Job Description

Job Location: Multi-site : Interim Housing Programs - Oakland, CA 94621,

Salary Range: $90,000.00 - $11,000.00 Salary/year,

About Cardea Health

Cardea Health is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing compassionate health care to marginalized populations.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to create and support programs that protect the health and autonomy of vulnerable individuals and promote equity and social justice to improve the well-being of our entire community. Compassionate care for vulnerable populations.

Workplace Culture

Cardea is dedicated to creating a workplace that celebrates diversity and actively seeks to include underrepresented communities. We believe that diversity drives innovation and fosters a more dynamic, inclusive, and productive work environment. We value unique perspectives, experiences, and talents, and we are committed to providing equitable opportunities for growth and advancement. Join us in building a team that reflects the rich diversity of our society and let's make a positive impact together.

Our Cardea CARE(S) Values include

• Compassion:

Big heart, steady presence

• Accountability:

We own it: the work, the follow-through, the impact.

• Respect:

We assume good intent and keep it real

• Engagement:

We lean in and figure it out together.

• Support:

We’ve got each other across roles, teams, and sites.

These values guide how we care for residents, collaborate with colleagues, and represent Cardea Health in the community.

Primary Work Location

This position supports multiple Cardea Health Interim Housing Programs and requires regular travel between assigned locations.

Cardea's interim housing programs provide temporary housing, stabilization services, clinical support, care coordination, case management, and connections to permanent housing opportunities for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Employees in these roles should expect frequent collaboration with residents, healthcare providers, social service agencies, community partners, and multidisciplinary teams.

About the Role

Job Summary

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain clear roles, workflows, documentation standards, service expectations, and performance measures for behavioral health programming across Cardea Health sites.
• Supervise Behavioral Health CHWs who support residents and clients with behavioral health needs, including serious mental illness (SMI), substance use disorder (SUD), co-occurring conditions, behavioral-health crises, and barriers to treatment engagement.
• Ensure Behavioral Health CHWs provide timely, person-centered linkage to behavioral-health assessment, psychiatric care, therapy, SUD treatment, medication support, harm-reduction resources, crisis services, benefits, and other community-based supports.
• Support CHWs in partnering with housing staff, program management, clinical teams, and external providers to develop practical strategies for engaging residents with SMI, SUD, trauma histories, or other complex behavioral health needs
• Manage the Substance Use Navigator (SUN)/SAMHSA program, including supervision of the SUN Manager and oversight of the Substance Use Navigator team.
• Ensure the SUN/SAMHSA team provides consistent, low-barrier access to SUD treatment navigation, overdose-prevention education, naloxone access, safer-use supplies, recovery supports, medication for opioid use disorder linkage, and other harm-reduction services across sites.
• Monitor SUN/SAMHSA program implementation, grant deliverables, service data, outcomes, documentation, staffing needs, partnership development, and compliance with applicable funder and program requirements.
• Ensure the SUN/SAMHSA team provides consistent, low-barrier access to SUD treatment navigation, overdose-prevention education, naloxone access, safer-use supplies, recovery supports, medication for opioid use disorder linkage, and other harm-reduction services across sites.
• Manage the development, implementation, and ongoing operation of the Behavioral Health Response Team (BHRT).
• Establish BHRT policies, response protocols, staffing structures, communication pathways, and documentation requirements for behavioral health concerns across program sites.
• Develop a behavioral-health crisis-response model for incidents that do not yet require a 5150 evaluation but may be escalating toward an acute psychiatric, substance-related, safety, or housing-stability crisis.
• Create and oversee an early-intervention process through which program staff can identify, flag, and communicate concerning changes in resident behavior, mental status, substance use, functioning, safety, or engagement before the situation becomes an emergency.
• Coordinate BHRT assessment, consultation, and follow-up for residents experiencing escalating behavioral-health concerns, including changes in mental health symptoms, increased substance use, psychiatric decompensation, conflict, isolation, repeated crisis contacts, or threats to housing stability.
• Manage Cardea Health’s role in the Alternative Response Unit (ARU) in San Leandro, a 911-alternative response program operated in collaboration with the Alameda County Fire Department.
• Provide operational and programmatic oversight for Cardea Health CHWs assigned to the ARU, including staffing, supervision, training, field-response protocols, quality assurance, documentation, and coordination with the Alameda County Fire Department and other ARU partners.
• Ensure ARU staff provide safe, effective, person-centered responses to behavioral-health, substance-use-related, social, and non-law-enforcement emergencies dispatched through the San Leandro 911 system.
• Monitor ARU program performance, response trends, community needs, referral outcomes, safety concerns, and opportunities to strengthen connections to ongoing behavioral health, housing, medical, and social-service supports.
• Coordinate the involvement of Behavioral Health CHWs, SUNs, and other relevant staff in BHRT activities, case consultation, crisis prevention, follow-up, and staff education.
• Ensure appropriate coordination with mobile crisis teams, emergency medical services, psychiatric emergency services, law enforcement alternatives, 988, 5150 evaluators, hospitals, outpatient behavioral-health providers, and other community-based crisis resources when escalation is necessary.
• Lead agency-wide education and workforce-development efforts related to behavioral health, trauma-informed care, de-escalation, crisis prevention, harm reduction, SMI, SUD, co-occurring disorders, stigma reduction, and effective engagement practices.
• Develop and deliver training, consultation, coaching, and practical tools that help staff respond safely, consistently, and compassionately to residents experiencing behavioral-health or substance-use-related challenges.
• Strengthen coordination between SUNs, CHWs, housing staff, clinical providers, and community partners to ensure residents with SUD receive timely, nonjudgmental, culturally responsive support.
• Establish a standardized agency-wide approach to behavioral contracts, including clear criteria, templates, review processes, communication standards, follow-up expectations, and documentation requirements.
• Ensure behavioral contracts are fair, equitable, trauma-informed, understandable to residents, consistently applied across sites, and focused on reducing harm, supporting engagement, and preventing avoidable program exits.
• Provide consultation and guidance to Program Managers and site teams regarding when behavioral contracts are appropriate, how expectations should be communicated, how progress should be monitored, and when additional intervention or revision is needed.
• Review behavioral-contract practices across programs to identify disparities, inconsistent application, barriers to resident understanding, ineffective interventions, or opportunities to improve fairness and outcomes.
• Provide consultation and decision-support to Program Managers when residents are being considered for an unplanned exit due to behavioral, safety, substance-use-related, or other program concerns.
• Establish and oversee a consistent review process for unplanned exits that considers risk to the resident, risk to other residents and staff, risk to program operations, severity and recurrence of behavior, prior interventions attempted, reasonable accommodations, behavioral-health needs, available alternatives, and the likelihood that the behavior will recur.
• Partner with program, housing, clinical, and behavioral-health staff to identify interventions that may safely prevent an avoidable exit, including enhanced engagement, behavioral-health consultation, crisis planning, treatment linkage, harm-reduction support, behavioral contracts, reasonable accommodations, and increased care coordination.
• Lead interdisciplinary case reviews for residents with repeated behavioral-health crises, escalating SUD or mental-health needs, repeated emergency-service utilization, serious safety concerns, chronic disengagement, or significant risk of housing instability.
• Maintain accurate, timely, and compliant records related to behavioral health services, crisis consultation, behavioral contracts, ARU activities, SUN/SAMHSA services, training, incident follow-up, referrals, and resident outcomes.
• Develop and monitor key performance indicators for behavioral-health programming, including treatment linkage, engagement, crisis-response activity, overdose-prevention services, behavioral-contract outcomes, emergency-service use, unplanned exits, staff-training completion, and housing-stability outcomes.
• Participate in organizational planning, cross-departmental collaboration, policy development, quality-improvement activities, grant implementation, and community partnership development to strengthen behavioral-health and substance-use supports across the agency.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in behavioral health, homelessness services, supportive housing, community-based social services, crisis response, or a related human services setting.
• 2+ years of experience supervising staff, teams, programs, or cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience supporting individuals with serious mental illness, substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, or complex behavioral health needs.
• Experience developing, implementing, or improving program processes, workflows, and service delivery models.
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships across multidisciplinary teams, including housing, clinical, and social service staff.
• Strong written communication, documentation, and data analysis skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Social Work, Psychology, Behavioral Health, Public Health, Human Services, or a related field.
• LCSW, LMSW, LMHC, MHC, CASAC, or other relevant behavioral health credential.
• Experience overseeing multiple programs, grants, contracts, or service lines.
• Experience developing behavioral health programming, crisis response protocols, workforce development initiatives, or staff training programs.
• Experience working within supportive housing, medical respite, homelessness services, health homes, FQHCs, managed care organizations, or community mental health settings.
• Experience using trauma-informed, harm reduction, housing-first, and person-centered approaches.
• Experience managing program outcomes, KPIs, compliance requirements, and reporting obligations.
• Experience leading organizational change or building new programs/functions from the ground up.

