Case Manager

About Us

The Children's Rescue Fund's core purpose is to serve individuals and families experiencing homelessness with our critical services, empowering them to become independent. We support people on their journey to become self-sufficient, motivated, and productive in obtaining permanent housing. Our aim is to protect the health and safety of our clients by partnering with community resources as part of a continuum of care to meet the individual and family's medical, educational, and employment needs.

About the Role

Provide direct case management services including assessment, counseling, crisis intervention, referral, and advocacy to ensure an effective social service support plan is in place to enable the successful relocation of families to permanent housing.

Responsibilities

• Utilizing the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) - Client Assistance and Re-housing Enterprise System (CARES), complete family’s intake assessment, service plan/independent living plan, housing, next step conferences/transfers, incident reports, progress notes, etc.
• Review accessible information from Human Resource Administration, Administration for Children Services, Department of Probation, Department of Homeless Services, etc., using the DHS Client Assistance and Re-housing Enterprise System (CARES).
• Ensure that all information is updated in CARES in a timely fashion as required by DHS.
• Provide advocacy and referral services to ensure clients receive appropriate benefits, entitlements, and services, enhancing their transition to permanent housing while minimizing the length of time families are homeless.
• Coordinate services, as needed, to stabilize the family unit, deal with problems of substance abuse, or improve housekeeping, parenting, and money management skills so the goal of permanent housing may be realized.
• Assess and identify the clients' needs, formulate appropriate plans of service, monitor and document progress of service plans, and document all significant interactions with or on behalf of the clients to ensure clear, effective delivery of service to families and high-quality social services compliant with State, City, and Agency regulations.
• Develop and maintain appropriate helping relationships with families to assist them in making the most of their residency at the facility and facilitate their active involvement in the achievement of service goals.
• Provide appropriate individual counseling and crisis intervention services to families to help stabilize and minimize the negative impact of the family's displacement.
• Maintain familiarity with off-site and on-site program resources for homeless families and refer families to appropriate resources to ensure they receive the most beneficial services.
• Facilitate groups, as designated, to address family issues, enhance life skills, and assist families in achieving self-sufficiency and a successful transition to permanent housing.
• Coordinate client services provided by other social services staff to ensure families receive necessary and appropriate services in a timely fashion and to ensure compliance with State and City regulations.
• Facilitate effective communication among staff, both within the Casework Unit and with other staff members.
• Ensure the timely and accurate transfer of relevant information to administrative staff, such as client admission and discharge and changes in public assistance cases, to ensure smooth functioning of the family and compliance with regulatory agencies.
• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned, including serving on-call for a one-week period each quarter.
• Assist in transferring clients in and out of the program, when required.
• Facilitate effective communication with other staff within an interdisciplinary context, participate in and contribute to staff meetings, and help develop policies and procedures.
• Participate in training and staff-development activities to acquire and maintain interpersonal and operational skills necessary for successful job performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree preferred and/or an Associate degree in Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, Counseling, Criminal Justice, or Human Services.
• Bachelor’s degree (preferred) with a minimum of one (1) year of experience in social services, counseling, crisis intervention, family services, preventive services, or housing services.
• Associate degree (considered) with a minimum of two (2) years of experience in social services, counseling, crisis intervention, family services, preventive services, or housing services.
• Experience facilitating groups for homeless adults, specialized knowledge of substance abuse issues and treatment, and family dynamics treatment.
• Bilingual language ability highly desirable.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and computer literacy in Microsoft Office.

Other Requirements

• May be required to work long hours and a varied schedule.
• Travel throughout various locations in the New York City area.
• Climatic issues of temperature variance and ventilation associated with resident facility impact delivery of services.
• Lifting and moving objects weighing up to 30 pounds several times a week.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.