Behavioral Health Assistant Coordinator

The Boston Public Health Commission's Homeless Services Bureau (HSB) provides emergency shelter, job training, behavioral health support, and housing services to unhoused individuals in Boston. The HSB serves close to 5,000 individuals every year and is one of the largest providers of emergency shelter in New England. HSB aims to make homelessness in Boston rare, brief, and one time. It does that by problem-solving with new guests at the front door to try to prevent anyone from entering homelessness to begin with. For individuals who do become homeless and use our shelters, HSB endeavors to help them quickly move out of homelessness and find a safe and stable place to live. After a client is housed outside the shelter, HSB staff provides in-home supports to help individuals avoid someone a return to homelessness. The HSB uses a Housing First and racial justice framework, which is built on the foundation that housing is a social determinant of health, a basic need that everyone deserves, and does not require sobriety. HSB believes that everyone, with the right support, can succeed in housing. HSB fosters evidence-based approaches such as trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and motivational interviewing in the delivery of services, and strives to deliver services that are accessible to all clients.

 

This position is part of the HSB's behavioral health team. Our behavioral health team provides support to guests with health and behavioral health barriers, including Substance Use Disorders, that are preventing them from succeeding in housing or shelter. Staff connect guests to external behavioral health providers, liaise with the Department of Mental Health, and help guests secure alternative housing placements such domestic violence shelters, safe havens, residential substance abuse treatment programs, and rest homes. Staff provide emotional and practical support, engage clients resistant to housing and services by building trusting rapport, provide crisis intervention and Harm Reduction counseling and referral services. The team provides consultation and hands on support to housing and operations staff to handle behavioral health emergencies and training for staff to detect and de-escalate potential behavioral issues.

 

DUTIES

• Working to help BPHC become an antiracist organization by meeting or exceeding the standards set by the BPHC Anti-Racism Policy.
• Outreaches to and builds rapport with clients to engage them in immediate service needs.
• Provides emotional and practical support and case management to help clients with acute behavioral health and/or physical health challenges/disabilities succeed in their housing efforts.
• Helps identified clients navigate and stay up to date on alternative housing placements, including but not limited to domestic violence shelters, treatment facilities, safe havens, sober homes and nursing/rest homes.
• With social worker, completes intakes and assessments on clients to determine needs and eligibility for services.
• Documents clients bed stays at institutions such as psychiatric, substance use, correctional, and medical facilities to ensure clients' length of homelessness is accurately recorded and clients can access all appropriate resources.
• Assists clients in accessing basis needs such as income, disability benefits, SNAP, and MassHealth.
• Assists clients in obtaining all required documents and identification for housing placements
• Refers individuals to detox, and substance abuse treatment programs as needed. As directed, facilitates groups and workshops.
• Refers clients to external behavioral health services, housing services, detox, and substance use treatment programs, and health services for medical and mental health care as appropriate.
• Coordinates and delivers services with Social Workers and Housing staff, which include interdisciplinary case conferencing, following up on service delivery progress, and reinforcing key and consistent messages to clients.
• Facilitates workshops and support groups
• Connects clients to supportive services in the community of their housing placements and provides follow up contact with Boston area social service agencies
• Connect clients to specialized behavioral healthcare services/resources, including those for co-occurring substance abuse, especially when clients are no longer working with a social worker.