Family Resource Navigator

POSITION TITLE: Family Resource Navigator

REPORTS TO: Prevention Program Manager

HIRING RANGE: $25.00- $25.50 per hour DOQ; full position range $25.00 to $26.46 per hour

BENEFITS: Full benefits package including: medical, dental, vision, holidays (90 hours per fiscal year, days chosen by employee), vacation (2 weeks per year- accrued per hour worked), and sick leave (12 days/year- accrued per hour worked). 401k contributions after 12 months of employment.

HOURS: Full time 35hours per week, Monday-Thursday 9-5, Friday 9-2PM. Occasional nights/weekends.

LOCATION: This position is based full-time at our West Olympia location.

About Us: Family Support Center of South Sound is a nonprofit 501c3 multi-service agency located in Olympia, Washington, founded in 1992 to provide families and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking with coordinated supportive services in one centralized location with the mission, “Working Together to Strengthen All Families and Survivors”. Family Support Center seeks to build strong, healthy, safe, and hopeful families through collaborative programs and services, to reduce the impacts of family and child poverty, homelessness, and family violence in the South Sound community.

Position Summary: The Family Resource Navigator works with families to mitigate current crises in their life, which often includes preventing evictions, keeping essential utilities turned on, connecting their children to enrichment programs or school support programs, and working with families to increase their overall economic and housing stability. The Resource Navigator is responsible for ensuring the resources they refer families to are current, applicable and that the household meets the eligibility requirements. It is more than providing brochures and phone numbers; the Navigator makes the direct connection to the programs and resources so that families don’t have to navigate community programs independently. The Resource Navigator provides comprehensive case management support and eviction rent prevention assistance funds to households who are eligible for the program, working alongside families to increase their overall housing and family stability.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

Experience: A minimum of 1 year of experience working directly with families providing case management/ home visitation /advocacy/resource and referral or related work experience

Technology: Computer literacy; Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office programs, Zoom, Google platform

Education: Bachelor’s degree in social services or related field. May substitute comparable work experience for education

Bilingual/Bicultural Spanish/English

Familiarity with Thurston County social service resources

Experience working with diverse populations

Experience providing crisis intervention

Experience working with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking

Transportation: Must have insured personal vehicle and be willing to travel locally

Licenses and Other Requirements:

Washington State Driver’s License

Fully insurable driving record

Ability to pass a comprehensive background check

Primary Responsibilities:

Work directly with families who are experiencing situations of crisis or challenge, including pending evictions, utility shut-offs, parenting struggles, domestic violence, etc., and work to mitigate and resolve their crisis through connection to available community and organizational resources

Complete thorough intakes and assessments, including but not limited to Coordinated Entry, housing barriers assessment, housing stability plan, etc. to best support the family in achieving their goals

Complete Targeted Prevention Screening Tools with households who are imminently homeless, working to identify potential households to enroll on the program

Enroll eligible households onto the program, completing necessary intake paperwork, goal plans, barrier assessments, verifications, and collect required documentation in order to process eviction rent prevention assistance requests

Provide comprehensive case management to households receiving EPRA assistance, working with families to achieve greater housing stability

Manage a caseload of 30-35 households at any given time

Promptly respond to phone calls and emails from households seeking support and schedule follow-up appointments as necessary

Meet with families on both a walk-in and scheduled basis, remaining flexible to the current needs of the families seeking services

Distribute flexible financial assistance and/or rental assistance funds when available

Provide one-on-one support to assist clients in meeting their goals including eviction prevention, resume development, interview prep, job search, budgeting, credit repaired

Coordinate and participate in outreach activities to support increased service to underserved populations throughout Thurston County, including co-locating onsite at community partners such as Tumwater Community Schools, ROOF, Cielo, food bank, North Thurston Family Resource Center, etc.

Remain flexible and responsive to the needs of families, which includes the ability to provide home visitation and mobile advocacy to meet families in mutually agreed-upon locations (as permitted by COVID-19 guidance), as well as telephonic and video meetings

Ensure children are enrolled and attending appropriate care and/or education services. Assess and evaluate the needs of the children and provide appropriate referrals, resources, and provisions

Maintain knowledge of Family Support Center programs and on -site partner agencies; make appropriate in- house referrals

Maintain accurate and thorough electronic client files; comply with grant funding requirements, and collect and report data monthly

Enter data into applicable databases, including but not limited to Apricot and HMIS.

Represent Family Support Center at community meetings applicable to the position, and report back to the larger staff of community updates and resource availability

Participate in Family Support Center’s on-call rotation to provide backup support to staff in the evenings; approximately 3-4 weeks per year

Participate in weekly supervision with direct supervisor, as well as twice-monthly all staff meetings and other all team meetings as requested

Other duties as assigned

To apply for this position, please reply to this posting with your professional resume, cover letter, and contact information for three professional references. You may also fax documents to 360-943-1139 ATTN: Hiring, or mail them to Family Support Center of South Sound, 3545 7th Ave SW, Suite 200, Olympia WA 98502. No phone calls, please.

Position open until filled.

Family Support Center is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Family Support Center shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of any legally protected status including, but not limited to: age, citizenship, color, disability, health condition, ethnicity, marital status, national origin, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.