Dedicated Assessors are members of the CoC-wide (Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County, “Alliance”) cohort responsible for assessing and entering individuals into the Coordinated Entry (CE) system for consideration of matching to CoC-funded housing opportunities within the Suburban Cook County CoC and ensuring that all individuals are properly screened for Diversion and Prevention prior to being entered into the system. The goal of the Dedicated Assessor Cohort in the Suburban Cook County CoC is to reduce capacity and staffing inequities within and across regions, ensure consistent and accurate data entry, and to increase equity in access to housing matches made through the Coordinated Entry System.

The CE Dedicated Assessor will, with support of Senior CE Dedicated Assessor, identify households eligible for assessment by monitoring the Alliance’s assessment referral list and reconciling with Housing Forward’s Homeless Client List. They will work with households across the agency’s crisis-response programs who have been unable to rapidly resolve their homelessness and desire assistance securing stable housing. The Dedicated Assessor will assess the household’s need, help identify potential housing resource eligibility and work with program case staff to complete necessary eligibility documents. They may be required, by the Alliance, to travel throughout suburban Cook County to ensure that there are not gaps in service that create barriers to progress toward stable housing.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Coordinated Entry is a community-wide system to standardize and expedite the process by which people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness access housing and homeless resources. Through Coordinated Entry, people experiencing homelessness are matched to services and housing based on their preferences and level of need.
• Core Areas of Responsibility of the CoC Dedicated Assessor Cohort:
• Obtain CE Consent, Complete Housing Assessment and Open Progress Tracker after appropriate waiting period, meet with clients from referral report to obtain CE Consent, complete Housing Assessment, and open Progress Tracker.
• Review Universal Intake Data for new clients prior to meeting to ensure homeless history questions and the sub assessment for disabling condition are complete and logical.
• Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Eligibility Documentation may include any or all of the following depending on need: identifying and notifying case managers/outreach specialists of clients who appear to be eligible for PSH; ensuring documentation is appropriate and complete; helping to secure documentation; fielding questions from agency staff regarding appropriate documentation.
• Address gaps in access to CE by holding “office hours” at agencies, libraries, or other locations to screen clients for homeless status and enter initial data and contact information for clients unable to connect with programs that feed into CE (i.e., those who are unable to be diverted and lack available shelter, outreach, or homeless day center services). *Implementation of this area may be delayed.
• Other will include travel throughout Suburban Cook County as needed to reduce transportation burden of clients; use of translation services when working with clients for whom English is not their preferred language; completion of all required Coordinated Entry Trainings; participation in all cohort meetings and calls lead by the Coordinated Entry Lead Agency and other duties as required by the Coordinated Entry Lead Agency.

Additional Housing Forward Program Responsibilities:

• 
  Monitor Assessment Referral list from the Alliance and compare it with Housing Forward’s Homeless Client List to identify clients eligible for assessment. Perform additional review, as needed, of any inconsistent client information between the two lists to ensure clients are not being missed.
• Conduct needs assessment for three-quarters of households in Street Outreach, Interim Housing, Families-In-Transition and Medical Respite programs who have participated in diversion and rapid resolution case management but were unable to rapidly resolve their homelessness and have indicated desire for assistance securing stable housing.
• Meet with household in mutually agreed upon location when household is unable to reasonably travel to assessor’s location.
• Use Trauma-Informed and culturally competent engagement techniques to build rapport and prioritize patient, gentle, persistent engagement with the most vulnerable and highest acuity households.
• Watch for risk factors and signs of Domestic Violence, sexual exploitation, and Human Trafficking, and provide linkage to specialized support services as needed and rigorously follow CoC and HMIS protocols for safely connecting these households to resources.
• Maintain thorough understanding of the Coordinated Entry system and potential housing resources and ensure assessed households have a transparent understanding of what they can expect from each step in the process.
• Maintain thorough understanding of eligibility guidelines for all housing resources, both CoC and other, to ensure households can be considered for all options for which they are potentially eligible.
• Ensure accurate and timely data entry into HMIS for all required information.
• Help monitor agency Homeless Client List (HCL) to ensure that households are moving forward in their progress toward housing.
• Attend and participate in all required agency and regional meetings and best practices training.
• Assist with reporting requirements as requested.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s degree in social work, counseling or related field, or 5 years of experience in providing or supporting services related to homelessness.
• Demonstrated clinical skills when working with individuals with complex needs and experience performing needs assessments with vulnerable households experiencing homelessness.
• Familiarity with Coordinated Entry processes and prior experience with Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) or other comparable client database.
• Familiarity with HUD supportive housing and non-CoC housing options in suburban Cook County.
• Familiarity with stability support services in western Cook County.
• Strong interpersonal and direct communication skills.
• Ability to handle multiple high need clients in a timely, organized, and consistent manner. Ability to keep appointments punctually, take initiative and demonstrate accountability and follow through.
• Ability to problem-solve and make decisions in chaotic and/or stressful situations.
• Sound judgement and ability to establish and maintain impeccable professional boundaries.
• Awareness of personal power and privilege, dedication to cultural humility, and demonstrated high value for diversity and inclusion in work team essential.
• Possess a commitment to being anti-racist in your work.
• Must have smartphone to utilize Agency communication and collaboration tools.
• Must have Driver’s license, clean driving record, auto insurance, and access to personal vehicle. Individuals in this position will require local travel.

COMPETENCIES AND EXPERIENCE:

Computer literacy, including knowledge of computer assessment tools, database systems and windows environment. Strong Comfort level with Excel, Outlook, Word, and Office 365 Suite including SharePoint and Teams.

Bilingual Spanish and English fluency highly prioritized.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms balance, stoop, kneel or crouch and use stairs.

American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement: External and internal applicants, as well as position incumbents who become disabled, must be able to perform the essential job specific functions (listed within each job responsibility) either unaided or with the assistance of a reasonable accommodation to be determined by the organization on a case-by-case basis.

Housing Forward does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, citizenship, ethnic or national origin, age, disability, medical status, military status, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, ancestry, or any legally protected status. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits and training. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, national origin, or disability.

Job descriptions are not intended and should not be construed to be all-inclusive lists of all responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions associated with a job. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the job requirements, management reserves the right to modify, add or remove duties from particular jobs and to assign other duties, as necessary. This job description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment.