Crisis Triage and Stabilization Coordinator

Title:    Crisis Triage and Stabilization Coordinator

Reports to: Crisis Triage and Stabilization Supervisor

Position Type: Full Time 

Salary: $62,000 a year

Who we are:

C4 was founded in 1972 to help people released from psychiatric hospitals into the Uptown and Edgewater communities stabilize in the community. Since that time, C4’s service area has expanded to rekindle hope for individuals and families on Chicago’s north and west sides, remaining committed to community-level, system-focused interventions; C4 always seeks to avoid restrictive levels of care and maximize families’ agency to lead their recovery, allowing them to heal in their homes and community.  C4 is the leader in building hope and breaking down barriers – from the personal to the systemic - for Chicago’s systematically disadvantaged communities through the delivery of effective, empirically supported, and trauma-informed mental health services. C4 seeks to equip 7,000 individuals annually to help them move from trauma to living, to working and thriving within their community.

Our Mission - Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4), a behavioral health advocate and social service provider, offers quality, comprehensive customer-oriented services tailored to the diversity of its consumers.

Our Vision - Community Counseling Centers of Chicago (C4) will be, and will be recognized as, essential to the wellbeing of the communities we serve.

Philosophy - C4 believes that people recovering from mental illness and emotional trauma are able to live, work and thrive in the community.

Purpose:

The Crisis Triage and Stabilization Coordinator will support the stabilizing of individuals and families after experiencing a crisis episode at C4’s Crisis Triage and Stabilization Center in West Garfield Park. The Coordinator will be responsible for providing support with therapy and care coordination services until individuals are linked to long term community providers or consumer needs are resolved. The Coordinator will be available during normal business hours to attend to the guests in the Triage Center, offering support for recovery to guests while they are at the center and provision of aftercare supports until an individual is linked to services.. In addition to core clinical activity, the Coordinator will support the development of resources to send guests to that support long term care needs and Social Determinant of Need Support. The Coordinator, in coordination with supervisor and leadership will engage in systems coordination work to create more unified crisis continuum safety net systems on the West Side of Chicago, including hosting community events, speaking to community stakeholders, and participation in provider panels.

C4’s Crisis Triage and Stabilziation program, as funded through Cook County’s Stronger Together program is housed at the shared Collaborative Bridges Wellness Center site in West Garfield Park at 4223 W Lake Street. 

Collaborative Bridges is a partnership of historic West Side Chicago safety net hospitals and community mental health agencies designed to ensure that the care needs of people experiencing mental health and substance abuse are supported in their community, especially after a hospital admission. We are here to improve the health equity of West Side communities and reduce the gaps in care among disjointed islands of service. To do this, we are creating a continuity of care between hospitals and communities to put resources closer to those who need it, when they need it. 

Duties and Responsibilities 

• Provide trauma-informed brief therapy for individuals with mental health needs to ensure successful community stabilization and linkage to supports.
• Ensure service provision of care promotes low-barrier access to care and least-restrictive interventions that look to avoid hospital-based care. 
• Ensure interventions are recovery‐oriented, culturally congruent and developmentally appropriate
• Complete risk assessment, safety planning, and de-escalation interventions, integrating  Zero Suicide/Suicide Safer Care principles.
• Engage natural and family support to strengthen the individual’s participation and engagement.
• Deliver services within Wellness Center and on preferred clients setting as indicated.
• Provide warm linkage, care coordination, and resource acquisition services as indicated.
• Ensure successful linkage to long-term care providers as indicated.
• Maintain high quality documentation of all case work, completed in a timely manner, and consistent with outlined program policies and licensure requirements.
• Prepare written service plans, incorporating input from consumers, families, involved service providers, and wraparound team members, and clearly identifying problem areas and needs, strategies, and service objectives.
• Work collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams and health care team members both internal and external to the organization to improve patient care through effective utilization and monitoring of health care resources.
• Develop referral resources and relationships with community stakeholders to promote greater care supports, integration of crisis continuum, and promotion of Wellness Center.
• Work with supervisor and leadership to host ongoing provider and consumer forums for the purpose of system integration and stakeholder engagement.
• Increase communities' awareness of mental health resources and decrease cultural shame of engaging helping systems
• Work with leadership in advancing alternative drop-off to emergency room capacity for Chicago Police and stakeholders.

Competencies (Minimum Skills, Knowledge, and Experience):

• Cultural humility and ability to build trusting relationships with consumers. 
• Familiarity with Westside of Chicago.
• Understanding of risk assessment and crisis stabilization evidenced based practices.
• Ability to work on multidisciplinary teams.
• Interest in doing system coordination and stakeholder engagement work.
• Detailed and current knowledge of behavioral health principles and practices, with an emphasis on trauma informed care and intervention
• Detailed and current knowledge of substance abuse principles and practices, with an emphasis on harm reduction philosophies and brief interventions.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to plan, develop and manage multiple projects
• Excellent written and oral skills to communicate effectively with all levels of staff, governmental and community representatives, and vendors
• Ability to work within a team
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and competency
• Ability to resolve issues objectively and maintain strict confidentiality
• Ability to develop solutions to problems and to analyze qualitative and quantitative data
• Knowledge of HIPAA privacy and security regulations

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Graduate Degree in Behavioral Health field  (Social Work, Counseling; et al.)
2. In depth experience in crisis triage and stabilization treatment.
3. Bilingual skills (English/Spanish) are helpful but not required.