Care Coordinator

About Us

The Harris Center is the state-designated Local Mental Health Authority and Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Authority serving Harris County, Texas. As the largest behavioral and developmental disability care center in Texas, The Harris Center provided care to over 90,000 people and has an annual budget of over $300 million. The Harris Center offers a full continuum of services at 80 different sites across Harris County and provides services in more than 40 different languages, including sign language.

About the Role

As a Care Coordinator, you will partner with the Houston Police Department (HPD) Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) to provide outreach and engagement services to Harris County residents who are homeless and experiencing mental illness. This role focuses on addressing behavioral health and medical disparities through outreach efforts, working alongside an assigned HPD Officer to engage the homeless population in various community settings, including streets, homeless encampments, and shelters.

This position requires travel in an HPD vehicle, HPD background clearance, and flexible hours.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the Houston Police Department (HPD) to conduct outreach.
• Provide outreach services to the homeless population to increase access to housing, mental health, substance use treatment, and medical services.
• Facilitate care coordination services to link and coordinate individuals with housing, community resources, primary healthcare, and behavioral healthcare.
• Provide information and referrals for housing and social services.
• Provide crisis interventions to reduce symptoms and avoid admission to restrictive environments, ensuring appropriate service referrals.
• Maintain familiarity with current community resources for the homeless population.
• Complete reporting accurately and timely in required databases (HMIS and Epic).
• Comply with agency policies, procedures, and accrediting/regulatory body requirements.
• Advocate for consumers to ensure their needs are met within The Harris Center system and the community.
• Build working relationships with various community agencies.
• Expedite referrals to Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH).
• Communicate and work with consumers, visitors, and staff in a culturally sensitive manner.
• Perform related work as assigned and adapt to changing work requirements.
• Meet people where they are geographically, emotionally, and physically, recognizing the centrality of relationships in outreach and engagement.
• Demonstrate ethical conduct in all clinical and professional activities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) from a four-year accredited college or university with a major in a social, behavioral, or human service field (e.g., psychology, social work, medicine, nursing, rehabilitation, counseling, sociology, human development, gerontology, or educational psychology).
• 2 years of experience working in the field of mental health preferred.
• Outreach and engagement experience preferred.
• Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) utilization experience preferred.
• Crisis Intervention experience/knowledge preferred.
• Must maintain a valid Texas Driver’s License and be insurable under Agency policy.
• Ability to transport consumers using a personal vehicle (mileage reimbursed by the Agency).

Skills

• Basic understanding of mental illness, common signs and symptoms, and ability to identify difficulties with coping in community settings.
• Strong communication, listening, and interpersonal skills; written documentation must be clear, concise, and grammatically correct.
• Able to work collaboratively in a team environment.
• Effective time management and organizational skills.
• Able to execute standard word processing tasks.
• Ability to work autonomously in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits

• Competitive salary.
• Robust retirement plan with generous company matching and prior service credit for accelerated Paid Time Off accrual.
• Cell phone discounts and exclusive entertainment deals through Tickets at Work.
• Free Headspace subscription for mental wellness.
• Employee Assistance Program for overall well-being.
• Student loan forgiveness eligibility as a qualifying entity.

Schedule

Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–3:30 PM.