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Council reviews rewritten job description for housed response coordinator funded by opioid settlement
Summary
Councilors questioned whether the housed response coordinator is a new role or a rewrite of an earlier position; staff said the role was created last year, rewritten after the incumbent left, funded by opioid settlement money and intended to provide citywide outreach and coordination with partner agencies.
Duluth City Councilors discussed a proposed job specification for a newly rewritten ‘‘housed response coordinator’’ role during the agenda session.
Councilors asked whether the position is newly created or replacing a prior role. City staff said the position was created last year, the prior incumbent left in November, and the job description was rewritten to better reflect current duties. Staff said the position is funded through opioid settlement funds for a 10-year period.
Staff described key responsibilities incorporated into the rewritten description: street outreach, coordination with partner agencies, training requirements related to safe needle pickup, and working closely with existing homeless outreach officers. Staff indicated the reworked job will continue to coordinate with partners including Community Action (CHA), Union Gospel Mission, Damiano, the city police and fire departments, mental health/crisis response teams and other nonprofit outreach providers.
Councilor Kennedy asked how the coordinator will allocate time across neighborhoods (for example, West Duluth, Lincoln Park and downtown). Staff described the position as citywide and said site visits and outreach will be complaint- or neighborhood-driven rather than following a fixed hourly district split. Staff also said outreach will be done where people are already being served—for example, warming centers and existing nonprofit outreach events—rather than requiring clients to come to a city office.
Staff also said the pay range for the position remains the same as the prior classification and that the specification was approved by the civil service board and the AFSCME union. No formal hiring decision was recorded during the session; councilors requested follow-up about deployment priorities and encouraged outreach into West Duluth and Spirit Valley, which were identified as areas of concern.
Councilors asked staff to reach back to identify target areas, dates and times for outreach once the position is filled. No formal council action on the position was recorded in the transcript; the discussion focused on the job description, funding source and operational expectations.
