Housing Based Case Manager

_**Join our Amazing E Fry Ottawa Team**_

**Housing Based Case Manager (HBCM)**

**Job title**:Housing Based Case Manager (HBCM)

**Reports to**:Manager, Community Programs and Services

**Hours**:37.5 hours/week

**Language**:English Essential (Bilingual Preferred)

**Salary**:$24.65 (salary non-negotiable - unionized organization)

**Welcome**

**About E Fry Ottawa**

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa a is not-for-profit community agency that supports and advocates for women, gender-diverse people and men impacted by the justice system. We provide a diverse array of community-based and residential programming. Our work is aimed at reducing harm and oppression, supporting people to overcome barriers to reintegration, and empowering them to build a life of stability and resiliency. We are a feminist organization committed to working from a human rights and anti-oppression perspective, recognizing systemic barriers that lead to marginalization. We work with trauma-informed, person-centered principles to promote a respectful, diverse, and inclusive environment that promotes healing, recovery, and successful reintegration. E Fry Ottawa is a unionized workplace.

**Our Housing Based Case Manager**
- Provides comprehensive housing-based case management services to support moderate to high acuity women and gender-diverse people in Ottawa who are in the process of being discharged from the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) to find appropriate housing, learn relevant life skills, and promote an improved quality of life.
- Assists clients in accessing community supports and services or acting in a role of advocacy when it is appropriate to do so to enhance their housing stability and support long-term housing retention.
- Work with clients in areas of skill building, goal setting and safety planning.

**This position involves travel (by car) in the City of Ottawa. Valid driver’s license is required and access to a reliable vehicle considered an asset (with appropriate insurance) to transport clients to viewings, appointments, and meetings. A clean driver’s abstract is required to access agency vehicle.**

**Core Responsibilities**

**Intake and Assessment**
- Identify clients through in-reach activities at Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) and assess for HBCM services using a Justice Discharged VI-SPDAT (JD VI-SPDAT) as well as through case-conferencing with OCDC discharge planners and/or the Elizabeth Fry Society Community Liaison Worker
- Consult with the City’s Housing First Data Coordinator to identify and prioritize clients that meet Housing First eligibility criteria.
- Administer agency intake and assessment tools as required to support clients.
- Maintain and record accurate, complete, up to date client files and case notes according to established procedures. This includes entering the necessary information into HIFIS and ShareVision.

**Release/Discharge and Housing Procurement Support**
- Prior to discharge from OCDC, arrange for emergency shelter or other interim housing to support permanent housing search.
- Upon release from OCDC, coordinate essential appointments with clients regarding income benefits, transportation requirements, and identification needs.
- Assist clients by arranging viewings, speaking to property owners, choosing housing, and assisting with move-in arrangements, including the procurement of furniture and/or small household items.

**Ongoing supports**
- Facilitate clients’ access to community resources to strengthen their tenancy, promote healthy living, and offer long-term support as needed. This includes establishing connections with the LGBTQ2+ and Indigenous communities when appropriate.
- Empower clients to maintain the condition of their housing unit by overseeing cleanliness levels, teaching, and reinforcing life skills, and connecting them to community supports when necessary (exposure to issues like smoke, pests, clutter, and other adverse conditions may occur).
- Support clients in preparing a monthly budget, a weekly calendar of meaningful things to do, a personal guest policy, a risk minimization plan, and a crisis plan.
- Review and adjust support service plans, gradually reducing and ultimately discontinuing HBCM supports in alignment with the preferences and evolving needs of the client.
- Conduct JD-VI-SPDAT and VI-SPDAT assessments to support triage and identify the need for more intensive housing supports and administer SPDAT assessments at regular intervals to evaluate changes in acuity, track client progress, adjust case plans, and assess improvements in the client’s ability to sustain permanent housing.
- Assist clients in problem-solving and crisis intervention around housing conflicts and legal issues that may put their tenancy at risk.
- Provide shared after hours on-call support to clients dealing with urgent housing related issues.
- Provide information on tenant rights and responsibilities as needed and if necessary, support clie