Family Therapist/Mental Health Professional-Master's Level

FAMILY THERAPIST / MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL I. JOB SUMMARY

Family Service & Children’s Aid Society employs the position of Family Therapist to provide ecosystemic structural family therapy (ESFT) and casework services to assist individuals in attaining a more satisfactory social, economic, emotional, or physical adjustment to their current situation.

The Family Therapist is supervised by the Family Based Program Director. Clinically the therapist is needed to utilize their education, training, judgment, and discretion to direct the therapy as needed in collaboration with their team partner. Clinical guidance and consultation with the program director and external consultant is ongoing as needed, but at least weekly.

Duties associated with this position include but are not limited to:

¨ Assessment of individual needs.

¨ Utilize ESFT to re-organize the family system to avoid out of home placement of the identified consumer.

¨ Casework services to include linking to services and systems available in the community and appropriate documentation of therapy and services provided.

¨ Acts as lead therapist as needed in a two-person team and is ultimately responsible for all aspects of successful team operation including but not limited to: clinical interventions, record keeping, scheduling, and collaboration with other service providers.

¨ Must attend training sessions, conferences, and meetings relating to the provision of FBMHS treatment. This includes, but is not limited to, start-up training, three years of mandatory training on ESFT for the first three years of employment (24 trainings a training year), as provided by a State approved training agency and approximately 35 hours of relevant, advanced training each year thereafter. Also, must attend and participate in live supervised sessions to improve skills.

This Family Therapist position is located at Family Service & Children’s Aid Society’s Carone Center at 29 Pearl Avenue in Oil Cityand facilitates the provision of specialized Family Based Mental Health Services (FBMHS). The work schedule varies and will include evening and weekend hours based on FBMHS individual needs. Participation in the provision of 24-hour emergency services is also involved on an on-call basis. The position reports directly to the FBMHS Program Director with formal supervision being held a minimum of once a week and informal supervision available on an ongoing basis. This position indirectly also reports to the Executive Director of Family Service & Children’s Aid Society. This full-time position specializes in meeting the therapeutic needs of children, adolescents, and their families enrolled in the intensive FBMHS Program and includes service delivery primarily in the family home and community. Employee is expected to comply with all program, Agency, county, and state requirements.

. Direct Service

A. Family Therapy

(1) Provides individual, marital, and family therapy using independent discretion and judgment as appropriate for unique family and individual needs, primarily in the home setting, for families enrolled in the FBMHS Program, utilizing ESFT and a variety of treatment modalities to analyze, interpret, or make deductions from varying facts or circumstances as presented.

(2) Provides family therapy services to individuals and members of their families to aid them in achieving a more satisfactory adjustment to their specific problems or situations.

(3) Serves as a member of a team providing direct clinical services to children, adolescents, and families enrolled in the intensive Family Based Mental Health Services Program.

(4) Provides guidance and direction to families to empower the family to make changes which will positively impact on family functioning and will assist them in establishing a support network within the service delivery system, promoting individual and family involvement in all phases of clinical plan development, implementation, and evaluation.

• Productivity

(1) In accordance with the Department of Public Welfare - Office of Mental Health’s program philosophy and annual rate setting guidelines, all direct service staff employed by FSCAS’s Family Foundations Program (which is a FBMHS program) are expected to provide direct service at a productivity rate of 60%.

• Case Management

(1) Obtains information from consumers, members of their families, and others necessary for the identification of social, economic, emotional, health, or physical problems and for assisting individuals in obtaining a wide variety of services on the basis of established policy.

(2) Serves as member of a team providing direct treatment services to children, adolescents, and families enrolled in the intensive Family Based Mental Health Services Program.

(3) Conducts assessments of family strengths and needs and provides ongoing intensive therapeutic intervention with a goal of significantly decreasing the need for out-of-home placement of children and adolescents experiencing emotional disorder which place them at high risk for placement.

(4) Develops a cooperative effective working relationship with a teammate.

(5) Responds as appropriate when providing crisis on-call services. Must be able to independently assess crisis situations and determine appropriate interventions according to the unique family or individual need.

(6) Provides transportation as appropriate for necessary appointments and activities, obeying all traffic regulations, including the use of seatbelts and car seats.

D. Supportive Services/Advocacy

(1) Provides supportive services for individuals who are in situations detrimental to their well being or that of the community, or who are undergoing treatment or hospitalization.

(2) Provides supportive services for abused or neglected children or adults; counsels families concerning proper methods of care.

(3) Works in close cooperation with other social agencies, hospitals, clinics, courts, and community resources in planning to meet the needs of individuals and assists the individuals in utilizing these resources.

