SOAR Specialist in New Britain, Connecticut at Friendship Service Center Inc

SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) is a national best practice program designed to increase access to the disability income bene?t programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for eligible adults and children who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. The purpose of the position is to work with people experiencing homelessness in Central CT who have serious mental health needs or who have mental health needs with a co-occurring substance use disorder to facilitate their SSA bene?t applications.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Engage potential and enrolled client referrals respectfully and professionally, employing patience and trauma-informed care;
• Thoroughly and effectively screen client referrals to determine eligibility, recommending appropriate next steps for clients to take to prepare their case, as needed;
• Obtain releases of information with the SSA or any medical or mental health providers so as to obtain medical or mental health records and supporting documentation;
• Prepare and submit the initial application, respond to any requests for additional information, prepare appeals for SSI/SSDI denials, and provide advocacy throughout the process;
• Review and consolidate medical records into a summary report as part of the application, creating a clear justification of the applications claims process.
• Meet (on the phone or in person) with program participants on a monthly basis or more, if needed;
• Coordinate with the clients’ other case managers regarding medical appointments, etc;
• Maintain required SOAR documentation: intakes, client notes, and any other necessary assessments; providing to supervisor for review;
• Prepare and/or input Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) and the SOAR Online Application Tracking (OAT) information as required on a timely basis;
• Attend weekly program team meetings and monthly meetings with all case managers to share client information, resources, ideas, concerns, etc. and interface with internal departments to coordinate and streamline processes;
• Attends meetings, trainings and community events, as appropriate or required, to better serve clients and to outreach regarding the program in order to obtain referrals from community agencies;
• Provide advocacy, information, service referrals, support, transportation, and other case management services to program participants, as needed.
• Provide assistance to other case managers providing services for severely mentally ill clients, including outreach, basic needs, medical appointments, etc. as time is available
• Obtain a minimum of twelve hours of SOAR / case management training annually.
• Represent FSC in a variety of community forums to ensure that returning community members have access to all available community housing programs and services.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice at the discretion of the employer.

Experience/Training:

• Preference is for Bilingual Spanish/English
• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Human Services or related ?eld preferred
• Three to ?ve years’ relevant professional experience
• Experience with Microsoft Of?ce (especially Word, Excel, PPT)
• Belief in harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and housing ?rst is required.

Quali?cations/Requirements: To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• SOAR Specialists are responsible for a wide range of duties all of which require excellent organizational skills, the ability to communicate effectively both in person and via telephone, the ability to multi-task and to be organized, proactive and self-directed, excellent record-keeping and reporting skills, and good computer skills.
• Dependability – consistently at work and on time, reports to all scheduled shifts, follows instructions, responds to management direction and solicits feedback to improve personal performance, and completes tasks in a timely and accurate manner.
• Flexibility – Be ?exible and able to work with individuals experiencing homelessness from various backgrounds and at different skill levels. Ability to multitask and manage crises as they arrive.
• Experience – Lived experience and/or previous experience working with the homeless population is preferred. Working knowledge of the community agencies and service delivery systems locally related to housing and other services is essential.
• Communication – Read, write and interpret written documents. Communicate effectively with guests, co-workers, community partners and volunteers. Timely documentation and proficiency in Microsoft suite.

Physical Requirements: The physical requirements described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• The ability to safely operate a motor vehicle to transport oneself, others and program supplies as necessary.
• The physical ability to travel to assigned locations, stand, stoop, bend, reach, pull, push, lift, grasp, climb, talk, see, hear and perform basic and light home maintenance activities, and operate of?ce equipment.
• The physical ability to move and lift light objects up to 30 pounds such as mail, supplies, ?les, and equipment.
• The ability to operate of?ce equipment requiring continuous or repetitive hand/arm movements. The ability to remain in a sitting position for extended periods of time.
• Maintain auto insurance minimum limits as follows – 1) single liability limits of $100,000 Bodily Injury Per Person / $300,000 Bodily Injury Per Accident / $50,000 Property Damage OR Combined Single Liability Limit of $300,000 (this combines the bodily injury and property damage into one limit per claim) and annually provides a declarations page to Human Resources.