Senior Program Manager/Referral Coordinator

Position: LEAD Senior Program Manager/Referral Coordinator
Report to: Director of Westside Outreach
Location: Campion, 1447 16th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 
Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm
Status:  Full-Time, Exempt (Salary), Management
Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement Planning (403b), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), etc.

SUMMARY:

Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) is a community-based diversion approach with the goals of improving public safety and reducing unnecessary justice system involvement of people who participate in the program. In a LEAD program, law enforcement officers exercise discretionary authority at point of contact to divert individuals to a community-based, harm-reduction intervention for law violations driven by unmet behavioral health needs. There are certain core principles to LEAD that are essential to achieve transformative outcomes. These include LEAD’s harm reduction/Housing First framework, which requires a focus on individual and community wellness, rather than an exclusive focus on sobriety; and police officers and sergeant involvement as meaningful and positive meaningful partners in program design and operations.

The LEAD Senior Program Manager/Coordinator will receive LEAD referrals from law enforcement and community entities in the Venice (Pacific Division) area. This position will serve as a primary liaison with referral sources in the Venice area to ensure timely and appropriate handling of referrals and communications. They will be responsible for responding rapidly to referrals, conducting assertive outreach and communicating appropriately with funders, supervisors and collaborators.

Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Serve as primary contact for community referrals to ensure appropriate and timely response and engagement of referrals.
2. Respond to referrals within one business day and make multiple attempts to outreach referrals within five business days.
3. Develop and maintain relationships with community partners, stakeholders and program funders, particularly law enforcement contacts.
4. Work with a team of Case Managers to ensure appropriate handoffs and linkages for ongoing services.
5. Oversee effective referral and coordination of service goals with all providers.
6. Collaborate with the County, LEAD Operational Work Group (OWG) partners (e.g. law enforcement, prosecution, housing providers and evaluators), and other County partners, in the development and/or revision of LEAD site-specific procedures. This may include logistical agreements for receiving law enforcement referrals and agenda items for OWG meetings.
7. Conduct an informed consent process about the voluntary nature of LEAD and, if applicable, notify participants about requirements for pre-booking diversion, and potential filing of charges if diversion requirements are not met.
8. Provide leadership of homeless and supportive housing best practice models
9. Generate recommendations for resources based on programming needs
10. Ensure all client related paperwork, data collection and data systems are complete, timely, accurate, and current in agency records and electronic databases
11. Refer or connect clients to support services across Los Angeles County including the Division of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC), Department of Mental Health (DMH) and the Office of Diversion and Reentry (ODR).
12. Participate in the agency wide quality assurance program and ensure the implementation of quality improvement activities to ensure ongoing quality outcome
13. Attend meetings and conferences, prepare written reports, and complete related projects as requested
14. Attend team case conference and act as the clinical consultant.
15. Ensure that all Annual Reviews are completed in a timely manner.
16. Provide oversite regarding hiring and ensure Diverse and Equitable hiring practices to appropriately reflect the diversity of the population served.
17. Ensure OSHA reports on completed on a monthly basis
18. Participate in and/or lead all staff meetings, and ensure that all staff attend required trainings
19. Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:
1. Minimum of four (4) years’ experience working with homeless individuals with severe and persistent mental illness and co-occurring disorders.
2. Master’s degree.
3. Experience in training staff to deliver low-barrier and harm reduction-based services.
4. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:
1. Experience working with law enforcement

Work Environment:
1. On occasion walk or drive to different local sites
2. Regularly required to sit, stand, bend and occasionally lift or carry up to 35 pounds
3. Field (may need to travel) and indoor office environment
4. Will necessitate working in busy and loud environments
5. Will be exposed to elements like cold, heat, dust, noise and odor
6. May need to bend, stoop, twist , and sit throughout the day