Unit Conditions Mitigation Specialist - UCRT

DESC•Seattle, WA

About The Position

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. The Unit Mitigation Specialist (UMS) is a part of a multidisciplinary role that works to support tenants with chronic issues maintaining unit condition standards. The UMS role focuses on addressing problematic unit conditions as part of the larger Unit Condition Response Team to both address acute issues as well as strategize and implement preventative solutions to avoid future unit condition issues.

Requirements

Demonstrated ability to address basic maintenance and repair needs in a residential setting
Ability to organize workload and complete duties with minimum direct supervision.
Ability to communicate and work effectively with people from various backgrounds.
Ability to handle a wide range of unpleasant and/or bizarre behavior from clients.
Must have valid Washington State driver's license.
Commitment to the philosophy of cooperation and continuity across programs and of consideration and respect for clients.

Nice To Haves

DESC Permanent Supportive Housing experience
Lived experience with affordable/supportive housing programing or other human service programming

Responsibilities

Participate as a member of the multi-disciplinary Unit Conditions team providing on-going services to adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses.
Assist with unit inspection preparation in collaboration with the treatment team, including, but not limited to, apartment cleaning, organizing, and basic repairs.
In conjunction with care team, regularly review and modify assigned client's Housing Stability Plan to address unit condition issues
Mitigate in-unit issues including property damage
Develop, design, and implement mitigation strategies to limit frequency or severity of unit damage in assigned units, including but not limited to, installing features designed to limited future damage
Is not to work outside of scope or expertise, which is to be determined in conjunction with supervisor and DESC Facilities department
Perform general and basic repair and maintenance in individual apartments.
Assist other staff with large cleaning projects, including unit turnovers, as necessary or assigned.
Communicate repair or extensive cleaning needs to supervisor before starting work, seeking assistance to complete maintenance work not within personal skill level.
Work at ground level or from ladders and scaffolding. Carry and lift heavy materials, containers, ladders, tools, and other equipment to and around work sites.
Repair basic building or apartment systems as assigned, including basic electrical systems (switches, outlets, breakers, fixtures, and minor wiring), general carpentry needs (floor repair, wallboard and plaster work, painting), and basic plumbing.
Other duties as assigned