(4) Consults with local agencies, CASSP, and medical personnel to ensure the most appropriate treatment plan on a case-by-case basis.

E. Prevention Education

(1) May plan and present educational programs representative of the contracted service area applicable so that individuals may have the opportunity to enhance skills in a group environment and establish a peer support system.

2. Record Keeping

• Records, completes, and maintains documents within the Electronic Health Record System (EHR) for individual files as outlined in the program policies and procedures manual, including but not limited to the maintenance/dispensation of all said records, in order to satisfy all governing/funding requirements of the program.
• Maintains accurate statistics in order to have an up-to-date profile of services rendered and to be in compliance with contract specifications.
• Completes treatment plans and treatment documentation activities per program criteria and standards for accountability for direct services.
• Recommends discharge and follow-up plans.

3. Other

A. Attends conferences, meetings, in-services, and training sessions in order to keep abreast of current information, regulations, and general knowledge to enhance professional growth.

• Participates in all required supervision sessions, planning meetings, and treatment team meetings. Is expected to be actively involved in collaborating to determine appropriate therapeutic options for individual family’s needs.
• Develops and implements liaison among local child serving systems to promote the development of support and relief services for FBMHS participants.
• Seeks out information and skills as needed to offer families the highest quality of service.
• May perform other duties deemed appropriate by supervisory or executive staff to enhance the operation of a particular program or of the Agency as a whole.

III.HIPAA MINIMUM NECESSARY STANDARD

The minimum necessary standard, a key protection of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, is derived from confidentiality codes and practices in common use today. The minimum necessary standard requires the Agency to evaluate our practices and enhance safeguards as needed to limit unnecessary or inappropriate access to and disclosure of protected health information.

This position may only access the minimum information that is necessary to perform all job accountabilities included in this job description.

1. Permitted Accesses

A. Access to individual files for the Family Foundations Program

2. Justification/Purpose

A. To carryout the operations of the Family Foundations Program including, compiling individual files to ensure a complete record of service activities, and maintaining accurate individual files in order to comply with program standards.

1. Valid PA driver’s license to use on the job when necessary and proof of own vehicle insurance (with required limits) if personal vehicle is used consistently for business purposes.

2. Acts 33, 34, and 73 clearances.

3. Must not appear on Preclusion Lists as defined by “Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance Bulletin 99-11-05 Provider Screening of Employees and Contractors for Exclusion from Participating in Federal Healthcare Programs.

4. Must Successfully complete pre-employment drug screening.

1. Ability to facilitate family therapy sessions independently, utilizing own discretion and judgment.

2. Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and professional manner.

3. Ability to use a computer and software for word processing and the electronic health record system.

4. Ability to work well within stated time frames or deadlines.

5. Ability and personality characteristics to work effectively with people from all social, economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds and age groups.

6. Ability to work independently and effectively without direct supervision.

7. Strong commitment to implement and promote the philosophy, goals, objectives, and policies of the Agency.

8. Ability to communicate clearly in both oral and written form.

9. Ability to independently organize workload around individual and program priorities.

10. Ability to accept and exercise authority appropriately and make rational informed decisions.

11. Ability to work well under pressure.

12. Ability to respect and practice confidentiality.

VI. MINIMUM EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING

In accordance with Department of Public Welfare 55 PA Code Ch. 5260 Family Based Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents Proposed Rulemaking Section 5260.23
Staff Requirements

A. Staff members shall have clearances under 23 PA C.S. Chapter 63 (relating to the Child Protective Service Law) before providing service.

B. Education/Training Requirements
The child mental health professional shall have one of the following:

• A graduate degree in psychiatry, psychology, social work, nursing, education, rehabilitation, or a graduate degree in the field of human services plus 2 years experience in a CASSP system program.
• Be a licensed registered nurse (RN) with 5 years of experience including 2 years of experience in a CASSP system program plus have certification by the Department’s Office of Mental Heath (OMH) as a mental health family-based worker.
• A bachelor’s degree psychology, sociology, social work, nursing, education, pre-med, theology, anthropology, or a degree in the field of human services program plus certification by OMH as a mental health family-based worker.

C. Work Experience

· Minimum of two years direct care experience with children or adolescents.

Submit resume to:

HR Department at:

HR@fscas.org

Family Service & Children’s Aid Society

716 E 2nd St, Oil City, PA 16301

EOE

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $20.00 - $22.00 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Prescription drug insurance
• Professional development assistance
• Vision insurance

Medical Specialty:

• Psychiatry

Work Location: In person

Salary : $20 - $22