Bilingual Case Manager - SOT Program

Heartland Alliance International•Chicago, IL

12h•Onsite

About The Position

The Marjorie Kovler Center, a program of Heartland Alliance International, has been dedicated to providing survivors of torture with opportunities to heal, access justice, and rebuild their lives with dignity since 1987. The Kovler Center is a leader in trauma-informed care for survivors of torture and serves as a trusted resource of integrated treatment and services to reach vulnerable populations including asylees, immigrants, refugees, unaccompanied minors, survivors of forced displacement and trafficking, and immigrant and refugee survivors of crime in the US. The center also trains and educates service providers locally and globally and advocates for the end of torture worldwide. The trauma-informed case management team works alongside participants as they stabilize and rebuild their lives, offering culturally and linguistically responsive support. Case managers guide participants through complex health, legal, and social service systems; assist with applications for public benefits, health insurance, and work authorization; and coordinate referrals to primary and mental health care. They help survivors unfamiliar with U.S. systems schedule appointments, complete documentation, arrange transportation, and overcome barriers to accessing essential services. Beyond crisis stabilization, the team supports long-term goals around education, employment, and community integration by connecting survivors with ESL classes, job training programs, and other community resources.

Requirements

Associate degree required.
Comfortable communicating with clients, their families, team members and leadership teams.
Position requires working in-person from 8:30-5:00.
Full professional fluency in English is required.
Fluency in at least one of the main languages spoken by participants in the SOT program (French, Spanish, Arabic and/or Portuguese).
Native-level proficiency preferred to ensure culturally and linguistically responsive service delivery.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Demonstrated competency in public speaking and strong interpersonal skills required.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Outlook/Exchange; Windows operating systems; and other software routinely used by Heartland Alliance.
Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide into all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.
Ability to problem solve.
Demonstrated commitment to anti-racism principles and the ability to apply an anti-racist lens to program design, implementation, and evaluation.
Demonstrated commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Demonstrates cultural humility, with a deep understanding of participant populations’ culture, traditions, and migration experience.

Nice To Haves

Higher education may be valuable.
May give credit towards years of experience if attained a degree higher than a Bachelor's Degree.

Responsibilities

Maintain accurate, timely, and comprehensive case records following each client interaction, ensuring documentation is completed in accordance with agency standards.
Provide direct case management services and ongoing service coordination for individuals in the SOT program.
Explain available public benefits and assistance programs; assist participants with completing applications (e.g., Medicaid, SNAP/food assistance, childcare subsidies, housing supports, financial assistance) and coordinate referrals to appropriate agencies.
Assess participant needs across domains and facilitate referrals and care coordination for services including employment services, education programs, complementary care (e.g., massage/acupuncture), ensuring language access throughout the referral process.
Provide interpretation support when appropriate and collaborate with volunteer and contracted interpreters when services fall outside of capacity.
Build and maintain relationships with community-based organizations serving immigrant and refugee communities.
Participate in weekly supervision to review cases, identify service gaps affecting participants, and develop strategies to improve culturally and linguistically responsive programming.
Participate in daily group activities and attend internal team meetings and external partner meetings as appropriate.
Support organizational efforts to strengthen language access policies, translated materials, and equitable service delivery.
Perform other duties as assigned.