Description/Special Instructions

The City of Elk Grove Development Services Department is looking for two Homeless Outreach Navigators to join the Housing and Public Services Division! These newly created positions will work closely with Housing staff, the Homeless Outreach Team, community stakeholders, and many nonprofit social service providers to help people experiencing homelessness access services and housing. The Homeless Outreach Navigators must have a deep sense of compassion and understanding for people experiencing homelessness and marginalized individuals.

The positions will be responsible for building relationships and trust with people experiencing homelessness and providing direct assistance to help them obtain housing and services, including by transporting people to appointments, completing housing applications, and conducting eligibility assessments for various services. This involves using motivational interviewing among other techniques with a trauma-informed and person-centered care approach. The ideal candidate will have experience working with homeless clients, including those living in encampments and assisting individuals with mental health and substance use challenges, will be comfortable connecting with people one-on-one at the locations where they are staying, and will be an effective communicator.

• These positions and the associated rate of pay is subject to City Council approval.

Tentative Recruitment Timeline (subject to change)
Filing Deadline: 11:59 PM on May 24, 2023
Oral Board Interviews: June 8, 2023 (Virtual)
Final Selection Interviews: June 13, 2023 (In Person)

The City offers a competitive salary and generous benefit package including CalPERS retirement benefits, a deferred compensation match and more. Why work for the City of Elk Grove? Proud Heritage. Bright Future.

Community Profile
Elk Grove is a vibrant, family-friendly community of approximately 178,124 people in the Sacramento, California region, located 14 miles south of the State Capital and 60 miles east of the Bay Area. Elk Grove is a young, ethnically diverse, modern city that was incorporated in 2000. Elk Grove has low crime, excellent schools, over 100 community parks and 28 miles of trails, plentiful dining and shopping options, numerous annual events and festivals, and over 270 sunny days per year.

Representative Duties

Under general direction of the Housing and Public Service Manager, identify and support individuals who are experiencing homelessness within the City of Elk Grove through direct outreach. Establish collaborative partnerships with homeless services providers, law enforcement, and other City, County, and social services organizations to assist the homeless population with short-term and long-term care goals and other support services.

The following duties are typical for this classification. Incumbents may not perform all of the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address business needs and changing business practices.

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  Proactively identify, interact, and engage with homeless individuals on the streets, in shelters, vehicles, encampments, and in other areas where such individuals might congregate within the City of Elk Grove with the goal of building rapport and trustful relationships.
• Assess client needs and characteristics; prioritize the allocation of resources and housing placement regionally based on factors such as individual or household needs, availability of resources, assessed vulnerability, and priorities of various programs.
• Serve as an advocate for homeless individuals in securing social services, identification documents, mainstream benefits, medical care, shelter resources and housing opportunities, and provide support to clients in securing and following through on obtaining and utilizing available services; provide case management services as needed.
• Assist with plans for homeless individuals to obtain educational, psychological, or social assessments, substance abuse treatment, work skills training, and/or relevant workshops provided by other entities.
• Maintain an up-to-date inventory of the resources available within the City of Elk Grove to prevent and respond to homelessness, including resources operating within the City, as well as regional resources and strategies that serve people within the City.
• Provide non-medical, voluntary transportation to unsheltered individuals and their property in order to connect them with the appropriate community resources.
• Work closely with staff from external homeless service providers, law enforcement, local businesses, faith-based organizations, and other local agencies that provide outreach, education, or consultation to assist homeless individuals with short- and long- term care goals that will include strategies to overcome barriers to self-sufficiency and to obtain permanent housing.
• Facilitate meetings with service providers and community groups related to coordination of services within the jurisdiction, identification of needs and priorities for new or expanded services, and other items pertinent to assisting with management of the City’s response to homelessness.
• Assist the Housing Analysts in identifying the needs of homeless persons and implementing of new and/or modified programs that would promote and enhance the mission, goals, and objectives of the City to serve people who are unhoused.
• Participate in the administration of point-in-time counts and surveys in collaboration with local and regional agencies to obtain an accurate count of people experiencing homelessness in the region.
• Thoroughly document all client contacts and outcomes in the City’s database, the region's Homeless Information and Management System (HMIS), and other systems as needed.
• Provide periodic updates to the Housing and Public Service Manager on the status of clients and the City’s homelessness response efforts; prepare necessary reports and correspondence as required.
• Maintain confidentiality regarding clients, personnel, and other internal agency affairs.
• Attend and participate in assigned programs and external meetings and trainings.
• Prepare spreadsheets, reports and correspondence as required.
• Perform related duties as required.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS
The following generally describes the knowledge and ability required to enter the job and/or be learned within a short period of time in order to successfully perform the assigned duties.

Knowledge of:

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  Available social services, including behavioral health, mental health, financial and housing assistance, counselling services, alcohol/drug addiction recovery, food/clothing, and other similar resources for the homeless population.
• National, State, and local issues affecting the community and specifically the homeless population.
• Pertinent federal, state, and local laws, codes, and regulations.
• Methods and techniques used in customer service, public information, program education, and conflict resolution.
• Principles of effective oral and written communication.
• Interviewing techniques and advocacy ethics and principles.
• Principles and practices of data collection and report preparation.
• Modern office procedures, methods, and equipment including computers and applicable software applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, information management systems, surveys, and databases.

Ability to:

• Communicate tactfully, diplomatically, and objectively with a diverse group of individuals, including persons displaying psychological and substance-induced behaviors such as depression, anger, and confusion.
• Provide encouragement and demonstrate patience and understanding in dealing with homeless clients.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.
• Solve problems and resolve conflicts effectively.
• Understand, interpret, and apply general and specific administrative and departmental policies and procedures as well as applicable federal, state, and local policies, laws, and regulations.
• Handle multiple activities or interruptions at once and prioritize work tasks prudently and independently or while working in a team environment.
• Prepare clear and concise records, reports, correspondence, and other written material.
• Maintain confidentiality of information.

Education and Experience Guidelines - Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be:

Education/Training:
Completion of the twelfth grade or equivalent.

Experience:
Minimum of two (2) years of full time (or the equivalent of full time) experience in performing community outreach, working with the homeless and related community service organizations or social work experience.

Experience working with the Homeless Information and Management System (HMIS), as well as administration of surveys including but not limited to the VI-SPDAT is highly desirable.

License or Certificate :
Possession of, or ability to obtain, a valid Class C California driver’s license upon appointment.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The conditions herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

The information listed above is subject to change and does not constitute either an expressed or implied contract. The City of Elk Grove is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and professionalism. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, should special accommodations be necessary at any stage of the selection process, please contact the Human Resources Department at (916) 478-2230.