Aftercare Direct Support Professional

Job Details

Level

Experienced

Job Location

Undisclosed

Remote Type

N/A

Position Type

Full Time

Education Level

4 Year Degree

Salary Range

$24.00 - $26.00 Hourly

Travel Percentage

Some

Job Shift

Day/Evening

Job Category

Undisclosed

Description

Exciting new opportunity at Elmcrest Children’s Center! We welcome you to join Elmcrest’s Aftercare Program and help continue to make a difference in our youth’s lives as they transition out of our programs and return into the community setting.The Aftercare Direct Support Professional (DSP) will work directly with youth and families who have intellectual or developmental disabilities. The Aftercare DSP will help youth become integrated and engaged in their community as they are being discharged from Elmcrest’s residential programs.

CFTSS (Children and Family Treatment and Support Services) offer opportunities to better meet the behavioral health needs at earlier junctures in a child/youth’s life to prevent the onset or progression of behavioral health condition. CFTSS are a set of services designed to help youth and their families gain the necessary tools to be successful in their homes and communities. This is done through goal driven supports and solution based interventions.

The Aftercare DSP will provide Community Psychiatric Support and Treatment Services (CPST). CPST Services refer to an array of activities and intervention that are put in place to correct the deficit that are uncovered during an OLP’s (Licensed Therapist/Clinician) evaluation. Generally, CPST activities aim to strengthen the coping capacity of a youth and their family; and to regain stability in their everyday functionality after a crisis. Specific activities include developing interventions aimed at building resilience, strengthening family bonds, and relationship building in the academic, home, workplace, community and other settings where the youth spends their day.

Responsibilities:

• Intensive Interventions (Counseling): This involves the provision of counseling services around the issues identified in a youth’s treatment plan. Such effort is aimed at regaining balance, learning new coping skills, managing family dynamics and ability to navigate safely in the community (i.e., focusing on problematic relationships as that of youth and family members, school attendance issues, social and/or emotional dysregulations, or issues in self-care and independent living skills)

• Crisis Avoidance (Counseling): Engaging youth and potentially their family in or outside office, but generally in a location which guarantees maximum participation by youth with the goal of empowering and building resilience by working with them to identify their crisis triggers, understand the warning signals, and develop strategies to reduce the intensity of the symptoms and mitigate suffering.

• Intermediate Term Crisis Management (Counseling): Efforts which are put out following a crisis occurrence. Such efforts help a youth and their family to regain their balance and restore them to (i) pre-crisis functioning in their homes, community and relationships and (ii) present them with the opportunity to learn new ways of meeting and handling such contingencies.

• Rehabilitative Psychoeducation: Targets actual participation, practice and role playing, rather than counseling. Usually utilized post-crisis to help teach a youth and family members how to master different interventions that are determined during the initial evaluation. Such efforts aims to help the youth and their family (i.e. goal to empower youth/family by identifying environmental stressors and building strategies against them).

• Strengths Based Service Planning: Work to identify the strengths and resilience of the youth/family, through examination of past coping strategies, co-identifying the presenting problems (evaluation), to developing a mutually agreed upon treatment plan that is unique to the family (development of interventions).

• Rehabilitative Supports: Measures that are restorative/rehabilitative centered. These measures are put in place to increase the youth and family functionality and reduce the actual stress or effects of the symptoms they may have experienced during the a crisis with the goal of instilling better coping skills and helping the youth and family be more proactive in managing their behavioral health contingencies and/or emotional disturbances (i.e. getting the youth to understand the importance of taking their medication, understanding the side effects, or when to schedule an appointment with the doctor for a refill).

• Treatment Team Meetings: OLP’s (Clinician) will develop the initial treatment plan for the youth that specify the amount, duration and scope of services developed in collaboration with the DSP, youth and other service providers. DSP will collaborate with OLP (Clinician) regarding youth treatment and updates.

• Availability/Documentation: Flexibility to create your own schedule depending on client availability but must have availability to provide services during after-school/evenings if needed. Must meet weekly billing minimum and work 40 hours for full-time role. Complete required documentation for Medicaid billing within prescribed timeframes. Case notes and casework contacts documented in database and EMR.

• Report to Aftercare Coordinator/Clinical Supervisor for regularly scheduled supervision to review cases, youth and family needs and service progress and/or barriers.

• Collaborate with various service providers which will included LDSS County Case Workers and potential partnering agencies with support of Aftercare Coordinator/Clinical Supervisor.

  This position is unique in terms of compensation. Bi-weekly performance based bonuses are available to those who qualify. This opportunity can be discussed during the interview process.

   

Qualifications

All Applicants much haveoneof the following:

• Must have a Bachelor Degree and at least 2 years’ experience in mental health or human services field or working with youth and families

  OR

• Master’s degree (Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology, Mental Health Counseling, etc.)

  Applicants must haveallof the following:

• Must have good written and oral communication skills.

• Must have positive attitude and engaging personality.

• Computer skills, including Microsoft Word and Outlook.

• Self-confidence and an ability to work with children and young adults with a variety of needs.

• Effective problem-solving skills.

• Must be reliable and able to work independently and understand the importance of maintaining confidentiality/communication with the multidisciplinary team.

• Must be cleared by the NYS Justice Center through fingerprinting for a Criminal History Records search.

• Must be cleared for work through Drug Testing.

• Must be cleared by the NYS Office of Children and Family Services for instances of child abuse and/or neglect.

• Valid, unrestricted New York State Driver’s License, with reliable/safe transportation.

• Acceptable clearance checks for State Central Register and Driver license as required by the program.

• Successful completion of mandatory training.