Caring. Hope. Giving back. Our mission at the Bert Nash Center as the Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) of Douglas County is to advance the health of the community through comprehensive behavioral health services responsive to evolving needs and changing environments. We accomplish this by believing in our team. Each person that works for the Bert Nash Center contributes directly to the success of our clients, organization, and community. Our values of compassion, integrity, equity and hope reflect in everything we do.

Pay is commensurate with experience within a range of $20.00 - $28.67 per hour. This position is full-time, non-exempt and eligible for our benefits. Bert Nash offers excellent benefits which include medical, dental, vision, KPERS retirement, life insurance, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providing free counseling and resources, and generous PTO.

Responsibilities and Duties:  The primary responsibility of the Homeless Outreach Specialist will be the provision of outreach case management services to people of Douglas County who are homeless.  The population served will require case management activity to occur primarily in the community, on the streets, or in shelters.  

Specific duties include:

• Providing ongoing assessment of needs and facilitate goal-directed activities with homeless persons with objectives of assisting the client in securing access to and independently mastering use of community services and resources that will enable and support independent living and progress toward his/her established goals;
• Coordinating these services with other services provided by the Bert Nash Center, as well as other community providers;
• Providing outreach and crisis intervention services to enable the client's timely acquisition of those services appropriate and necessary to crisis stabilization and/or hospital diversion;
• Participating in the development of a community-wide service outreach to assist people who are homeless and maintenance of independent living;
• Carrying a limited case management load for Community Support Services;
• Delivering direct consumer contact hours compliant with established standards;
• Completing all documentation associated with the financial, clinical, legal, or regulatory management of the case or the Center's operations in a timely and accurate manner;
• Regular and predictable attendance is an essential function of the job;
• Additional responsibilities may be assigned as circumstances warrant.

Accountability:  The Homeless Outreach Specialist will be directly accountable to the Homeless Outreach Program Manager/CMHC Housing Specialist or his/her designee.  The Program Manager or his/her designee will, no less than annually, complete a performance evaluation in compliance with personnel policies.

Qualifications:  The Homeless Outreach Specialist position requires:

• Bachelor's degree in psychology, social work, or psychiatric nursing preferred, or two years of related experience;
• Experience with homeless individuals and individuals who are SPMI, have a history of substance use, experienced trauma, and may be from marginalized and/or minority populations;
• Must have reliable transportation and valid, unrestricted driver's license;
• Ability to relate to people who are homeless;
• Prior computer experience and basic computer fluency;
  
• Must be able to achieve within one's first 6 months of employment a working competency in the management and use of the Center's electronic medical record (EMR) software as demonstrated by timely and accurate documentation of the clinical record;
• Strong interpersonal skills in working with diverse publics;
• Flexibility in assigned working hours;