Physical Requirements

This position requires a combination of desk-based and active work activities.

Essential physical activities may include

• Frequent sitting, standing, and walking.
• Movement throughout program sites, office locations, or community settings.
• Occasional stair climbing.
• Reaching, bending, kneeling, and crouching.
• Transporting supplies, equipment, files, or materials.
• Ability to lift, carry, push, or pull up to 25 pounds with or without reasonable accommodation.

Work Environment

Cardea Health program locations operate within supportive housing, interim housing, medical respite, and community-based environments serving individuals experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable populations.

Benefits

We offer access to competitive and comprehensive healthcare benefits such as: Medical, dental, vision, EAP, life insurance, long-term disability, HSA or FSA, Dependent Care FSA, voluntary benefits, paid sick leave, paid vacation time, birthday time off, and 401(k) with up to 3.5% employer match.

Benefit eligibility varies based on employment status, scheduled hours, and plan requirements. Full-time employees are generally eligible for employer-sponsored benefit contributions. Eligible part-time employees may participate in available benefit programs subject to plan terms. Per diem employees are generally not eligible for employer-sponsored benefits except as required by applicable federal, state, or local law or as otherwise provided under applicable benefit plans.

Employees may interact with individuals experiencing

Cardea Health is committed to trauma-informed, person-centered, and harm-reduction-oriented service delivery. Employees are expected to interact with residents, visitors, community partners, and colleagues in a professional, respectful, and compassionate manner. Given the population we serve, employees may interact with or provide services to individuals who may have co-occurring medical, behavioral health or substance use conditions.

Screening Requirements

Criminal background screening, national criminal records search, healthcare sanctions screening, employment verification, education verification, license verification, MVR (where applicable), and reference checks may be required during screening.

Fair Chance Hiring Statement

Qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. A background check may be required following a conditional offer of employment. Please do not let this requirement discourage you from applying. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds and experiences to apply and will evaluate applicants fairly and individually.

Encouragement to Apply

We recognize that no candidate meets every qualification. If you are excited about this role, we encourage you to apply even if your experience does not perfectly match every requirement.

Cardea Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Cardea Health is committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, disability, citizenship or veteran status. We will consider qualified candidates with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the state of California and San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive list of activities, duties, or responsibilities for this role. Activities, duties, or responsibilities may change, or a new job description may be assigned at any time with or without notice.