Columbia/Boone County PHHS looking to fill senior planner position

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A position opened yesterday within the Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Humans Services for a senior planner, which will be tasked with human-service related issues but focusing mainly on homelessness.

The department is accepting applications for this position for roughly 10 days. If there are no applications submitted by the end of that period, a spokesman with the Health Department said advertising will continue until a candidate is found.

"This is a multi-faceted issue," Steve Hollis, a human service manager, said. "It's tough to address at the local level and the homeless service providers cannot do it alone."

Hollis said the department is looking for someone qualified for a senior position like the one offered, but also someone passionate about their community and those suffering within it.

"We're passionate about our work here at Public Health and Human Services," Hollis said. "So we're looking for a team member that has the right skillset, but is also passionate about the work."

According to the City of Columbia's website, the position will make a salary between $51,000-$67,000 a year.

A coordinated-entry process will be a focal point of the planner position.

"It's the process by which we figure out who's homeless in our community and assess their risk," Hollis said. "We sit down and case conference them with the goal of getting them off the streets and into houses."

According to Hollis, the coordinated-entry process is a nationwide effort that Columbia adopted early on.

Hollis stressed the importance of knowing those who suffer from homelessness, and said, "You can't fix homelessness if you don't know the people who are homeless."

"The ideas that with their permission we do a risk assessment, get a risk score and get information about them," Hollis said. "They literally go on a list so we know our folks by name, we know their risks and then we try to engage them through case management."