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Milieu Specialist - ORCA Center

Seattle, WA (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=517+3rd+Ave+Seattle+WA+USA+98104) •ORCA Center

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Job Type

Full-time

Description

Schedule:

+ **Before ORCA Center Opens:** Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm; clinical care on DESC’s Opioid Treatment Network (OTN) team.

+ **After ORCA Center Opens (anticipated in summer-fall 2025):** Planned schedule is three (3) 12-hour shifts with at least two 30-minute lunch breaks, 7:00 pm – 7:30 am, per week, with some weekends required; and one additional 12-hour shift every 4 weeks.

**Supervised by:** ORCA Night RN Supervisor

**Insurance Benefits:** Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)

**Other Benefits:** Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan

**Union Representation:** This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

About DESC:

DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center) is a nonprofit organization working to help people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness achieve their highest potential for health and well-being through comprehensive services, treatment, and housing. Our vision is a community where no person is abandoned, ignored, or experiencing homelessness.

As the region's leading provider of services to multiply disabled adults who have experienced chronic homelessness, DESC serves almost 3,000 people each day. Our integrated service model is designed to help people secure and maintain appropriate, safe and affordable housing. DESC is recognized nationally and regionally as an innovator in developing solutions to homelessness.

Come work for us!

The Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) is now recruiting Milieu Specialists for one of DESC’s newest clinical programs, the Opioid Recovery and Care Access (ORCA) Center. The ORCA Center is estimated to start clinical services in mid-2025 (though the Milieu Specialists will start once hired) and will be open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, including holidays. It will offer four overlapping types of services:

+ Care to individuals in stable condition who have experienced an opioid overdose, brought to the ORCA Center by first responders or transferred from local emergency departments.

+ Rapid initiation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine (sublingual and long-acting injectable) and methadone (under the “72-hour rule”, or Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 §1306.07 (b)), for people with OUD, regardless of whether an opioid overdose has recently occurred.

+ Harm reduction counseling and OUD-related physical and behavioral health services, such as hepatitis C testing and treatment and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.

+ Follow-up care, at the ORCA Center or at times field-based, with individuals who have started MOUD to ensure support in MOUD continuation.

DESC, together with planning partners at the UW Addictions, Drug and Alcohol Institute (ADAI), Seattle Fire Department, King County Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD) & Public Health, and Evergreen Treatment Services, have been engaged in planning for the ORCA Center. Funding for the ORCA Center has come from the City of Seattle, King County, the state of Washington, and a generous private donor.

The Milieu Specialist acts as a member of a multi-disciplinary team responsible for providing a welcoming and supportive environment to adults who have experienced an opioid overdose and/or those with a diagnosis of Opioid Use Disorder. DESC’s ORCA Center sites provide 24-hour, low-barrier, enhanced supportive services. Here, the Milieu Specialist will help facilitate in-the-moment, low-threshold access to clinical support for clients who may otherwise not be present at more traditional clinics. Work is done under the supervision of the ORCA Nurse Supervisors, Senior Medical Lead, Senior Nurse Manager, Director of Nursing, and Medical Director.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

+ Serve as a consistent, welcoming presence throughout the ORCA Center.

+ Direct clients to appropriate services within the facility and support wayfinding.

+ Monitor the overall clinic environment, including common areas and entrances, and help maintain a calm and organized atmosphere.

+ Build trusting relationships with clients who may be wary and difficult to engage by employing a warm and accepting approach that includes trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and motivational interviewing.

+ Participate in clinical discussions and team huddles to ensure effective collaboration in client care.

+ Maintain awareness of clinic policies and ensure non-clinical procedures are followed to support client safety and comfort.

+ Assist in supporting a physically and emotionally safe clinic milieu, including participating in real-time problem-solving and team-based responses to emergent environmental needs.

+ Provide harm reduction support and education to clients.

+ Provide snacks, hygiene supplies, and other resources to support client basic needs and comfort during their stay.

+ Contribute to the upkeep of shared clinic areas and support smooth daily operations.

+ Participate in consumer feedback activities and meetings to ensure the client voice is integrated into program operations.

+ Complete documentation related to the clinic environment, relevant occurrences, and team communications.

+ Attend staff meetings, trainings, and briefings.

Requirements

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

+ Familiarity with trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and low-barrier service models.

+ Ability to work effectively and respectfully with people experiencing homelessness, behavioral health conditions, and substance use disorders.

+ Interest or experience in engaging clients who are not well-served by traditional clinic models.

+ Strong interpersonal and communication skills; able to maintain professionalism in high-stress environments.

+ Comfortable working as part of a multidisciplinary team.

+ Commitment to equity, inclusion, and non-judgmental engagement strategies.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

+ Lived experience with substance use and recovery management.

+ 1 or more years of experience in a behavioral health, healthcare, or social services setting.

+ Bachelor’s degree.

+ Bilingual in Spanish/English.

+ Familiarity with principles of motivational interviewing.

Strong applicants can demonstrate the ability to be positive in their empathetic responses to all persons; understand the value of meaningful and deep client engagement; and value a non-judgmental response to sensitive issues. Candidates should be able to accept feedback and work in a highly collaborative and sometimes stressful environment.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be required to sit for extended periods of time, communicate with other persons by talking and hearing, required to lift and carry items weighing up to 25 pounds and to operate computer hardware systems. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

DESC is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment practice, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.

Salary Description

$30.50 - $33.69 per hour