A Housing First Case Manager (HFCM) is a trained professional that supports individuals/families in securing and maintaining housing. At the same time, the HFCM is promoting awareness and teaching strategies that reduce the likelihood of a return to homelessness in the future.
The HFCM works in partnership with individuals/families to provide individualized and flexible services to;
- Engage individuals/families
- Support individuals/families
- Integrate individuals/families into the community
- Facilitate resources and supports to maximize individual/families independence and potential
- Assist individuals/families to identify strengths and needs and create goals with specific tasks to reach those goals.
HFCM are a key component in the Housing First Program and should work as a team following a few team based approaches:
- Collaboration and cooperation — a true team approach, involving several people with different backgrounds, skills and areas of expertise;
- Right matching of services — person-centered and meet the participant where they are at;
- Relative case management — Housing First Case Managers must take account of age, ability, culture, gender and sexual orientation. In addition, an understanding of a participant’s personal history (of violence, sexual abuse or assault, for instance) to create goals with participant;
- The right kind of engagement — building a strong relationship based on respectful encounters, openness, listening skills, non-judgmental attitudes and advocacy;
- Coordinated and well-managed system— Advocate when presenting participant files to referral agencies to assist in a solution-focused approach; and
- Evaluation for success — the ongoing and consistent assessment of case managed supports.