Long-sought homeless case manager has been hired and is in training
The Henderson County Fiscal Court Tuesday approved funding for half the salary of a case manager who will work for the Henderson County Homeless Coalition.
With the $20,000 approval, the coalition has reached the requested $40,000 to pay for salary and benefits of the case manager, who will go out to meet those in the community with the end goal of helping that person or family affordable housing.”
The case manager would also need to complete all the required paperwork, make service referrals and provide ongoing case management and client support, according to a HCHC document.
The city of Henderson has already pledged $21,000 funding for the position.
The county had originally looked into providing funding for the case manager position through opioid settlement funds, but County Attorney Steve Gold determined that using those funds for the position did not meet the required reasons for that funding, Judge-Executive Brad Schneider said.
The funding, which the Fiscal Court approved by a 5-0 vote, comes from American Rescue Plan Act.
Melissa Clements, who is the United Way executive director but also on the homeless coalition board, said a female has already been hired to take on the role. She did not have the name of the new case manager with her at the Fiscal Court meeting.
The new hire is currently going through training that is being provided by the Daniel Pitino Shelter in Owensboro, Clements said. The employee will be funded by the local government donations but will be an employee working under the direction of the Daniel Pitino Shelter.
The case manager will have an office at the Housing Authority of Henderson, donated by HHA, and will work five days a week while also being on-call to respond to incidents, Clements said.
