Mental Health Specialist
Greenbelt, MD, United States
Position Purpose:
Responsible for planning and providing therapeutic care for children, youth, and families in foster home placements and in the final process of family reintegration to ensure biological families are adequately prepared to parent more effectively and with confidence their children who have histories of abuse, neglect, and victimization during their life span. Therapeutic support should include diverse relationship-based therapies to meet the broad diverse needs of children, youth and families served. Related to youth with APPLA goals the Mental Health Specialist will provide clinical support to youth related to transition safely into adulthood with confidence and the aid of a trusted adult(s).
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Integrates knowledge and understanding of underlying mental health issues and the impact on individual children, youth, and family behaviors, needs, and requisite interventions.
Provides crisis and early intervention with youth struggling with pro-social behavior, adaptation, and acute mental health needs.
Utilizes a variety of therapeutic modalities including: TF-CBT, DBT, person-centered, play therapy, Art Therapy, Strength Based, etc.
Works as a member of a multi-disciplinary team to provide assessment and clinically sound interventions.
Assists youth to develop skills and strategies for dealing with issues that have placed them in out-of-home care and multiple foster placements.
Provides individual, group, and short-term family therapy, as well as, specialized victimization treatment in both foster and biological family homes and office environments as appropriate.
Conducts detailed and comprehensive trauma assessment of individuals and their family systems.
Develop Individual Treatment Plans (ITP) and Family Treatment Plans (FTP), ensuring that they occur within the first 30 days of mental health service delivery and every 90 days thereafter.
Develop and complete CANS within the first 30 days of admission and every 90 days thereafter for youth who will be identified as needing therapeutic support based on referral not to exceed 10 youth.
Prepares appropriate, timely, and accurate documentation regarding the treatment of children/youth in foster care, including case notes for all contact and quarterly summary reports and discharge plans and referrals for all children/youth/families receiving services.
Facilitates Emergency Case Reviews as needed.
Provides crisis intervention services, including transporting and supporting the hospitalization of youth.
Prepares court reports of children/youth/families receiving services.
Provides referrals, follow-up, and coordination to supplemental treatment services, such as partial hospitalization, psychiatric rehabilitation, substance abuse treatment, etc.
Completes home visits as needed to residents’ visiting and/or placement resources.
Non-Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Provides training for child care staff on a variety of mental health issues.
Participates in all COMAR required training.
Serves as an advocate for residents’ needs.
Presents and writes professionally in the field of adolescent residential treatment.
Qualifications:
Masters’ Degree in Social Work, Counseling, or related degree with a Maryland/DC graduate-level counseling or social work licensure.
Experience and knowledge in the areas of child victimization, offender treatment, crisis intervention, and behavior management.
Experience in individual, group, and family therapy.
Knowledge of child and adolescent development.
Commitment to and understanding of the residential treatment milieu and relevant teamwork orientation.
Exceptional written and oral communication skills.
Excellent interpersonal/conflict resolution skills.
Demonstration of cross-cultural competencies.
Willingness to lead and advocate in the best interest of the adolescent.
An attitude compatible with the goals and purposes of the National Center for Children and Families.
Physical Demands/Work Environment:
While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is required to talk and hear. The employee is often required to sit and use their hands and fingers to handle or feel. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. Vision abilities required y this job require close vision working with a computer monitor. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to moving mechanical parts and vehicles. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate. While performing the responsibilities of the employee’s job, these work environment characteristics are representative of the environment the Human Resources Director will encounter. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.
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