Mental Health Social Practitioner

Description

• Why Join Fountain House?
• Empower Marginalized Communities – Elevate the voices of individuals with lived experience and drive real systemic change.
• Innovate in Mental Health Advocacy – Join a mission-driven team at the forefront of mental health reform.
• Professional Growth & Leadership – Access mentorship, training, and career development opportunities in a rapidly evolving field.
• The Mental Health Social Practitioner works to help the members of the community live their lives to the fullest and develop independent living skills and social connections.
• We use community as our tool to do this, helping members to grow their social connections, learn emotional, cognitive, and social skills, and get holistic support in all aspects of their lives.
• The goal is to address the social symptoms of SMI that cannot be directly managed through medication alone, while also giving ongoing access to support with care management, applying for benefits, transitional employment and housing opportunities, as well as wellness activities and daily meals

This position requires interest in community, creativity, and flexibility. There will be no typical day as a social practitioner, but if you could see yourself fostering relationships and connections to community for adults with mental illness then this could be the position for you.

$30.58 per hour Full-time, on-site

Please include a cover letter

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Requirements

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Member Support & Advocacy Perform member engagement, social design, relationship development, continuous assessment and therapeutic intervention and management of transitional environments with the Fountain House membership Support and develop a therapeutic community based on Social Practice and the International Standards for Clubhouse Programs Utilize the community to design positive interventions to deal with common barriers such as social isolation, poor self-esteem, anxiety, symptom management, and poverty Create access to environments outside of Fountain House not traditionally therapeutically oriented, to build general skills, a sense of confidence, and to support members’ self-efficacy. This includes the provision of on-site support in employment, education, and housing environments outside of Fountain House Develop relationships with Fountain House members and the community that can be leveraged to provide support for positive change and risk-taking, combat social isolation and increase meaningful connections, and introduce members to new opportunities Engineer various environments and social interactions to create therapeutic results and develop an accessible positive community Observe and assess experiences with members in a variety of naturalistic environments in order to create specific interventions for individuals’ rehabilitation Provide daily advocacy and engagement with Clubhouse members to help gain self-worth, purpose of confidence, while offering guidance for appropriate problem-solving techniques Provide counsel for members, individually and in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, and making changes Training Support & Entitlements Provide training support (vocational training) for transitional employment opportunities and maintain strong relationships with employers for job opportunity developments Support and fill-in for members in their Transitional Employment (TE) opportunities, if/when needed Assist members with entitlements and benefits; food stamps, SSI/SSDI, Medicaid/Medicare and ticket to Work/ACE/Access VR, Supplemental Need Trusts, & ADA accommodations Facilitates supported housing applications (2010E), Single Point of Access applications and work to find appropriate housing; assist members with physical moves into housing units Advocates for members well-being, safety, and livelihood with supports around clinical, legal, housing, appointments, medications, and independent living opportunities Acquire proficiency in skills and tasks of the (unit) you are assigned. This may include safety protocols, health guidelines, inventory lists, how to guides, etc. Complete all documentation including but not limited to progress notes and reach out documentation on time Maintain compliance with all government agency requirements, company policies and procedures Periodic overnight travel to High Point Farm, work some holidays including Thanksgiving, some weekend and evening hours Flexibility with staying late or arriving early, if necessary, to fulfill unit or member needs, and interchangeability with other staff on the unit. Maintain confidentiality of records relating to members’ progress Perform related duties as assigned by supervisor REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES Undergraduate degree or an equivalent combination of training and experience required Graduate degree or equivalent preferred 1-3+ years’ experience working with individuals with serious mental illness and or/hands on experience working in a community setting preferred 1-2 years coaching and counseling experience preferred 1-2 years of vocational rehabilitation, training or employment specialist experience preferred Ability to effectively manage and handle member concerns and behaviors Proven experience with mental health crisis management by supporting and counseling members under emotional distress REQUIRED AND PREFERRED EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND CREDENTIALS Undergraduate degree or an equivalent combination of training and experience required Graduate degree or equivalent preferred 1-2 years’ experience working with individuals with serious mental illness and or/hands on experience working in a community setting preferred Physical Requirements To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty and meet all physical requirements satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.