Awake Overnight Counselor - Homeless Services

Responsibilities

• Ensure safety of Low Threshold Programs in Boston throughout awake overnight shifts including hourly rounds, monitoring security cameras, integrity of physical site, and responding to persons served concerns and/or risk in real time.
• Document and communicate non-emergency concerns for program leadership review.
• Empower persons served with exercising autonomy and independence in all aspects of their life.
• Aid in identifying choices and developing skills in self-advocacy.
• Provide guidance to persons served in recovery or harm reduction process. Provide advocacy, support, and education during orientation and throughout service delivery.
• Collaborate across the team at all levels to ensure that persons served perspective is always included, that preferences are recognized and that choices are maximized.
• Escalate any emergencies/high risk situations to on call leadership for guidance after contacting relevant first responders as applicable (e.g. Police/Fire Departments).
• Escalate to the Division Director if necessary.
• Provide practical help and mentoring/modeling, advocacy, coordination, side-by-side individualized support, problem solving and direct assistance to help persons obtain skills needed for daily independent living.
• Promote concepts of health and wellness by assisting persons served with accessing information and services related to medical care including HIV care resources, nutrition, and exercise as appropriate.
• Work within the multidisciplinary team to guide persons served through legal concerns.
• Intervene in potential crisis situations, utilizing trauma informed, verbal de-escalation techniques – escalate concerns to leadership/on call personnel in real time as applicable.
• Educate and support persons served around harm reduction principles and utilization, including access to safe injection supply kits when requested.

Qualifications

• Requires a Bachelor’s degree in social work, counseling, psychology, nursing or other closely related field – or 2 years case management or comparable experience with the homeless population.
• Recovery Coach/Certified Peer Specialists/other lived experience with at least 1-year experience with individual and/or family homeless population will be considered.
• Must have a strong commitment to substance use recovery and housing first philosophy.
• Must have skills to establish supportive relationships with persons with mental illnesses/substance use and respect for their preferences for treatment.
• Ability to provide flexible services that are community based and focused on team work.

Schedule

Monday-Friday, 11am-7pm

Compensation

Annual Salary: $48,000 USD - $50,000 USD