COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER - EMERGENCY APPOINTMENT (HOMELESSNESS)

About the role

The LA County Board of Supervisors recently declared a local state of emergency for homelessness, and the County is working to revise and expand our response to help all who are affected. We are looking for qualified and passionate individuals to help us in the mission of addressing issues like housing, mental health, and substance use. If you are looking for a new career that will directly benefit the population of LA County, this may be the opportunity for you.

Essential Job Functions

• Conducts client interviews and collects documentation in the field to assess housing needs, barriers, risk factors impacting client safety and stability, health, mental health, family, social, educational, and employment information, and eligibility for emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent housing, and supportive services.
• Identifies areas with growing or large encampment sites and conducts encampment resolutions.
• Receives and responds to referrals related to homelessness, and related health, mental health, and social service needs from County staff, partner agencies, and community-based organizations.
• Collaborates with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to conduct joint outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness.
• Affords assistance with coordinating access to emergency shelters, motel vouchers, eviction prevention resources, and other immediate supports for homeless or housing-insecure clients.
• Responds to urgent housing needs with a focus on safety, stabilization, and rapid connection to services.
• Serves as a liaison between clients, the agency, and community partners as it relates to homelessness and service coordination, by participating in meetings and providing written updates, as needed.
• Maintains current and accurate data on county-approved databases, such as the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).
• Updates spreadsheets containing various client information.
• Communicates updates on engagements and outreach efforts through email to upper management and other stakeholders.
• Transports clients and their belongings to and from housing and/or medically-related appointments, as needed.

Requirements

• Six (6) months of full-time work experience providing direct, client-facing and field-based support to individuals or community groups experiencing homelessness on behalf of Los Angeles County.
• You MUST meet the above requirement(s) in order to be appointed to fill any vacancies related to this recruitment.

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience working in an agency such as Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA) participating on multidisciplinary, integrated, street-based outreach teams delivering homelessness response services on behalf of Los Angeles County, including engagement, housing navigation, coordinated entry, and connection to supportive services.
• Experience working in LAHSA’s Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) or Homeless Engagement Teams (HET).
• Experience with coordinated service models that align housing, behavioral health, and supportive services across multiple providers in complex, multi-agency environments.
• Certification in the following areas of training conducted by LAHSA: Field Safety, De-escalation strategies, Homeless Engagement techniques, Trauma-informed Care, Motivational Interviewing, Harm Reduction, Housing First, Cultural Humility, Mental Health 101, Substance Use Disorders, Coordinated Entry System, Accessing system resources / System Navigation.
• Experience driving unhoused or housing-insecure clients to supportive service, medical, document, Department of Public Social Services, and interim housing placement appointments.
• Experience developing reports for field activities.
• Experience establishing ongoing rapport and engagement with challenging personalities during outreach encounters.
• Experience working with a dual agency framework (city and county agencies).
• Experience participating in various encampment resolution operations, including multi-jurisdictional responses to address encampments, such as RV encampments, in city or county initiated efforts (Encampment protocols or Pathway Homeencampment resolutions).

Physical Class

Physical requirements vary depending on departmental assignment and work location. Physical Class II – Light: This class includes administrative and clerical positions requiring light physical effort that may include occasional light lifting to a 10-pound limit and some bending, stooping, or squatting. Considerable ambulation may be involved. Physical Class III – Moderate: This class requires that the incumbent stand or walk most of the time with bending, stooping, squatting, twisting, reaching, working on irregular surfaces, occasional lifting of objects weighing over 25 pounds, and frequent lifting of 10-25 pounds.

Exam Content

During your initial work period, the appointing department will evaluate your performance. Those who achieve a passing score on this evaluation will be considered for permanent appointment.

Application and Filing Information

Applications must be filed online only and will be reviewed for interview consideration on an ongoing basis. If you have not been contacted within 60 days and the recruitment remains open or reopens for filing, we encourage you to submit a new application. This will allow you to reaffirm your interest and update any relevant information. Many important notifications will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application, so it is important that you provide a valid email address. Please add CSasis@hsh.lacounty.gov, as well as noreply@governmentjobs.com, and info@governmentjobs.com to your email address and list of approved senders to prevent email notifications from being filtered as spam/junk/clutter mail. You have the ability to opt out of emails from LA County. If you unsubscribe, you will not receive any email notification for any examination for which you apply with Los Angeles County. Regardless of whether you choose to unsubscribe, you can always check for notifications by logging into governmentjobs.com and viewing your profile inbox, which saves a copy of all emailed notices. Plan to submit your online application well in advance of the deadline as you may be required to verify your email address. This only needs to be done once per email address, and if you already have a job seeker account on www.governmentjobs.com/careers/lacounty, you can verify at any time by logging in and following the prompts. This is to enhance the security of your online application and to ensure you do not enter an incorrect email address.

Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI)

The County of Los Angeles recognizes and affirms that all people are created equal and are entitled to all rights afforded by the Constitution of the United States. The Department of Human Resources is committed to promoting Anti-racism, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts to address the inequalities and disparities amongst race. We support the ARDI Strategic Plan and its goals by improving equality, diversity, and inclusion in recruitment, selection, and employment practices.

Department Contact Information

Department Contact Name: Corinna Sasis
Department Contact Email: CSasis@hsh.lacounty.gov
Teletype Phone: (800) 735-2929
California Relay Services Phone: (800) 735-2922

County of Los Angeles Employment Information

Any language contained in the job posting supersedes any language contained below. This document is intended to provide general information about the recruitment process of the County of Los Angeles. Applicants with questions about a specific job posting should contact the exam analyst listed on the posting.

Equal Employment Opportunity/Non-Discrimination Statement

The County of Los Angeles is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and is committed to non-discrimination in the County workforce, regardless of age (40 and over); ancestry; color; ethnicity; religious creed; protected family or medical leave status; disability; marital status; medical condition; genetic information; military and veteran status; national origin; race ; sex; gender; sexual orientation; or any other characteristic protected by State or federal law. For more information, please visit: https://employee.hr.lacounty.gov/eeo-programs/.

Testing Accommodations for Applicants

The County of Los Angeles complies with all federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants and employees with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application process, please contact the testing accommodation coordinator listed on the job posting.

Fair Chance

The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except as otherwise permissible under applicable laws, you will not be asked to provide information about conviction history unless you receive a conditional offer of employment. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and will also consider potential mitigating factors, which may include, but is not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with County Fair Chance Policies and the Fair Chance Act (Gov. Code Section 12952).

Employment Eligibility

Final appointment is contingent upon verification of U.S. citizenship or the right to work in the United States.