Welcome to Housing Case Management: Your Crash Course in Chaos, Compassion & Changing Lives

Jessica Bryan
1 day ago
4 min read

Dear New Case Manager,

It’s your first day. You’ve got a fresh notepad, a brand-new email login, and a caseload of people who are counting on you even though you don’t know where the bathroom is yet. Welcome to the frontline of housing: where you’ll juggle paperwork, policy, and people—and where, despite the low pay, the work you do will literally change lives.

You didn’t choose an easy job. But you did choose an important one.

🛠️ First Things First: What Even Is This Job?

You’re now a Housing Case Manager—part social worker, part housing detective, part motivational speaker, and part human Google for “where can I find affordable housing and diapers.”

You’ll help people navigate complex systems—like getting into Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), Rapid Rehousing (RRH), or other programs—and stay housed by offering support with rent, health care, employment, and goals that matter to them.

You might work in:

A nonprofit shelter or agency
A supportive housing program funded through HUD or NYS
A city or county housing department
A community mental health or CoC partner agency

🗂️ A Day in the Life (Real Version)

9:00 AM – Log into HMIS. Realize you’re already 6 case notes behind. Pray the internet works.

10:00 AM – Home visit with a tenant. Celebrate that they kept the apartment clean(ish). Help reset the microwave clock. Talk about goals. Find out they need help getting to an appointment.

11:45 AM – You still haven’t eaten. You open a granola bar while updating their progress notes. Then get a call that another client’s lights are off.

1:00 PM – Meet a new client who was just placed through Coordinated Entry. You go over program expectations, set some initial goals, and learn they haven’t eaten in 2 days. You bring them a grocery gift card from your emergency stash.

3:00 PM – Crisis call. Someone’s having issues with a landlord. You mediate, document it, and refer them to legal services.

4:30 PM – Realize your notes still aren’t done. You stay an extra 30 minutes to catch up. You wonder how something so important pays so little. But then you think about the woman who smiled today for the first time in a week. And you remember why you’re here.

💡 Your New Case Manager Checklist

Here’s what you should focus on in the first 30–90 days:

✅ Learn the CoC structure (Continuum of Care) for your region✅ Understand eligibility for your housing program (RRH, PSH, ESG, etc.)✅ Get trained in HMIS (Homeless Management Information System)✅ Master the basics of rent calculation for your population✅ Learn what “Housing First” really means: yes, it's low-barrier. No, it doesn’t mean no rules. Yes, people deserve housing even if they still struggle.✅ Memorize your documentation requirements—audits are real, and HUD does not play✅ Build relationships with landlords, shelters, and mental health providers✅ Learn how to write case notes like a lawyer with a heart

🧠 Certifications and Trainings to Ask For (From Me!)

Your agency should invest in you! Ask your manager to bring me in (virtually or in person) for these core trainings:

✅ Rent Calculation Training – Learn how to do it for HUD, CoC, RRH, OMH, and NYS programs (and not panic at audits)
✅ Case File Compliance – Build audit-ready files and avoid the dreaded “findings”
✅ Data & Performance Management – Use your HMIS data to improve outcomes and prove your impact
✅ CoC 101 – Learn the players, the programs, and how the system works in your region
✅ Policies & Procedures for Program Managers – So you’re not guessing what to do when someone moves out, relapses, or disappears

🧘🏽‍♀️ Training & Resources You Should Bookmark

Blogs & Orgs to Follow:

Homeless Alliance of Western New York (HAWNY)
National Alliance to End Homelessness
The Housing Playbook
Community Solutions
Urban Institute: Housing & Homelessness

Certifications & Platforms:

HUD Exchange Trainings (free, link)
CSH Supportive Housing Training Center (link)
Trauma-Informed Care Training (through SAMHSA or your agency)
Motivational Interviewing (offered by many local training centers)

💙 A Story to Carry With You

My third week as a housing case manager, I met James. He was 57, chronically homeless, and had been sleeping in a stairwell for months. He had no ID, no phone, no income. He was skeptical, quiet, and said he'd "heard it all before." But I showed up. Every week. I took him to his appointments. I helped him fill out forms. I got him into housing.

The day he moved in, he cried when he sat on his bed. He said, “I didn’t think I’d make it to 60. I thought I’d die outside.”James sent me a Christmas card that year with just three words inside: "You saved me."

No, it wasn’t really me. It was housing. Because housing is health care. Because housing first doesn’t mean housing last—it means housing now. And because you, case manager, are the bridge between homelessness and hope.