Intensive Case Manager - SAGE

Intensive Case Manager – SAGE, STAR Center

Days Off: Saturday, Sunday

Shift: Office Day

Insurance Benefits: Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)

Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan

Union Representation: This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

About DESC:

Recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in developing solutions to homelessness, DESC is a social services organization, supportive housing operator, and licensed behavioral health treatment provider focused on meeting the needs of people experiencing long-term homelessness and living with complex behavioral health and other medical conditions. Approximately 3,000 people are actively receiving services from DESC at any given point in time. Our vision is a community where all people are shown compassion, treated with dignity, and everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.

DESC operates five shelter/emergency housing programs, 19 permanent supportive housing facilities with over 1,750 units, several hundred additional scattered site apartments, and a range of behavioral health services including outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, residential crisis stabilization, street outreach, mobile crisis response, and treatment for opioid use disorder.

JOB CONTEXT

SAGE Program

The SAGE (Support, Advocacy, Growth and Employment) Program is DESC's comprehensive outpatient mental health program. SAGE intake specialists, psychotherapists, case managers, psychiatrists and nurses assist adults with severe and persistent mental illness in their journeys towards recovery. SAGE services are licensed under the Washington State Behavioral Health and Recovery Division and are provided under contract with King County Mental Health.

STAR Center

The STAR (Stability Through Access and Resources) Center is a time-limited, 24/7, behavioral health-focused non-congregate shelter program. Services at the Center are tailored for unsheltered adults facing significant untreated and undertreated challenges related to mental health and substance use disorders. The center is located at 619 3rd Avenue and Cherry Street in downtown Seattle.

JOB DEFINITION

The SAGE Intensive Case Manager position is a case management position physically sited at DESC’s STAR Center providing short-term behavioral health treatment and interventions to STAR Center guests. STAR Center guests typically remain with the Center for 90 days, but longer stays are possible.

The SAGE Intensive Case Manager will primarily be assigned and work with guests of DESC’s STAR Center and will also receive support from and engage with the SAGE Program care team at DESC’s nearby Downtown Behavioral Health Clinic (“DBHC”), located at 515 3rd Ave.

The role will receive daily operational supervision and support from the on-site STAR Project Manager and clinical supervision from a member of the DBHC SAGE Leadership team. This position, while sited at the STAR Center, is not considered to be part of minimum staffing requirements for the building.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assume primary responsibility for coordinating all aspects of consumers' support and goal planners (e.g. providing and/or coordinating the delivery of and referral to psychiatric treatment and substance abuse treatment programs; 24-hour support services; and performing acute case management to facilitate consumer access to food, clothing, housing, medical care, financial assistance and vocational training or employment).
• Coordinate and facilitate connection to STAR Center wraparound services including shelter Case Managers, Peers, psychiatric providers, nursing, and occupational therapy (e.g. orienting guests to available services, developing and delivering shelter retention plans, providing live connections, proactively identifying and clarifying needs, and negotiating barriers to ongoing care through a behavioral health lens).
• Develop crisis and safety plans for SAGE clients at STAR Center, in collaboration with other STAR Center job roles and SAGE Program staff.
• Complete timely and accurate demographic and clinical updates, integrated service plans, and clinical notes (logs, EORs, DALs, and other documentation), meet strict administrative deadlines, adhere to clinical accountability policies and procedures, and participate in quality assurance reviews.
• Provide crisis intervention and risk assessment, and write primary and supporting DCR affidavits when appropriate.
• Facilitate guests’ timely transitions away from STAR Center to other shelter and/or housing opportunities, including care coordination, physical transportation, care team transitions, and/or referrals.
• Maintain an attitude of flexibility and adaptability in orienting, contacting, and treating STAR Center guests, and demonstrate a willingness to implement creative problem-solving.
• Advocate for consumers' access to community resources and services, ensuring that consumers' needs are met and rights maintained; consult and collaborate with community providers to ensure continuity of care.
• Provide and/or support therapeutic group facilitation in collaboration with STAR Center staff, SAGE staff, and other providers.
• Provide individual counseling, as qualified.
• Engage in trauma-informed practice, including reframing unusual or unpleasant behavior in the context of DESC’s Core Values.

Living Conditions

Support your clients with achieving and maintaining healthy living conditions. This can include but is not limited to attending care conferences related to living conditions, outreaching and supporting clients in their shelter units with tools and skills to maintain their units, coordinating with shelter staff, participating in cleaning out clients’ units, and documenting barriers to maintaining healthy living conditions.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Participate in psychiatric consultation, supervision, program meetings and in-service trainings; participate in clinical reviews and case conferences for consumers on caseload and residing at the STAR Center.
• Travel locally to outreach consumers; make home visits and assist with home inspections, annual recertifications, address and report any maintenance-related concerns and housing retention barriers.
• Establish and maintain professional relationships with landlords and property managers, assisting in building rule enforcement and lease compliance as necessary.
• Fulfill role of protective payee for some consumers on behalf of the agency, creating monthly budgets with consumers, distributing funds, assisting with purchases, and keeping accurate records.
• Support basic operational functions of the STAR Center (monitoring ingress/egress, staffing front desk, serving meals, and responding to emergencies) in times of low staffing (e.g. holidays, or exigent or otherwise unplanned circumstances).
• Comply with applicable program research and evaluation procedures.
• Attend external and internal trainings relevant to the position or established professional development goals.
• Other duties as assigned.