications and interview applicants on a rolling basis and will only review complete applications. A complete application must include a cover letter, resume, and names/contact information for three professional references. Please submit your complete application as one single pdf file by uploading it under “Upload your Resume.”

Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) for employees and their dependents, life and disability insurance, and generous paid leave (vacation starting at 20 days a year, sick leave at 12 days a year, and holidays); EBCLC also offers flexible spending accounts for qualified health, dependent care, and commute expenditures; and retirement options.

Spanish, Cantonese, or Mandarin language fluency is highly preferred