Mission of Austin Street Center: Founded in 1983, Austin Street Center provides emergency shelter and meets the basic needs of the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in Dallas.
Core Values: Kindness, Trustworthiness, Empowerment, Determination
Position Purpose
Maintain smooth, effective, and trauma-informed operation of the Austin Street Center 24/7 emergency shelter, specifically ensuring positive outputs and process adherence for Guest Services and Dining Services teams.
In this and any position at Austin Street Center it is impossible to predict the many requests and assignments that can and will be made on an employee. Flexibility and a cooperative spirit are crucial characteristics of the person who holds this important position and for the successful operation of Austin Street Center services.
Departmental Expectations
- Attend regular one-on-one supervision meetings with direct supervisor.
- Participate actively in team, department, and all-staff meetings as scheduled.
- Assist in training new team members on the expectations and best practices of their daily work activities.
- Assist other teams and departments (Client Solutions, Advancement, etc.) as appropriate by request.
- Participate in the operation of inclement weather shelter operations and activities as appropriate by request.
- Provide coverage as requested on at least one agency holiday per year to ensure consistent 24/7 operation of critical services.
- Operate with a trauma-informed, housing first, and harm reduction mindset to assist people they serve through the stages of change to achieve recovery from homelessness.
- Operate with a trauma-informed perspective toward the client, rather than a demanding posture.
Team Member Expectations
Leadership, Management, and Accountability
- Recruit and hire qualified, best-fit applicants to work with the Austin Street team.
- Keep the team fully staffed at all times, with a maximum established lapse in hiring.
- Complete and document regularly scheduled individual supervision meetings for all direct reports.
- Ensure each team member fully understands the expectations of their position.
- Facilitate team meetings by crafting appropriate agendas, delivering content to teams, generating discussion and idea sharing, and following up with agreed-upon objectives.
- Monitor individual and team outputs and outcomes in performance scorecards on a regular basis.
- Hold team members accountable to excellent performance and behavior according to the Austin Street Center core values and Code of Ethics, ensuring established processes are documented and followed by all.
- Monitor quality and quantity of team data entry and respond to issues discovered in data quality reports.
- When needed, perform duties of other leadership in their absence.
- Develop and maintain harmonious work relationships with leaders within and across department lines, ensuring direct and timely communication of work-related issues.
Design, Document, and Execute Process
- Developing and deploy a service structure that maximizes predictability of basic needs access.
- Guest Services – ensure that the desk is staffed 24/7/365 and able to deploy basic needs as well as mobilize neighbors to keep the shelter clean.
- Laundry Services – ensure that laundry services are provided to at-least-minimum standards.
- Clothing Room – ensure that neighbors have regular access to clothing and that all items in the clothing room are appropriately inventoried in the current inventory system.
- Dining Services – ensure that neighbors are provided three nutritious meals daily, food is inventoried properly, and the kitchen is kept clean to minimum health standards.
- Engagement Center – ensure that the sleeping and service areas of the shelter are maintained with hygienic cleanliness and broken equipment is removed and replaced.
- Ensure all shifts are covered by trained staff or contractors.
- Ensure that community volunteers are trained and the relationship with them is stewarded to create a positive and warm relationship with Austin Street Center.
Promote a Safe and Healing Environment in the Emergency Shelter
- Attend restriction committee to ensure that expels, grievances, and incidents are handled and communicated in a proper manner.
- Create systems for neighbor chores to be communicated, trained, and managed, maintaining acceptable standards of cleanliness in all areas of the shelter.
- Ensure neighbor grievances are responded to and resolved in a timely manner.
- Coordinate additional neighbor care needed with Client Solutions leadership
- Adhere to an established daily schedule of activities and modify schedule as needed.
- Address and advocate for the needs of client-facing staff, ensuring they have the resources and training necessary to complete their assigned work with excellence and fulfillment.
- Assess and manage client emergencies in cooperation with team members and leadership.
- Ensure all emergency shelter program components adhere to organizational policies and procedures, as well as all relevant regulatory and/or donor guidelines, as well as promote a safe and healing environment for all participants.
- Advise and train frontline and management staff on the appropriate deployment of clinical evidence-based practices and policies as necessary.
Diligently Pursue Achievement of Agency Performance Goals
- Facilitate frontline work and track performance to assist in achieving departmental outcomes.
- Manage data collection and analyze reports in order to present information relative to shelter services activities to management, funding sources, service providers, and the public as assigned.
- Network with community services providers to maximize the portfolio of available housing-focused services to clients.
- Conduct client case reviews and wraparound meetings, recruiting other participants as appropriate.
- Assist in completion of client file quality audits to comply with grant funding guidelines.
- Develop and maintain systems to monitor and document program expenses for credit card(s) and check requests.
- Provide at-least-monthly reporting data points as requested for grant compliance monitoring.
Key Performance Indicators
Team-Level Performance Indicators
- Shelter processes verified to be completed daily
- Laundry provided at minimum level for all neighbors
- Basic needs and hygiene items provided at minimum level for all neighbors
- Guest Services Desk consistently answers phone and ensures that voicemails are logged and responded to within the same shift.
- Neighbor chores are completed with appropriate attention to quality on a daily basis
Individual-Level Performance Indicators
- Complete and document supervision sessions regularly according to expectations
- Update and communicate performance scorecards regularly
- Review and approve shift logs to ensure each shift completes necessary tasks
- Maintain expected level of quality in all team case note and services documentation
Fundamental Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
- Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Management, or other human services field
- At least three years of previous experience with customer service and/or personnel management
- Master’s Degree in Social Work/Nonprofit Management or related field from an accredited college or university is highly desired
- Bilingual in Spanish is preferred
- Ability to communicate proactively and effectively, both orally and in written communication
- Experience with and sensitivity to varying cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds, values, and attitudes
- Exceptional organizational skills, able to multi-task between various projects simultaneously
- Intermediate to advanced skill or experience in Microsoft Office software, especially Excel, Word, and Outlook
- Must be able to lift 25 pounds on a regular basis
- Able to work outside in adverse weather conditions when needed
- Able to work in a noisy environment with a large group of people
