Peer Specialist

The mission of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is to work collaboratively toward the prevention of homelessness and the creation of lasting solutions for homeless and at-risk families, children, and individuals throughout Colorado. The Coalition advocates for and provides a continuum of housing and a variety of services to improve the health, well-being, and stability of those it serves.

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless seeks a Peer Specialist to assist in the development and administration of Housing First services in accordance with the applicable policies and procedures establish by the Board of Directors, program funders, and management staff. This position assists the Program Manager in daily operations and administrative duties within a Housing First ACT (Assertive Community Treatment) team. This position is located at 2100 Stout Street Denver 80205 and reports to the Housing First Program Manager.
NOTE: In order to ensure that our consumers receive the best possible care the candidate chosen to fill this position will be required to complete our internal credentialing and privileging process prior to a start date. The credentialing and privileging timeline is dependent on the selected candidate's submission of documents necessary for clearance. Please note that a start date will be scheduled once credentialing and privileging is complete.

Coalition Benefits

In addition to the unique challenges and extraordinary rewards of our work, eligible Coalition employees enjoy a rich benefits package, including:

• Choice of HMO or PPO health insurance coverage options: full-time employees contribute only 1% of their earnings for their own HMO health coverage and no more than 4% of their earnings for coverage of eligible dependents. We're proud to offer same-and opposite-sex domestic partner coverage.
• Choice of dental insurance or discount plan.
• Vision insurance.
• Flexible spending accounts for health care / dependent care / parking expenses.
• Free basic life and AD&D insurance coverage.
• Employee Assistance Program , a problem-solving resource available to you and your household members.
• Dollar-for-dollar retirement plan matching contributions up to 5% of earnings with 3-year vesting.
• Extensive paid time-off, including 9 holidays, 12 days of sick leave, and three weeks of vacation for new full-time employees in their first year.

The effective date for your benefits will be the first of the month following your date of hire.

Essential Job Functions

1. Provides direct care to program participants at least 50% of the time including linking to other services, assessing functioning, planning and coordinating care with providers/programs, monitors client progress, advocating for client needs, providing/linking clients to activities focused on socialization and skill-building. These interactions are reflected in documentation, either HMIS or EHR.
2. Monitors clients' housing status, leads team in tenant discussions, and coordinates clients' plans for housing needs.
3. In collaboration with the Program Manager, recruits, interviews, hires, and trains new staff. Team Lead will function as a mentor for all new staff for at least the first three months.
4. Facilitates daily team meetings as assigned by the Program Manager, in accordance to the ACT model of care delivery.
5. Monitors quality of care and engagement status of the team caseload. Facilitates discussion about client care and coordinates outreach activities of the ACT team when indicated. Maintains continuum of care and that client needs are addressed and services are provided appropriately.
6. Facilitates and ensures that the team provides timely, monthly home visits for each client, each month per guidelines of team grants.
7. Assists with administrative tasks including updating and maintaining the team caseload and contact sheets; gathers and reviews the Home Visit Check Lists and DLA-20s and communicates treatment needs to providers; and assists in gathering client Satisfaction Surveys, grant reporting, and Point in Time Surveys.
8. Trains and assists staff as needed regarding job duties, including but not limited to case management activities, HMIS data entry, and housing related paperwork.
9. Provides appropriate correspondence to clients, case managers, clinical staff, community service providers, and other relevant people involved in program participant care and/or service delivery.
10. Shares in team responsibility to respond to client crises during work hours.
11. Attends meetings on behalf of Program Manager as assigned.
12. Meets regularly with Program Manager for supervision.
13. Understands and follows the related policies and procedures of CCH.
14. Participates in care planning and coordinating client transfers and discharges as appropriate.
15. Works closely with Program Managers and other Team Leaders to develop an integrated, evidence-based system of care.
16. Performs other duties as assigned.

Employee must be able to perform essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation and without posing a direct threat to safety or health of self or others. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Qualifications Summary

1. Knowledge of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Housing First models as well as other evidence based practices used in the engagement of individuals experiencing homelessness.
2. Previous direct experience with homeless population preferred, or previous experience in a related direct human service field working with underserved populations preferred.

WHERE A CANDIDATE IS PLACED IN THE COMPENSATION RANGE DEPENDS ON TOTAL RELEVANT YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is committed to delivering services, making employment-related decisions, selecting volunteers, and selecting vendors without regard to age over 40, race, sex, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, medical condition related to pregnancy, military status, or any other applicable status protected by law.

• Denver, CO, USA