Hart Outreach Worker

**Position Title**:HART Outreach Worker **Department**:Supportive Services

**Reports to**:Manager of Community Services **Pay Range**:$24.48-$26.52 per hour

**Location**:Victoria, BC

**Schedule**:8:30am-4:30pm, Tuesday & Thursday and 7:00am-1:30pm, Wednesday (40 hours bi-weekly)

**Organizational Focus**:
Pacifica Housing has been providing safe and affordable homes for almost 35 years. We are a rapidly growing organization dedicated to meeting the housing and support needs of our community. As such, we are committed to building our fast-growing team with a culture that supports our people and reinforces our core values of authenticity, leadership, respect, and social justice.

Pacifica is proud to be a Certified Living Wage Employer by The Living Wage for Families Campaign.

**What we Offer**:

- A mission driven, meaningful working environment.
- Minimum three (3) Weeks Vacation Entitlement.
- Best-in-class Benefits Package for full-time employees (includes extended health & dental, life insurance, among others).
- Employer RRSP Contributions (employee matching not required).
- Significant wellness time.
- Career development and internal advancement opportunities.
- Organization and individual training opportunities.
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

**Position’s Primary Objectives**:
The HART Outreach Worker focuses on supporting those without a home in accessing services. The position addresses BC Housing and community priorities to improve system efficiency and facilitate positive transfer by increasing Pacifica’s capacity to improve long-term housing outcomes for chronically homeless adults through community collaboration.

This position requires liaising with member of HART team to identify homeless individuals in encampments and connect them with services:

- developing and managing client case plans to promote long-term housing stability;
- in an integrated team approach, collaborating with partner agencies and a variety of other community organizations to support the clients’ long-term housing stability;
- responding quickly and effectively to address issues, such as damages to a unit, conflict with a landlord or other issues that might potentially impact a tenant’s housing status;
- maintaining successful relationships with landlords including coordinating move-outs, storage, clean-up, damage repairs.

**Key Responsibilities**:
1. Provides a range of support services to clients who have multiple barriers to housing, including:

- provide a variety of assessment, placement and advocacy services for encampment clients;
- connect clients with appropriate community resources;
- provide culturally appropriate services directly at point of care;
- seeking out and approaching people living ‘in the rough’/street entrenched with the intention of establishing a rapport and building trust;
- supporting clients by providing educational materials and guidance regarding how to obtain and maintain housing;
- problem-solving and skills training with clients to facilitate securing affordable, adequate, safe housing;
- provide other group outreach work as directed by BC Housing;
- providing interim case management services during the period of assessment and placement in housing.

2. Develops and maintains on-going working, professional relationships with community members, landlords, property owners/managers, in collaboration with the Landlord Liaison position, including:

- providing mediation and problem-solving services to resolve disputes/disagreements between clients and landlords;
- following up with landlords on a regular basis to identify and mitigate potential housing retention issues before they escalate and become costly and difficult to manage.

3. As a member of the DOS team, performs a variety of administrative duties and attends professional development functions, including:

- initiating and participating in program and policy assessment;
- attending weekly team meetings to debrief cases, provide and receive peer support, provide up-dates on community status and exchange information on community resources;
- tracking client housing activities and compiling monthly statistical reports;
- maintaining the BC Housing Data Base and all associated processes such as reports and confidential documents;
- participating in producing year-end reports for the Housing Outreach Program;
- attending pertinent workshops/seminars and conferences;
- supporting and participating in agency/association wide initiatives such as public relations presentations, community forums, strategic planning events and information seminars.

**Qualifications**:
**Education**:

- Diploma or Bachelor degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counselling, Mental Health or Addictions Worker qualifications or other related social services field from college or university
- Conflict resolution/crisis prevention training and experience required

**Experience**:

- Minimum of two (2) years recent related experience

**Knowledge