Family Engagement Specialist

Who We Are

The Road Home was founded in 1923 and has been a leader in the endeavor to end homelessness for over 100 years. We provide low-barrier emergency shelters, supportive services, and housing-first-minded rental assistance that helps individuals and families step out of homelessness and back into the community. We are seeking compassionate and empathetic individuals who are interested in making a difference in the lives of others and their community. 

The Road Home is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) is essential to The Road Home’s mission of helping people experiencing homelessness move back into housing. We know that having a more diverse team makes our organization stronger and leads to better experiences and outcomes for the people in our programs.

The Road Home is a 501c3 non-profit social services agency whose mission is to help people step out of homelessness and back into our community.
Come be part of the solution.
We have a robust, reasonably-priced, and inclusive benefits plan for full and part-time employees (25-40 hours/week)

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• HSA, FSA, HRA (We reimburse part of your deductible!)
• Retirement Plan (403B with TRH contribution and match)
• FREE Life Insurance for employees
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & 12 Public Holidays)
• One Floating Holiday Per Year
• Free Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Employee Assistance Program
• Free Training & Development
• Tuition Assistance for a wide variety of classes!
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) qualifying agency

Job Summary

The Family Engagement Specialist will be the first point of contact for new families referred to the Family Interim Non-Congregate Housing (FINCH) Resource Center. They will oversee the new families entering and exiting from the Resource Center and will help provide basic necessities and support as these families work to resolve their homelessness. Every activity you undertake will provide someone safety and help them on their journey to housing. This position requires a high degree of compassion, problem solving skills, and respect for guests as you monitor sensitive personal data and work with families to help them find the resources they need to step out of homelessness and back into the community.

*Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions, so please still apply 

*Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time. 

Reports to
Family Engagement Supervisor

Position Status
Full-Time, 40 hours

Shift
9am-5pm, Flexible

Grade, Salary Rate
Grade 6, $18.90/Hour

FLSA Status
Non-Exempt

Intake Coordination

• Work with Supervisor to manage intake tracking system and ensure timely response for referred clients to FINCH.
• Support Supervisor in collaborating with external partners and referral sources through email, phone, Teams, and other means of communication to ensure positive relationships, understanding of referral process, and FINCH eligibility requirements.
• Work with Resource Center team to ensure efficient room turnover workflow.
• Coordinate bed availability and help coordinate room changes.
• Develop positive relationships with partners, guests, and other staff, fostering a cohesive team environment.

Family Engagement

• Complete intakes when families enter FINCH and ensure accuracy and completeness of data collected.
• Help families access resources in community and creatively problem solve plans to move into stable housing and increase family resources and overall stability.
• Collaborate with clients and other members of the Services team to establish funding eligibility for new families.
• Orient new families to shelter with trauma-informed approach, review shelter rules and in-shelter resources available to guests.
• Gather documents and create guest files for use in multiple departments.
• Assist families in applying for vital documents upon entry to shelter.
• Provide support, training, and assistance to Family Advocate and Case Management staff with regard to intake paperwork and processes and ClientTrack data entry.
• Coordinate efforts to gather complete and accurate client information across multiple departments and foster good interdepartmental relations.
• Professionally represent the Family Engagement Team in meetings with other agency departments and community partners.
• Attended weekly staff/staffing meetings
• Use agency vehicles to provide transportation for clients.*

Crisis Management

1. Utilizing the training we provide to jump into high stress situations in an effective and trauma-informed way
2. Collaborate with the crisis clinician on individuals with a variety of mental health issues
3. Ability to accept direction and constructive feedback from Supervisor.
4. Provide direct, trauma-informed case management services to guests, including crisis intervention, outreach, ongoing assessments, goal setting, creative problem solving, agency and community resource utilization, and network building.
5. Ability to set and maintain good boundaries, using Trauma-Informed Care as a guideline.

Promoting Best Practice

• Demonstrates awareness and desire to understand diverse populations
• Ability to contribute to the Agency’s commitment to enhancing awareness and appreciation
• A willingness to understand that housing first, harm reduction, low barrier access to resources is best practice and essential to our mission at The Road Home.
• Ability to set and maintain good boundaries, using Trauma-Informed Care as a guideline

*Other duties as assigned

Education and Experience

1. Experience working with diverse populations preferred.
2. Knowledge and experience in administrative duties including clerical, computer literacy, and organizational skills required.
3. Direct service experience with difficult and vulnerable populations preferred.
4. Bilingual in Spanish or other languages preferred.

Required Skills and Abilities

1. Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with diverse populations.
2. Excellent writing and documentation skills.
3. Willing to be a proactive member of a team.
4. Ability to work from a Trauma-Informed Care framework.
5. Familiarity with the Housing First philosophy.
6. Ability to work with community partners.
7. Self-starter and self-directed.
8. Ability to accept direction from Supervisor.
9. Excellent organizational skills and strong computer skills.
10. Demonstrated awareness of and sensitivity to diverse populations. Ability to contribute to the agency’s commitment to enhancing awareness and appreciation of diverse ethnic and cultural heritages.
11. Must pass a pre-employment background check and drug screen.

Physical and Equipment Requirements

• Ability to lift 25 pounds.
• Ability to sit, stand, and walk for at least an hour at a time.