Housing Justice Program Manager

[COVER LETTER REQUIRED]

Housing Justice Program Manager
***NOTE: We use an anonymized processes for initial resume and application review. This means that before resumes or cover letters are reviewed by the hiring team, any identifying information is removed (redacted) to prevent bias (conscious or unconscious) from contributing to our decisions on who to interview.

We do however prioritize hiring of employees representative of the community we serve. If your experience as a member of a marginalized group has contributed to your passion for access to justice, you should still feel free to tell us about it in your cover letter.***

Mission Statement
The mission of Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program (CCVLP) is to provide and facilitate access to justice in Clark County for low income individuals and marginalized communities through advocacy and civil legal services.

Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program (CCVLP) has adopted the Washington Race Equity and Justice Initiative and is committed to fighting racism and advocating for equity and inclusion within the CCVLP organization, the Clark County court system, and the wider community. All employees of CCVLP are expected to participate in ongoing discussions and training related to race, equity, and inclusion; to uphold CCVLP Community Agreements in their communications and interactions with coworkers, and to treat all clients, coworkers, opposing counsel, community partners, and court staff with respect and to conduct themselves with a high level of professionalism.

Housing Justice Program Manager
Location: Vancouver, WA
Shift: Day with infrequent nights and weekends
FTE: 1.0 (40 hours/week) Hourly or Salaried, depending on wage threshold at offer
Compensation: $65,000-$70,000
Benefits: Medical (Regence Gold) paid in full for all permanent employees working at least 20 hrs/week. Option to "buy up" to Platinum and/or add family members, but must be paid in full by employee. Dental (Ameritas) paid in full for all employees working at least 20 hrs/week. Option to add family members, but must be paid in full by employee.

Language Bonus (for bi/multilingual staff): CCVLP recognizes the vital role that bilingual staff have in delivering culturally competent legal services and strives to hire staff who are fluent in the most common languages spoken in the communities served by this organization. Bilingual staff often communicate directly with a client in a shared language, both orally and in writing. Bi/multilingual staff receive a language bonus of $1.00/hour (or equivalent for salaried positions) in addition to their base pay if in their position they may be asked to exercise their fluency in speaking, reading or writing in a language other than English, regardless of the position being designated as a bilingual position.

Overview of Position: The primary role of the Housing Justice Program Manager is to oversee the delivery of landlord/tenant services and to support the legal needs of the City of Vancouver Homelessness Prevention Consortium.

Specifically, the Housing Justice Program Manager works collaboratively with the Housing Justice Project (HJP) Staff Attorney to establish and maintain a cohesive vision and service delivery model of the Housing Justice program. Further, the Housing Justice Program Manager, in collaboration with the HJP Staff Attorney, Housing Programs Managing Attorney, and the Housing Director engages with the local bench and multiple community partners to advance issues of equity and access to justice in line with CCVLP’s mission statement.

The Housing Justice Program Manager works in tandem with the HJP Staff Attorney and the Housing Programs Managing Attorney, with clients, with HJP volunteers, closely with other staff of CCVLP, and reports to the Housing Director.

Primary duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

Oversight of the Housing Justice Project

• Directing and coordinating the delivery of services in the Housing Justice Project (HJP).
• Creating and maintaining an organized process for clients as they are referred between various community partners including the Homelessness Prevention Consortium and the HJP program to prevent lapses in client services from one service to another.

Client Support

• Coordinating with other CCVLP programs on the capacity of each program and potential case referrals. This includes determining and coordinating resource availability for emergency issues.
• Conducting housing intakes & providing support at the level of a 'legal assistant' to the HJP Staff Attorney, as time allows.
• Communicating with volunteer attorneys to prepare and support them for advising clients in the Housing Justice Project.
• Providing or facilitating access to case management to ensure clients are successful in accessing CCVLP services and in engaging with the court.
• Organizing regular and recurring legal clinics at the City of Vancouver Safe Stay sites

Community Engagement and Outreach

• Serving as the contact person for community partners who request presentations on housing-related issues. This also includes presenting on programmatic access and structure, and coordinating with housing staff attorneys to facilitate substantive legal education presentations.
• Forming and stewarding a Tenant Advisory Committee involving key stakeholders of communities served by CCVLP
• Developing (with a budget) a Tenant Education Video Series
• Organize quarterly community-education events on behalf of CCVLP to share resources and maintain visibility.
• Attend community-sponsored events on behalf of CCVLP to share resources and maintain visibility.
• Supporting efforts to produce education materials on housing related matters by providing “plain language” and client-focused lenses to the content.

