THERAPIST (STRTP and Aftercare)

Clinical Hours provided

JOB SUMMARY/ROLE:

Provide trauma-informed, culturally sensitive therapeutic intervention to youth and families in collaboration with the Child Family Team (CFT) placed in the Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) and those enrolled in Aftercare services upon completion of the STRTP. Utilization of the Integrated Core Practice Model (ICPM) in the treatment of the youth. Trauma Informed Care (TIC) includes primarily the use of RSA’s selected Trauma Informed Care model of Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) model. Serve as a support, mentor, and guide to mental health program staff, Direct Care Staff, and other team members to provide trauma informed interventions to the youth.

• SUPERVISED BY: Jointly supervised by STRTP Clinical Supervisor and Aftercare Program Manager Clinical Supervision for accrual of full time paid BBS hours and offers employees the advantage of professional development

QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Master of Arts/Science (M.A./M.S.) Degree in Clinical Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work or Counseling OR Doctorate (Ph.D./Psy.D.) Degree in Clinical Psychology or Counseling Psychology.

2. Active, current, and clear registration/license with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences Marriage and Family Therapist Intern, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Associate Social Worker (ASW), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), and/or California Board of Psychology for Clinical Psychologist (Ph.D.) or Counseling Psychologist (Psy.D.).

3. Trained and/or certified in Trauma Informed and Evidenced-based Practices (EBP) preferred.

4. Experience working with high-risk children, adolescents, adults and/or families within the Mental Health, Educational, Child Welfare and/or Juvenile Probation systems preferred.

5. Availability to be on-call for crisis related services required.

6. Bi-lingual/Bi-literate in Spanish highly preferred.

7. Valid California Driver’s License and proof of auto insurance required.

8. Must fulfill all requirements of employment, including clearance of all required background records (e.g., Department of Justice, Child Abuse, California Community Care Licensing, County Sanction List, etc.), professional reference checks, physical examination with TB test, and drug screening.

9. Demonstrates professional and effective communication abilities, including the completion of written reports, letters, and plans, initiating verbal communications with clients, families, and inter and intra-agency personnel, and exhibits an ongoing ability to engage formal and informal supports on behalf of clients and families.

10. Familiarity with electronic health record preferred (Exym).

JOB DUTIES:

1. Ensures that professional services are rendered to and/or on behalf of youth and families in a manner that promotes their overall safety, recovery, health, and well-being, and adheres to the mission and vision of Rancho San Antonio (RSA). Ensures that all such services are in accordance with all laws, rules, and regulations governing professional practice.

2. Learns and utilizes ARC trauma informed care model to provide treatment in all areas, including milieu treatment, individual, group, and family therapy.

3. Serve as a support, mentor, and guide to mental health program staff, Direct Care Staff, and other team members to provide trauma informed interventions to the youth.

4. Serves to role model and incorporate use of ARC, Integrated Core Practice Model (ICPM), use of the Child and Family Team (CFT) interventions and principles agency wide, including in team meetings, agency meetings, and all interactions with youth, family, and co-workers.

5. Serves as a role model for youth and families served by RSA. Maintains emotional stability and an ability to function effectively with children, adolescents and/or adults who may have mental and/or behavioral health problems. Demonstrates appropriate daily behavior, expressions of emotion and professionalism that is free of hostility, aggression and/or unnecessary/inappropriate physical actions.

6. Serve as a support, mentor, and guide to Direct Care Staff and other team members to provide trauma informed interventions to the youth.

7. Provides a spectrum of mental health services for populations of all acuities. The agency focuses primarily on providing care to Delinquency Court involved youth and families with histories of complex trauma.

8. Complete accurate and timely clinical documentation per agency guidelines as outlined in Mental Health Training Manual.

9. Maintain active BBS registration without restriction for providing services required.

10. Individual treatment with youth a minimum of two to three times per week.

11. Family treatment with youth a minimum of two to four times per month.

12. Group treatment with youth a minimum of two to three times per week.

13. Consultation with psychiatrist, psychologist, and key significant team members.

14. Responsible for the delivery and coordination of residential and community-based, strength-based Mental Health Services to youth and families as defined by RSA Policy and Procedure, Integrated Core Practice Model (ICPM) and use of Child and Family Teams (CFT), ARC, and Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s Short Doyle/Medi-Cal Organizational Provider’s Manual. Such services are inclusive of, but not limited to, performing full clinical client assessments as indicated, developing individualized treatment plans in the context of the child and family team, conducting individual, group and/or family therapy and/or rehabilitation services in adherence with the Client Treatment Plan and engaging family members/caregivers/identified support persons in regular collateral contacts/sessions.

15. Responsible for delivering therapeutic interventions/services to and/or on behalf of the youth as established by the Client Treatment Plan (CTP) and that are consistent with established standards of practice and standards of proficiency discussed and established in clinical and administrative supervision.

16. Verifies initial and ongoing Medical Necessity for all client services and demonstrates Medical Necessity at the time of assessment, in the development and ongoing review of the Client Treatment Plan(s), and in every Progress Note for billed services. Ensures that the clinical assessment and Client Treatment Plan meets the standards for clinical competence, best practices, and Medical Necessity, as reviewed in supervision and quality assurance oversight.

17. Provides trauma informed care and as indicated Evidenced-based Practice (EBPs) interventions that are individualized and commiserate with the appropriate training, education, and respective model adherence requirements. As indicated, responsible for taking the steps necessary to obtain certification in all EBPs within one (1) year of the initial training, including but not limited to, completing booster courses, conference calls, dashboard guides, session observations, EBP-specific supervision, and any other certification requirements.

