Homeless Outreach Worker VHBE

About the Role

Located in the Housing and Community Services Departments, under the supervision of the Homeless Outreach supervisor, the Homeless Outreach Worker will be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with unhoused neighbors, act as a liaison for individuals and families, and connect them to services, with the ultimate goal being housing.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Create and maintain rapport and trust with unhoused individuals to address immediate needs.
• Housing focused case management
• Engage individuals and assess needs (e.g., medical, mental health, substance use, shelter, food access, benefits, and other issues) to properly direct them towards services.
• Coordinate and work with different community partners to ensure people are linked to services that assist their needs with the goal of stabilization.
• Participate in weekly meetings.
• Reach out to encampments prior to and during abatements and offer resources support, and transportation to shelters.
• Initiate and support processes that reduce harm to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and advocate for people living outdoors while encouraging them to access shelter and services.
• Meet people where they are at through a trauma informed lens.
• Support with the abatement process. Discuss abatements and prepare resources to bring to the abatements. During the abatement process, you will provide outreach, transportation, resources, and basic imminent needs. Coordinate closely with abatement team.
• Accurately and timely enter data in HMIS and other data entry systems.
• Conduct coordinated entry assessments and updates.
• Collaborate and create relationships with mental health and substance use providers to provide referrals.
• Supply basic needs (socks, food, hygiene kits, weather appropriate gear, etc.)
• Use City provided vehicles to visit clients in an appropriate and professional manner, including wellness checks; May occasionally require use of personal vehicle
• Partner with police and fire personnel on issues related to homelessness.
• Develop individualized housing case plans in collaboration with clients.
• Monitor clients' progress towards their goals, offering guidance, encouragement, and resources as needed.
• Respond promptly to clients in crisis, offering immediate support and intervention to address urgent needs.
• Develop and implement safety plans for clients at risk of harm, ensuring their immediate and long-term safety.
• Utilize motivational interviewing and other evidence-based practices to help clients set and achieve realistic goals.
• Significant role in reducing public safety risks associated with homelessness, including minimizing utilization of emergency services and public disturbances.
• Actively seek and secure housing and shelter placements for clients, including emergency, transitional, and permanent housing options.
• Housing Navigation: Coordinate with other facilities, agencies, and property management companies to ensure smooth transitions into housing. Negotiate rental agreements and deposits to make housing accessible for clients.
• Intervene in situations where clients are experiencing suicidal ideation, employing de-escalation techniques and crisis intervention skills to talk them down and connect them with necessary mental health resources
• Manage a caseload of 70+ individuals, prioritizing cases based on the Metro Denver Continuum of Cares' definition of vulnerability.
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

Education: High School or GED equivalent

Experience: 2-3 years experience previous outreach experience; Previous professional work with unhoused or vulnerable populations; Experience working in fields that include a mental health or substance use focus

Licenses & Certifications

• Valid Colorado driver's license with a clean driving record
• Enrollment in HMIS within the first two (2) weeks of employment

Preferred Qualifications

• Bilingual in Spanish preferred
• Lived experience preferred but not required
• Associates degree in social/behavioral sciences or a related field preferred, not required

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Knowledge: Basic knowledge of homeless services in Aurora; Trauma Informed Care

Skills: Mental Health First Aid; Microsoft Word, Excel, MS Teams; CPR and Narcan administration; Strong interpersonal skills; Communicate with diverse populations; De-escalation or crisis intervention

Abilities: Work in a high stress environment with little on-hand supervision; Awareness of your surroundings and knowing when to walk away from a potentially unsafe situation; Conduct face to face conflict resolution; Create and maintain strong boundaries with employees and unhoused residents; Ability to handle the emotional and physical demands of the job, including exposure to high-stress situations and potential physical danger; Establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees, partnering agencies, and unhoused neighbors; Handle sensitive and pertinent information; Experience in case management, social services, or homeless outreach; Skilled in oral and written communication

Pay & Schedule

• Salary range: $25.17 - $31.47 per hour
• Classified as VHBE (Variable Hour Benefit Eligible), selected candidate can work up to 40 hours per week
• Term-Limited position with an anticipated end-date of March 31st, 2027
• Application deadline: August 20th, 2026 (position may close early once qualified pool is determined)

Benefits

• Eligible to elect Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
• Accrue paid time off
• 11 paid holidays

Working Conditions

Essential Personnel: When a local announcement of emergency or disaster is declared by the City, all City of Aurora employees may be required to work as essential personnel.

Physical Demands: Medium physical work that involves moving no more than 50 pounds with or without assistance at a time with or without assistance; Prolonged periods of walking, standing, kneeling, and sitting depending on environment; Frequent speech communication and hearing to maintain communications with employees, partnering organizations, the business community and neighborhood groups; Jumping fences, crawling under low bridges; Walking through difficult terrain and swamps; Encountering animals such prairie dogs, geese, rats, mice and often aggressive or protective dogs; Navigating hazardous (and biohazardous) environments including but not limited to human waste, drug paraphernalia such as needles along with broken glass, barbed wire, weapons, and unknown materials; Frequent hiking to obscure locations through thorns, thistles and poisonous plants on contact; Entering underground water and sewage tunnels; Walking up and down steep embankments; Entering unknown and unpredictable circumstances

Work Environment: Primarily field work with equal amount of office work; May walk and drive in slick/muddy/snowy conditions; This position has direct contact with people experiencing homelessness; This role is frequently outside and will encounter inclement weather, including heat, cold, snow, and rain; Will work in a dusty, hazardous and/or noisy environment

Equipment Used: Standard office equipment that includes an assigned laptop, iPad, scanners, printers, etc.; Assigned City vehicle; Occasional use of personal vehicle; Narcan and other harm reductive equipment