Data and Reporting

• Assisting the Housing Director with monitoring HJP client services (at a data tracking level).
• Developing and updating appropriate client tracking documents and databases.
• Monitoring clients who are referred by community partners to ensure resolution or closure. This includes providing updates or follow up to those partners when appropriate.
• Authoring (with input from the HJP Staff Attorney) a regular report to the board of directors inclusive of statistics and a narrative of the status of the program.
• Assisting with the reporting of data and narrative information to funders as needed.

Eviction Diversion Initiative Collaboration (with Community Mediation Services)

• Facilitating and processing client referrals to/from Community Mediation Services (CMS)
• Serving as the point of contact for CMS

Other Responsibilities Include (but are not limited to):

• Checking voicemail and email (at minimum, 3 times daily).
• Returning client calls based on priority.
• Monitoring referrals for services and responding to them, including engaging with referred clients.
• Greeting and supporting in-person volunteers of the Housing Justice Project.
• Greeting and engaging walk-in clients with landlord/tenant concerns.

General Responsibilities (applicable to all positions within the organization):

• Maintaining a safe, open, and accepting workplace.
• Ensuring client files and records are kept confidential.
• Exhibiting a high level of organization and self-discipline to complete tasks in a timely fashion.
• Demonstrating cultural competence/sensitivity when serving people experiencing poverty, people with physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities, including substance use disorders, people of color, non-English speakers, people with LGBTQ identities, and individuals with criminal records and/or people who become incarcerated during the course of a case.
• Participating in ongoing organizational diversity, equity and inclusion education and work.
• Following established organizational community agreements in all interactions with staff and when interacting with others outside of the organization.
• Communicating with clients respectfully and compassionately.
• Attending meetings, as necessary, with community partners.

Required Qualifications:

• Ability to provide high quality services to clients regardless of client demographics.
• Willingness to participate in ongoing organizational and personal race equity and inclusion reflection.
• Excellent communication skills especially when working in a team, with volunteers, judicial staff, opposing counsel, and others.
• Able to synthesize great amounts of information, prioritize duties, find and employ solutions for both the organization and the client.
• Proficient with office and legal technology including case management software, Microsoft and Google products, phones, on-line meeting platforms.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Have knowledge of and/or existing partnerships/relationships with housing service providers of SW Washington.
• Have experience engaging community members in advocacy or facilitating conversations with community members to gather input.
• Have experience facilitating access to social services to clients.
• Have experience de-escalating people in crisis.
• Understanding of systemic racism within our regional court system.
• Have experience working with people experiencing trauma, and have ability to employ trauma-informed best practices.
• Proficient in multiple languages spoken by the community of Clark County (English, Spanish, Russian, Chuukese, etc.). See language bonus policy above if this is applicable.

HOW TO APPLY
Apply on Indeed today! For more information, please feel free to contact the Legal Director* at 360.823.0423. To apply for this position, please respond to this post with a resume and cover letter describing how you meet the specific requirements of this position.

*In lieu of a formal HR department and to support our anonymized practices, the point of contact for questions and applications for job postings is always a director not involved in the hiring process for that position.

While we sincerely appreciate all applications, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

DEADLINES

This position is open until filled.

While we aim to offer specific deadlines in our job postings, we know from experience the current job market has been less than predictable. Therefore, we cannot provide any estimates for interviews or an offer. We are however working to hire as soon as possible, and commit to communicating with you promptly throughout the application process.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $65,000.00 - $70,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

COVID-19 considerations:
A "Safe Work" plan is in place, adhering to CDC and WA DOH guidelines. It is a requirement that all employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by their first date of employment.

People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply

Application Question(s):

• Are you fully vaccinated against (or will be by first date of employment) COVID-19, including any CDC-recommended booster(s)?

Language:

• a language in addition to English (Preferred)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $65,000 - $70,000