Case Manager, Low-Threshold Housing & Services

Job Title: Case Manager, Low-Threshold Housing & Services

Reports To: Program Director of Low-Threshold Housing & Services

Job Type: Non-exempt (hourly), Regular Part-time

Location: On-site, some hybrid work available

Schedule: Approximately 24 hours per week, scheduled as three 8-hour days

Compensation: $21 to $24 per hour, depending on experience

Company Overview:

Established in 2011, Craig's Doors is a non-profit human services organization that provides vulnerable and unhoused members of our community with emergency shelter, food, and safety, as well as access to the resources they need to achieve physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. At Craig’s Doors, we believe that all human beings are deserving of safety, dignity, and a sense of belonging, and that access to housing, mental and physical health care, and nutritious food is a fundamental human right.

Program Overview:

The Craig’s Doors Low-Threshold Housing and Services (LTHS) program provides subsidized scattered-site apartment-based housing coupled with intensive case management services. LTHS serves individual adults experiencing homelessness with substance use disorders (SUD) who may be at risk of (or experiencing) commercial sexual abuse (CSE), at risk of HIV acquisition or currently living with HIV, and with barriers to obtaining and maintaining permanent housing. The primary goal of service provision is to help people become and remain housed, and facilitate access to medical care, behavioral health services, and support services that optimize health and quality of life. Due to the nature of the program, caseloads are low and the case management work is intensive and complex.

Job Summary:

The Case Manager, Low-Threshold Housing & Services (LTHS Case Manager) is an experienced social service professional responsible for providing high-quality, comprehensive, and intensive case management services to residents of Craig's Doors' LTHS Program. Residents of this program live at scattered sites across the Amherst area. The LTHS Case Manager regularly visits the residents’ homes where they build trusting relationships with program participants in order to assist clients with long-term housing stability and reaching personalized goals. The LTHS Case Manager is dedicated to supporting and empowering program participants utilizing a team-based approach to evidence-based practices including a Housing First philosophy, Motivational Interviewing, Harm Reduction, and Trauma-Informed Care.

Although limited time is spent in a traditional office setting, this is not a work-from-home position. The LTHS Case Manager drives to multiple locations throughout the workday based upon case management appointments, meetings and other needs of the program and organization.

Key Responsibilities:

Client Centered Support and Case Management

• Engage in training and utilize the techniques you've learned to empower clients and promote positive change.
• Coordinate and provide care that is safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and client centered while also establishing professional boundaries.
• Work with clients in-person at their residences across the Amherst, MA area.
• Provide orientation to program guidelines and responsibilities.
• Conduct comprehensive evaluation and assessment of client needs, strengths, limitations, barriers, and goals.
• Work with individuals to develop realistic service plans that identify issues and map a course towards their resolution. Provide long-term case management support as they work towards stabilization. Service plans may include assistance in areas such as housing, employment, income, education, health care, mental health, substance use disorders, disability support, domestic violence, legal and credit issues, interpersonal skills, budgeting and household management skills, or a combination of the above.
• Continually assess, refine, and develop service plans that will improve the lives of our clients while working with program leadership.

Maintain and Expand Access to Resources & Public Benefits

• Assist with housing searches and applications for services such as veteran’s benefits, health insurance, social security, food stamps, cash and fuel assistance, etc.
• Connect clients to community resources such as food pantries, schools, medical providers, treatment facilities, governmental offices, and public transportation.
• Maintain current knowledge of resources and benefits available to the LTHS program population. Develop relationships to facilitate client access to relevant resources and benefits.

Relationship Building and Conflict Resolution

• Build relationships with clients’ landlords, acting as a liaison and advocate. Be a first point of contact in resolving landlord or neighbor conflicts amicably. Create response plans in the event of health crises.
• Provide or arrange for training on tenant rights, financial success, and other activities that support long-term sustainability.
• Initiate new community partnerships and support clients in establishing new social relationships.
• Advocate for clients’ rights and needs with landlords, emergency responders, and other agencies.
• Provide crisis intervention to support clients, bringing in outside agencies when necessary.

