Intake Specialist

Wooddale Church • Eden Prairie, MN

42d • $24 - $26 • Hybrid

About The Position

The BrighterFutures.Life Intake Specialist is an experienced social service professional responsible for the intake and assessment of families seeking participation in the BrighterFutures.Life Housing Assistance Program. This role requires significant professional judgment, discernment, strong boundaries, and the ability to evaluate complex family circumstances while balancing compassion with responsible stewardship of program resources. The Intake Specialist will gradually assume much of the intake work currently conducted by the Director and will also maintain a limited caseload of families. The Intake Specialist makes professional recommendations regarding program participation; however, final decisions regarding family acceptance, program-entry month, and the amount and duration of rental assistance remain with the Director of BrighterFutures.Life.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, human services, family services, psychology, sociology, or a closely related field preferred.
• Five or more years of professional experience in social work, human services, housing stability, family services, case management, or a closely related field required; 5–10 years of relevant experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience assessing complex family circumstances and making thoughtful professional recommendations.
• Strong interviewing, assessment, documentation, and case-management skills.
• Ability to establish appropriate professional boundaries while maintaining compassion and respect for families experiencing significant hardship.
• Demonstrated ability to hear difficult, emotional, or traumatic family circumstances while maintaining professional composure, emotional steadiness, sound judgment, and the ability to make objective program decisions.
• Ability to communicate difficult decisions respectfully and clearly, including when BrighterFutures.Life cannot provide services or when program expectations must be reinforced.
• Ability to identify information that is not openly transparent during the initial interview or after application and appropriately pursue clarification.
• Ability to recognize matters requiring leadership involvement and escalate them appropriately to leadership.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Proficiency with Google Workspace and database/case-management systems
• Must be a practicing Christian and believer in Jesus Christ and affirm the Statement of Faith of BrighterFutures.Life.

Nice To Haves

• Spanish language skills a plus.

Responsibilities

• Conduct initial interviews with referred families to assess whether BrighterFutures.Life is an appropriate fit and determine whether to invite the family to move forward with an application or decline further consideration following the initial interview.
• Order required criminal background, credit report, and social media checks as part of the intake assessment and final program review.
• Conduct comprehensive family assessments, evaluating housing circumstances, financial stability, family needs, strengths, barriers, readiness, and other factors relevant to successful program participation.
• Exercise sound professional judgment when determining whether a family appears prepared to meet program expectations and benefit from BrighterFutures.Life services.
• Prepare and present a final intake recommendation to the Director.
• Communicate program decisions and next steps to applicants following Director approval.
• Maintain appropriate documentation of intake assessments and recommendations.
• Maintain a limited caseload of families as they progress through the program.
• Provide experienced guidance when complex family circumstances arise that exceed routine volunteer or administrative support.
• Monitor volunteer and family progress through database reporting systems or verbal communications and recognize when circumstances require additional intervention, guidance, or escalation.
• Provide volunteers with appropriate community, church, financial, employment, housing, educational, and other resources as identified.
• Coordinate with volunteers and other BrighterFutures.Life staff regarding family needs and emerging concerns as needed.
• Ensure family and volunteer significant interactions, progress, challenges, and outcomes are appropriately documented in the system database.
• During the initial transition of this position, work closely with the Director as intake responsibilities are gradually transferred to the Intake Specialist. The Director may continue to conduct or participate in selected family intakes.
• Work collaboratively with the Housing Assistance Associate and Volunteer & Community Engagement Associate to ensure smooth transition of accepted families into active program services.
• Notify and coordinate with the Housing Assistance Associate when a family has been accepted so post-acceptance onboarding, Case Plan development, financial documentation, and volunteer coordination can begin.
• Collaborate in identifying Family Partners and Budget Coaches whose personalities, strengths, and experience align well with each family so that meaningful relationships can develop.
• Recognize circumstances requiring Director-level judgment and escalate those matters appropriately.

Benefits

• Paid time off that accrues per hours worked and increases with years of service.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Mid Level