Bilingual Housing Caseworker

POSITION: Bilingual Housing Caseworker

STATUS: 1.00 Full Time Non-Exempt

REPORTS TO: Housing Caseworker Supervisor

Position eligible for Remote Work: 1 day per week

ABOUT LEGAL AID OF SONOMA COUNTY:

Legal Aid of Sonoma County (LASC) has been providing legal services to low-income Sonoma County residents since 1958. Our mission is to promote social justice and advance human rights for vulnerable members of our community. While our core legal services include Domestic Violence, Elder Law, Housing, Veterans’ Benefits, and Child Abuse Prevention, we also provide a range of legal services including limited family law and expungements to clients referred by the County’s Human Services Department. LASC collaborates with a network of community partners including immigrant service centers, homeless service providers, local government, and senior centers.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

The HOME team provides vital legal support to low-income tenants facing eviction, unsafe living conditions, and challenges with rental housing or mobile home parks. By helping people stay housed and protecting Section 8 benefits, the team works to prevent homelessness and keep families in their communities. The Housing Policy team, informed by real stories and data from the HOME team and working in partnership with coalitions like the Sonoma County Tenants Union, pushes for stronger local tenant protections that reflect the needs of our community.

SUMMARY: The Bilingual Housing Caseworker is central to LASC's housing program, serving as both a client-facing case manager and a support resource for attorneys. Key responsibilities include conducting client intake and triage, managing caseloads, providing interpretation/translation for Spanish-speaking clients, drafting correspondence, preparing legal forms under attorney supervision, and supporting outreach events and tenant workshops as needed, including tracking attendance and outcomes.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide interpretation and translation for Spanish-speaking clients and attorneys.
• Answer housing hotline calls.
• Triage and screen new clients for eligibility, complete intake paperwork, and create hard copy of case files as well as an electronic case file.
• Conduct client interviews and draft client correspondence.
• Maintain a caseload and provide ongoing case management independently and/or under direction of an attorney
• Maintain case files, including inputting up-to-date case notes, time reporting, and accurate client demographic data.
• Support attorneys’ case work, including preparing and filing basic judicial council legal forms under attorney supervision, conducting research on resources or issues at direction of attorney, and providing support in Court as needed.
• Maintain client and attorney meeting calendars, and tracks case deadlines and Court appearances.
• Close completed cases and input and track data as necessary for contract compliance.
• Coordinate and help facilitate tenant workshops and outreach events and track as needed for contract compliance.
• Provide support to the front desk as needed.
• Occasional driving to Court, outreach events, community meetings, and client appointments is required.
• Administrative and other tasks as assigned, including covering the front desk and main phone line.

QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS:

• Bilingual in English and Spanish.
• A bachelor’s degree, or an associate’s degree and at least one (1) year working in a related field, or at least three (3) years working in a related

field.

• Ability to stay calm under pressure, particularly when dealing with clients in

urgent or emotionally charged situations.

• Strong time management, organizational, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Word and Excel, and case management or database software.
• This position requires attending offsite meetings and events; access to

reliable transportation is required for this position.

Experience Desired, but not required:

• Experience working with tenants, housing-insecure
• populations, or other underserved populations.
• Legal services or nonprofit experience strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with de-escalation and trauma-informed practices.

Physical Demands: (Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable individuals with differing abilities to perform the essential functions).

• Frequently required to sit, talk and hear. Occasionally required to climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl and walk.
• The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 lbs.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance

vision, peripheral vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

Expected Hours of Work/Travel:

• This position is an onsite (Hybrid) position based out of the Santa Rosa

office.

• Travel for this position may occur throughout the North Bay to engage with community partners or participate in community engagement.
• Ability to work outside of regular hours on occasion for events and meeting deadlines.

BENEFITS: Legal Aid of Sonoma County provides a dynamic and supportive work environment and an excellent benefit package for full-time employees, including company-paid health insurance on the first of the month after the hire date. After the completion of an initial 90-day introductory period, full-time employees become eligible for company-paid dental, vision, long-term disability, and life insurance, along with an employee assistance program through Telus Health, eligibility for 401K participation after one year of continuous employment, and very generous paid vacation/sick/holiday leave policies. Note that the benefits package is for the employee only; employees may elect to add dependents at their own cost.

Note that all employment at LASC is “at will”. LASC is an Equal Opportunity

Employer.

TO APPLY: Please submit a Cover Letter and Resume

Pay: From $26.00 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person