Documentation, Reporting, and Organizational Expectations

• Maintain accurate, comprehensive, and timely logs, case notes, and client records.
• Document crisis incidents for Craig’s Doors records and state reporting.
• Collect, enter, and maintain all necessary statistical data required by Craig’s Doors and our funders.
• Maintain Outlook calendar, emails, and Slack communication with team and organization.
• Safety comes first. Communicate your daily itinerary to your team and whenever changes arise. Checking in at the start and end of each workday is essential to ensuring team-wide situational awareness.
• Submit all organizational reports and documents timely, such as timesheets and mileage expense reports.
• Adhere to all organizational policies and procedures.
• Conduct oneself professionally in all interactions with colleagues, clients, partners, providers, and the greater community.

Training and Meetings

• Participate in individual and group supervision, case conferencing, and programmatic meetings as assigned.
• In consultation with the Program Director, seek opportunities for professional development and to improve skills through participation in scheduled trainings, webinars, and community meetings.
• Complete all required trainings upon hire and annually as assigned. Some content will be provided by Craig’s Doors staff while others will be provided by external trainers. Required topics for the LTHS program include but are not limited to case management, case management documentation, opioid overdose prevention, nonviolent crisis management, de-escalation techniques, ethics and boundaries in social services, medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD), harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and motivational interviewing. Annual training requirements for the LTHS program include at least one cultural competency training which focuses on issues of diversity such as race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression. Documentation of completion of any training on these topics must be submitted to the Program Director and HR.

The key responsibilities in this job description are intended to provide an overview of the role but may not be all-inclusive. Additional duties may be assigned as needed by the program and organization.

Qualifications

Education, Experience and Credentials

• Bachelor's degree in Social Work, Psychology, Public Health, or other related fields with 1 year of related case management experience with persons experiencing homelessness or substance use disorders.
• Additional closely related work experience on a year-to-year basis can qualify in exchange for a related bachelor's degree. With no higher education in a relevant field this equates to 5 years of related work experience.
• Valid MA Driver’s License and ability to reliably commute to work and to appointments and meetings throughout the region each workday.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Bilingual English/Spanish-speaking preferred
• Proficiency in a Windows-based computer environment, case management software programs, and Microsoft 365.
• Adheres to professional standards and ethics with healthy boundary-setting.
• Has applicable knowledge of trauma-informed care and case management principles.
• Has knowledge and/or experience with the unhoused community, harm reduction services, the Housing First model, or PSH/LTHS programs.
• Commitment to operating within a trauma-informed workplace that demonstrates radical acceptance and compassion through a balance of kindness, competence and care toward self, colleagues, and populations served.
• Proven experience utilizing de-escalation tools to resolve conflicts. Ability to remain calm during stressful or escalated situations.
• Ability to self-assess and learn from experiences through individual reflection, case conferencing and one-on-one supervision.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, and ability to build rapport with diverse populations.
• Strong organizational and time management skills, including the ability to successfully balance the time with clients and the time needed for documentation and other programmatic requirements.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Highly resourceful and able to solve problems with both typical and novel solutions, as needed.

Work Environment and Physical Requirements:

• Requires substantial periods of repetitive work utilizing a computer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
• Requires frequent travel to client homes, shelters, and community settings; ability to drive safely; work in these settings may involve varying temperatures, odors, allergens, pets, and other environmental factors.
• Requires lifting and carrying equipment and supplies weighing up to 25 pounds; requires pushing and pulling equipment and supplies weighing up to 25 pounds; requires frequent sitting, walking, and standing; requires the ability to negotiate stairs; requires visual acuity and manual dexterity to operate equipment.

Qualified candidates with diverse backgrounds, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, veterans, and those with lived experience, are encouraged to apply.

It is the continuing policy of Craig’s Doors to recruit and employ the best qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion/religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, genetic information, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, military status. Equal employment opportunity applies to all personnel actions such as recruiting, hiring, compensation, benefits, promotions, training, transfers, discipline, terminations and opportunities for training. No preference is given to the hiring of relatives or friends of current employees, but referrals are welcome.

• Employee Assistance Program
• Paid Time Off
• Sick Leave
• Paid training and professional development
• Mission-driven, compassionate work environment

English proficiency required, Spanish proficiency preferred