Awake Overnight Counselor - Homeless Services

Eliot’s Homeless Services Division is seeking an Awake Overnight for our Master Lease Housing Team which provides an array of onsite supportive services, including recovery coaching, MAT/Psychiatry, wrap-around case management & clinical coordination, medical consultation and direct interventions, and access to trauma-focused treatment modalities.

The ideal candidate is passionate about supporting individuals experiencing homelessness and substance use challenges through a trauma-informed, Housing First approach. They are skilled at building trusting relationships, responding calmly to crises, promoting recovery and independent living, and collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to help individuals achieve stability and long-term success. 

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.
• Assist with 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:

• Bachelors $48,000.00 annually
• Masters: $50,000.00 annually