Description

Job Description:

The Behavioral Health Specialist (BHS) provides intensive, individualized, and strength based, needs-driven intervention activities that support the engagement and participation of the client and significant support persons and to help the client develop skills and achieve the goals and objectives of the plan. BHS services are not traditional therapeutic services. 

Providing behavioral services may include, but not limited to, assistance in improving, maintaining or restoring a client’s or group of client’s functional skills; daily living skills; social and leisure skills; grooming and personal hygiene skills; obtaining support resources; and/or obtaining medication education. Services will be provided under any of AGH’s programs which include Foster Care, Intensive Services Foster Care, Therapeutic Foster Care or Mental Health Counseling. BHS will be trained to provide services under each treatment level and billing source.

This position requires regular and consistent attendance, excessive unplanned absences are disruptive to our Agency business.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Developing and maintaining a constructive and collaborative relationship among a client, their family or caregiver(s), other providers, and other involved child-serving systems to create a CFT;
• Care planning and monitoring to ensure that the plan is aligned and coordinated across the mental health and child serving systems to allow the client to be served in their community in the least restrictive setting possible; 
• Ensuring services are provided that equip the parent/caregiver(s) to meet the client’s mental health treatment and care coordination needs, described in the client’s plan;
• Ensuring that medically necessary mental health services included in the client’s plan are effectively and comprehensively assessed, coordinated, delivered, transitioned and/or reassessed as necessary in a way that is consistent with the full intent of the Core Practice Model; 
• Providing active coordination of services and resources as required to meet the goals of the plan; 
• Providing active participation in the CFT planning and monitoring process to assure that the plan addresses or is refined to meet the mental health needs of the client:
• Will participate in ongoing education requirements of 24 hours per year.

Assessment

• Assessing client’s and family’s needs and strengths
• Assessing the adequacy and availability of resources
• Reviewing information from family and other sources
• Evaluating effectiveness of previous interventions and activities.

Planning

• Developing a plan with specific goals, activities and objectives that are in line with the case carrying Social Worker/Clinician treatment plan
• Ensuring the active participation of client and individuals involved and clarifying the roles of the individuals involved 
• Identifying the interventions/course of action targeted at the client’s and family’s assessed needs.

Monitoring and Adapting

• Monitoring to ensure that identified services and activities are progressing appropriately, changing, and redirecting actions targeted at the client’s and family’s assessed needs, not less than every 90 days.

Transition

• Developing a transition plan for the client and family to foster long-term stability, including the effective use of natural supports and community resources.

Rehabilitation

• Assistance in restoring or maintaining an individual’s or group of individual’s functional skills, grooming, medication compliance, and support resources;
• Age-appropriate counseling of the individual and or family, support systems and involved others;
• Training in leisure activities needed to achieve the individual’s goals/ desired results/ personal milestones;
• Medication education for family, support systems and others involved in the case.

Requirements

Qualifications. A successful candidate must have the following skills and experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, Social Work, Counseling or other related fields.
• Bilingual/Spanish preferred. 
• Two years experience working in a Mental Health Setting, residential care or Wrap Around Program.