Housing Crisis Coordinator (Office of Housing Stability) - City of Boston

Overview

The mission of the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) is to make Boston a more equitable and inclusive city where all residents can thrive. MOH oversees programs that create and preserve affordable housing, support homeowners and renters, provide housing and services to homeless individuals and families, and develop city-owned property. The Mayor’s Office of Housing seeks to carry out its mission through a lens of promoting diversity, equity and inclusion and addressing the effects of systemic racism in our city.

Within the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH), under the supervision of the Deputy Director for Housing Stability or their designee, the employee provides emergency housing placement and case management services to tenants who are at risk of eviction and displacement. The employee also manages other emergency cases as needed, referred by the Mayor’s office, or other City Departments and generally is a resource to landlords and tenants on a variety of issues related to rental housing.

Responsibilities

• Responds to housing emergencies and assists tenants with finding temporary and/or permanent housing by providing case management services to tenants who are at-risk of losing their housing or have been displaced.
• Assesses the needs and status of the at-risk or displaced individual or family in order to determine the housing options and to facilitate access to other needed resources or services.
• Develops relationships and works with community based agencies, property managers, owners and landlords to facilitate housing placement for at-risk and displaced tenants.
• Develops relationships and works with staff from other City departments to coordinate housing and services for at-risk or displaced tenants.
• Provides information and answers inquiries to landlords and tenants and other constituents concerning many aspects of landlord and tenant relations, including familiarity with tenant and landlord rights.
• Provides information and referral services to City of Boston residents seeking housing assistance.
• Triages phone cases between operations management team and housing crisis case coordinators.
• Serves in intermittent on-call role on nights, weekends and holidays and responds during major emergencies that result in eviction, displacement or homelessness.
• Hosts tenants rights workshops and other offerings to support housing related needs of households at risk of eviction and displacement.
• Maintains client databases to track efforts and outcomes and produce required reports.
• Maintains up-to-date information and knowledge regarding tenancy preservation, homelessness prevention and housing placement resources offered by city, state and non-profit agencies.
• Performs other dutes as required.

Minimum Entrance Qualifications

• Minimum of three (3) years of full time, or equivalent part-time, experience in providing case management services related to housing search and housing placement.
• A bachelor’s degree in social work, public policy, government, business administration or a related field is preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge of resources available to landlords and tenants to preserve tenancies and assist with housing search.
• Excellent customer service and proven ability to work with the public.
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated problem solving and decision making skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency with standard office workplace technology such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Google Mail.
• Dual language capabilities are preferred.
• Ability to exercise good judgment and focus on detail as required by the position. 

BOSTON RESIDENCY REQUIRED

Terms:Union/Salary Plan/Grade: N-21Hours per week: 35