AOT CARE COORDINATION HOUSING AND EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST (GLEN BURNIE, MD)

Position Overview

The AOT Care Coordination Housing and Employment Specialist is a community-facing member of the multidisciplinary AOT Care Coordination Team operating under Health-General Article §10-6A, Annotated Code of Maryland (Senate Bill 453, 2024). This position directly supports a critical gap identified in the AOT framework: ensuring that individuals subject to court-ordered outpatient treatment have access to stable housing, vocational services, and employment supports necessary to sustain recovery and achieve community integration.

Core Responsibilities

• Conduct systematic street outreach and scheduled home visits to locate and engage AOT participants who are disengaged from treatment, homeless, or unable to be reached through standard communication methods, in compliance with COMAR 10.21.20 participant monitoring requirements.
• Locate hard-to-reach or missing AOT participants using available information including last known addresses, shelter records, emergency department visit logs, and law enforcement encounter data (with appropriate authorization).
• Apply evidence-based crisis de-escalation techniques when engaging participants in acute psychiatric distress, ensuring personal safety and the safety of the participant while facilitating access to appropriate clinical services.
• Facilitate warm handoffs from the field to the AOT clinical team, including the Case Manager, Care Coordinator, and Psychiatrist, ensuring a safe and supported transition back to active treatment participation.
• Collaborate with emergency shelters, soup kitchens, faith-based organizations, hospital emergency departments, community health centers, and law enforcement to locate, engage, and support AOT participants in non-clinical settings.
• Maintain accurate and timely outreach documentation in the agency electronic health record (EHR), including contact attempts, engagement outcomes, participant location information, and safety concerns, in compliance with COMAR 10.21.20 documentation standards.
• Develop and implement individualized engagement and safety plans in collaboration with the Case Manager for participants with a history of disengagement, documenting trigger factors and effective engagement strategies.
• Distribute harm reduction materials including safe use supplies, naloxone, hygiene kits, and community resource guides to participants and community members encountered during outreach activities.
• Facilitate or coordinate mobile psychiatric evaluations for participants who are unable or unwilling to travel to a clinical site, working with the AOT Psychiatrist and Mobile Crisis Teams to bring services to the participant.
• Track and report weekly engagement metrics, including number of outreach contacts, successful re-engagements, new referral connections, and crisis interventions, to the Program Director and Case Manager.
• Cultivate and maintain positive, collaborative relationships with community partners, first responders, hospital staff, and neighborhood organizations to create an integrated community safety net for AOT participants.
• Participate in interagency outreach collaborations, community coalition meetings, and multi-disciplinary street outreach teams to coordinate services and reduce duplication of effort.
• Provide culturally responsive, language-accessible outreach services to all participants regardless of race, ethnicity, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, or immigration status, consistent with Lead4Life’s equity and inclusion values.
• Adhere to all personal safety protocols for field-based work, including check-in procedures, buddy system policies, and incident reporting requirements as established by Lead4Life.
• Participate in weekly team meetings, supervision, and required training activities to maintain competency in trauma-informed outreach, harm reduction, and crisis intervention best practices.

Education and Experience

• High school diploma or GED required
• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, Public Health, or a related field strongly preferred
• Minimum of two (2) years of experience in community outreach, street outreach, or community health work required
• Experience working with individuals experiencing homelessness, serious mental illness, or co-occurring substance use disorders in a community setting preferred
• Training in crisis de-escalation, Motivational Interviewing (MI), and/or harm reduction approaches preferred
• Naloxone (Narcan) administration training preferred or willingness to obtain within 30 days of hire
• Maryland Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS) a plus
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) strongly preferred

Additional Requirements

• Valid driver’s license and insurable driving record required
• Must pass pre-employment drug screening
• Must pass criminal background check (CJIS/FBI) per Maryland law
• Must pass Child Protective Services (CPS) clearance
• TB test or health screening as required by program
• Current CPR/First Aid certification (or willingness to obtain within 30 days of hire)
• Physical examination clearance if role involves direct client transport

Work Location

Full Time
In-Person
Glen Burnie, MD

Lead4Life, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.