Department: Homeless Services
Job Title: Homeless Outreach Worker (Full-Time)
Reports To: Homeless Outreach Coordinator
Status: Full-Time Exempt Position with Benefits
Organizational Summary:
Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) is a multi-service public health organization dedicated to protecting the health and welfare of the homeless, drug users, sex workers, and the uninsured. Using a harm reduction approach, PPP offers culturally sensitive, non-judgmental services to address the health and social service needs of drug users and sex workers in Philadelphia. PPP meets people where they are, providing information and access to resources with dignity and respect. PPP promotes harm reduction through mobile medical care, sterile syringe exchange, referrals to social services, and comprehensive prevention case management services.
Position Overview:
The Homeless Outreach Worker will assist in the operation of PPP’s homeless services program. Their work will focus on identifying and engaging homeless and unstably housed individuals in the community and assisting them with accessing necessary resources, particularly housing placement and drug treatment. This will involve meeting people where they are, canvassing the Kensington neighborhood and assisting individuals with accessing additional services. This work builds on PPP’s expertise in identifying and working with individuals who are struggling with drug use and/or homelessness. PPP currently runs several successful programs that will support this program, including the Drop-In Center, housing counseling and referrals, emergency shelter, drug treatment access, peer navigation services, and services to help people get identification.
Please note: this position requires willingness and ability to work from 3pm-11pm Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Job Duties and Responsibilities:
1) Identify and engage individuals facing homelessness and substance use disorder from the community by conducting street-based outreach in areas frequented by housing unstable individuals.
2) Conduct brief assessments to identify individuals’ short-term needs and readiness for housing placement and/or drug treatment.
3) Link individuals seeking recovery to drug treatment services by transporting them to assessment centers and assisting in the referral process.
4) Transport or collaborate to assist individuals who meet criteria in accessing housing placements including emergency shelter, safe haven, recovery, (OCC) response calls and Journey of Hope.
5) Collaborate with referral service providers including assessment centers, Office of Homeless Services (OHS), and Department of Behavioral Health (DBH).
6) Complete all necessary paperwork and data collection, including the entry of every encounter with individuals into the city’s homeless outreach tracking system and Excel. Individual must submit a minimum of 5 contacts in WebFocus daily.
7) Must actively engage with and maintain a focus list of 30 individuals and document interactions utilizing Excel.
8) Candidate must complete training to conduct housing assessments for individuals from their focus list or as assigned by their Supervisor.
9) Must participate in quarterly overnight homeless census in partnership with other city agencies and outreach teams.
10) Must be available for additional hours to accommodate Code Blue and Code Red initiatives.
11) Participate in regular team meetings and supervision.
12) Participate in department leadership on call rotation.
13) Other duties as assigned by supervisor.
*Please note that activities will primarily be conducted in the community as well as PPP’s Outreach Van and Main Building.*
Skills Required:
· Skill in communicating effectively with a variety of people of different backgrounds
· Ability to use a harm reduction approach to housing and substance use
· Ability to conduct outreach and complete contacts in or around encampments where individuals are actively using drugs
· Dynamic, creative, flexible, able to learn and adapt in a changing environment
· Ability to work independently and as part of a team
· Position requires working knowledge of Microsoft Office products including Teams, Outlook, Word and Excel. Candidates must have the ability to open, create, save and modify documents in Word, send and receive email in Outlook and create spreadsheets in Excel.
Minimum Qualifications:
· Valid driver’s license (Motor Vehicle Record check required)
· At least one year experience with communities impacted by homelessness, poverty, substance use, and/or HIV/AIDS.
· Knowledge of Philadelphia homeless and housing services
· Knowledge of Philadelphia treatment process and systems preferred
· Demonstrated commitment to advocacy and social justice, particularly as related to harm reduction, poverty, and homelessness
· Bilingual (Spanish) strongly preferred
· Knowledge of Kensington neighborhood preferred
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Other Requirements:
· This position includes the normal physical demands of a community-based health program, including lifting/moving up to 25lbs, bending, and carrying. Other physical requirements include walking and standing for long periods and sitting for up to 30 minutes.
· This position requires travel to outreach locations within Philadelphia and the ability to work out-of-doors/out of the Outreach Van for up to 8 hours.
· This position is exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: From $45,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 403(b)
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Vision insurance
People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply
Application Question(s):
- Are you comfortable working outside in the Kensington area, including inclement weather?
- Why are you interested in outreach work?
- How do you implement "Harm Reduction" into your approach to doing street outreach?
- How comfortable are you working with individuals experiencing homelessness with substance use and/or mental diagnoses.
License/Certification:
- Driver's License (Required)
Work Location: In person
