The Opportunity: Employment Outreach Specialist, VOAMASS Workforce – GRIT Program 

Job Type: Full-time, Hybrid

Pay: Starting salary of $55,000/ year

What We Do || Through our powerful integrated behavioral health care model, we bring together vast resources from a diverse team of caring staff to help each client meet their personal goals. The care we provide paves the way for greater opportunity and second chances by focusing on the critical pillars towards a healthy life: behavioral health, financial stability, and safe housing.

As a Employment Outreach Specialist, you’ll have a dynamic and critical role providing individualized employment support, case management, and outreach to participants in VOAMASS’s GRIT Workforce Program. Working across VOAMASS programs and community partners, this position helps individuals overcome employment barriers and connect with education, job training, transitional employment, and career opportunities that promote financial independence and long-term success.  Through employment readiness assessments, individualized employment plans, and ongoing guidance, the Case Manager helps participants build skills, secure meaningful employment, and develop sustainable career pathways.

 This role is about making a difference in the lives of the people we serve. You’ll bring the following qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in human services, Social Work, Psychology, Workforce Development, or a related field preferred; equivalent education and experience will be considered. 
• Minimum of two years of experience in employment services, workforce development, case management, community outreach, or a related field preferred.
•  Experience working with individuals facing barriers to employment, including substance use disorders, mental health conditions, housing instability, and justice involvement. 
• Knowledge of employment readiness, career planning, job placement, and community resources. 
• Strong communication, organizational, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to collaborate across integrated care teams and develop employer and community partnerships. 
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and electronic documentation systems preferred. 
• Must possess a valid driver’s license and have access to a reliable, registered, and insured vehicle for work-related travel. 

Some of your critical responsibilities:

• Provide service coordination between the integrated care team across VOAMASS residential services, Behavioral Health Services, Veteran Services and community partners.? 
• Support clients with resume writing and interview skills, career search techniques, and other employment-related competencies.?? 
• Coordinate participant engagement across VOAMASS’s three Workforce Development pillars by connecting individuals to educational resources and career training, supporting participation in vending machine social enterprise activities, and facilitating transitional employment opportunities that build workplace skills and prepare participants for competitive employment. 
• Create Individual Employment Plans and help clients reassess and adapt their plan while enrolled in the program and document client notes and progress in Electronic Health Record system. 
• Find workforce training opportunities for clients and help them enroll.?? 
• Develop, maintain, and document a strong network of referral sources with providers, employers, and employment placement agencies to generate positive outcomes for clients.? 
• Develop employer partnerships for transitional and competitive employment placements.? 
• Travel to employment sites to support clients, monitor progress, and address any barriers identified.? 
• Communicate effectively with the client’s integrated care team and VOAMASS programs to address and correct issues with services or support, especially employment and education.? 
• Ensure that the client receives services that support continued employment; addressing identified needs, promoting healthy decision-making, securing financial independence, and promoting positive relationships.? 
• Participate in program and professional supervision, attend required staff meetings and trainings, and contribute to team-based collaborative planning.?? 
• Ensure all services are documented, and maintenance of client records is completed.  
• Collect and enter required performance data at intake, 6-month reassessment, and 12-month reassessment. 

For full-time employees, including our Employment Outreach Specialist, our comprehensive and generous benefits package includes:

• Excellent health, vision, and dental insurance with 90% of medical deductible and certain co-pays paid by employer
• Multiple opportunities to use pre-tax dollars to save for expenses such as health care (flexible spending account), child care, transit, and parking
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer match
• 24/7 nurse hotline for urgent health questions
• Employee assistance program to provide help with family concerns, stress management, legal issues, and more
• Employer-paid long-term disability and life insurance
• Pet insurance
• Tuition remission programs
• Loan forgiveness (Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program)
• Generous vacation benefits, starting at three weeks and moving to four weeks after three years of employment
• 14 paid holidays, higher than industry average
• Fitness/wellness reimbursement to cover expenses such as gym membership
• Employee discount program on hundreds of items such as computers, cell phone plans and accessories, furniture, hotels, vacation home rentals, etc.
• Cash bonus, with no annual cap, for referring other qualified candidates for employment

VOAMASS is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.