Stark County Mental Health & Addiction Recovery is committed to supporting wellness and recovery through innovation in funding, collaboration, education, and advocacy. Housed within StarkMHAR is the Stark County Homeless Hotline/HMIS.

As the Homeless Navigation Specialist, you will be responsible for gathering data from telephone callers who are homeless or precariously housed, completing an accurate domain assessment instrument, providing them referral and service information and working with area agencies to provide shelter. The successful candidate will perform data entry to meet HUD requirements in Homeless Management Information System.

• Robust Benefit Package
• Health Benefits begin 1st of month after start date
• Ohio Public Employee Retirement System
• Vacation & Sick Leave Accruals from day 1
• Prior Gov't service may increase Vacation accruals
• 5 Personal Days & 7 Paid Holidays per year
  

PURPOSE

The Homeless Navigation Specialist position is responsible for day-to-day operations of the Coordinated Entry System (CES) and Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for the Homeless Continuum of Care of Stark County (HCCSC), in accordance with Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Regulations; Conducts intakes and assessments, provides referrals to housing-related and other services.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

1. Conducts an initial evaluation of participant's housing status, needs, and resources and, as appropriate, use developed diversion skills to redirect participants to immediate resources outside of the (CES);
2. Gathers demographic, situational and financial data from participants who are entering the Coordinated Entry System (CES) and enter data into HMIS and CES;
3. Completes eligibility and needs assessments for individuals and families entering the CES and enter data into HMIS, and triage emergent needs identified through the assessment process;
4. Helps participants navigate housing and support service opportunities who are not currently directly participating in the CES;
5. Maintains a central prioritization list of participants awaiting housing in emergency shelter and/or other housing;
6. Opens records and cases in the HMIS and CES, meeting federal requirements for data needs and follows all privacy and security requirements;
7. Provides information and referral assistance to callers from secondary and post-secondary institutions, social service agencies, law enforcement, emergency services, behavioral health organizations, courts, hospitals, religious entities, etc. regarding participants needing homeless services and/or housing.
8. Maintains and monitors bed inventory and prioritization list to refer households based on available openings, household needs and project requirements;
9. Assists in projects with data entry needs including programs and services, training and troubleshooting access difficulties;
10. Provides customer service support to shelters, other area agencies, county and federal entities related to shelter and services for homeless individuals and families and for those at risk of homelessness;
11. Assists in promoting cultural & linguistic competence within the Stark County community;
12. Works congenially and cooperatively with coworkers and the public; maintain a working knowledge of the Homeless Continuum of Care of Stark County policies and procedures;
13. Performs other duties as requested including attending training and community meetings as directed by the supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education, Training and/or Experience

Associates degree in communication, social work or other similar discipline, or equivalent experience required. Experience in phone or direct interviewing of individuals is required.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Personal Characteristics

Office practices and procedures/customer service; keyboard accuracy and speed required; excellent customer service attitude required; proficiency in Microsoft Office. Be able to work in a shared office area.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience in dealing with homeless individuals, cultural and linguistic sensitivity, and trauma -informed training preferred.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Nature of work requires ability to operate standard business office equipment. Requires ability to communicate and exchange information via telephone and email, collect, compile and prepare work documents, set-up and maintain work files. Must spend majority of time concentrating on multiple computer monitors; Must be able to sit or stand for extended periods of time; must be able to wear a phone headset. Travel by automobile may be required occasionally.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Position will work generally M-F 8-5 in an office setting. Travel may be required on occasion. Additional/irregular hours may be required on occasion.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENINGS:

The final applicant selected for this position, prior to hire, will be required to submit to a drug test for illegal drug use. The test site shall be chosen and paid for by StarkMHAR. An applicant with a positive test result will not be offered employment. Applicant will also be subject to a criminal background check paid for by the Board.

Salary Range: StarkMHAR Grade 1 $25,670 - $34,730 Suggested Starting Range $25,670 $27,800

An appropriate combination of education, training, course work and experience may qualify an applicant to demonstrate required knowledge, skills, and abilities that could qualify for a higher starting salary.

Hours: Monday through Friday 40 hours per week

Application Deadline: Until Filled

This job description is not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties or skills required for the job and is subject to review and change at any time, with or without notice, in accordance with the needs of Stark County Mental Health & Addiction Recovery. Since no job description can detail all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time in the performance of a job, duties and responsibilities that may be inherent in a job, reasonably required for its performance, or required due to the changing nature of the job shall also be considered part of the jobholder's responsibility.