18. Monitors and documents the youth’s progress towards meeting the individualized objectives outlined in the Client Treatment Plan (CTP). Completes the required documentation of case consultations, individual and family services to track progress and increased/decreased level of functioning.

19. As part of the agency on call duty rotation assume responsibility for on-call duty assignments when designated and is responsible for providing, leading and coordinating crisis intervention and psychotherapy in crisis services, whether face-to-face or by phone and in consultation with Campus Supervisor, Clinical Supervisor, Clinical Director, and/or Mental Health Director as they arise, including the initiating and coordination of psychiatric evaluations (5150/5585 holds) to determine the client’s need for hospitalization due to danger-to-self (DTS), danger-to-others (DTO) and/or being/becoming gravely disabled (GD).

20. Responsible for participation in the development of individualized safety plans as needed.

21. Responsible for the completion of the Psychiatric Referral for youth needing psychiatric evaluation and possible Medication Support Services, if needed. Responsible for conducting case consultations with the psychiatrist within STRTP time frames. Responsible for the care and oversight of the case, communicating any changes in the youth’s mental status and/or medication compliance, providing assessment, treatment, and progress information to the assigned psychiatrist, and maintaining communication with the psychiatrist and/or psychiatric support staff regarding DTO/DTS/GD, hospitalizations and/or urgent client needs.

22. Knowledge of Los Angeles County DMH and Medi-Cal procedures.

23. Contributes to the development of the DCFS/Probation Needs and Services Plan with the identified treatment team in a manner that is inclusive of youth and family contribution, youth strengths, permanency plan, assessment information, identified long-term goals, individualized objectives, and needs that must be addressed in order to achieve the youth and family goals and objectives.

24. Attends and participates in treatment team, and Child and Family Team (CFT) meetings and is responsible to inform treatment team about clinical progress as well as encouraging team members to carry out tasks related to treatment needs on a day-to-day basis in the living environment. Assists the youth and family with input and contribution to CFT’s and serves as an advocate on behalf of the youth’s mental health needs, suitable placement, needed services, and/or permanency/discharge planning.

25. Works collaboratively within a teaming framework and established roles and responsibilities with Residential, Mental Health, Health Services, School, Aftercare, DCFS and/or Department of Probation personnel, and all other inter and intra-agency personnel to provide and coordinate services indicated by the Client Treatment Plan (CTP), Needs and Service Plan, and Child and Family Team.

26. Adheres to Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LAC-DMH) and Rancho San Antonio’s (RSA) Mental Health Policy and Procedures for the billing and documentation practices related to any and all services provided under Mental Health funding and maintains productivity expectations.

27. Responsible for completing and/or securing proper Releases of Information prior to providing all verbal and/or written disclosures of client information and/or requesting necessary documents/information such as medical records, court reports, previous psychological, social and/or educational records/information from previous/outside providers (non-RSA Program entities) of care and/or treatment services.

28. Able to establish and maintain appropriate rapport and boundaries with children, adolescents, families, inter and intra-agency personnel, and regulatory bodies.

29. Demonstrates an ability/fitness/competence to work professionally and independently, as well as an ability to exercise professional discretion and independent judgment based on training, education, experience, and personal creativity.

30. Provides services to youth and families in a manner that is culturally competent, trauma informed, and adheres to the philosophy, mission, and vision of RSA. Understands and upholds best practices and trauma-informed services to meet the needs of abused, neglected, and struggling children/families, and inspire the qualities necessary for children and families to succeed.

31. Meets weekly for clinical supervision to review job performance, intervention strategies, case conceptualization and documentation, access support and guidance in working with severely emotionally disturbed children and their families, and identifying areas needing improvement with action plans for performance enhancement or training. Ensures that directives for client care and interventions identified and agreed upon in clinical supervision are carried out as directed and maintains an openness to such direction and feedback.

32. Responsible for providing any and all services to and on behalf of clients and families that are within the established scope of practice for Marriage and Family Therapists, Clinical Social Workers and/or Psychologist within the state of California at all times.

33. Responsible for maintaining licensure/registration, education requirements for CEUs, and current knowledge of client services, best practices, coordination of care, risk assessment and planning, and intervention strategies via continued education, workshops, seminars and/or specialized trainings so as to remain current and proficient in factors/interventions relevant to the client and family population.

34. Maintains client confidentiality in accordance to agency policy and procedures, respective county guidelines and any applicable state and federal regulations, including HIPAA. Also adheres to any and all county/state mandated reporting obligations.

35. Attends and participates in regularly scheduled individual supervision, client-centered group supervision, and Mental Health and agency-wide staff meetings/trainings.

36. May be primarily assigned to 1 living unit and/or may be assigned to clients in more than 1 living unit and will need to divide time/attention between units and teams to meet the needs of the youth and the treatment teams.

37. Performs any other relevant duties as assigned by the Clinical Supervisor, Clinical Director, and/or Mental Health Director.

38. Other allied responsibilities as assigned.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

Therapist staff shall be at least 21 years of age.

All agency employees, regardless of position, serve as role models for clients, staff, and members of the community. Therefore, each employee must always be emotionally stable and able to function effectively with children, adolescents and adults who may have mental or behavioral health problems. They must be able to demonstrate, appropriate expression of emotions, as well as appropriate role modeling. Hostility, aggression and unnecessary or inappropriate physical actions as well as inappropriate emotional expressions are not acceptable.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

During performing this job, the incumbent must be able to lift heavy objects (up to 40 pounds) and be able to interrupt physical altercations. Will also require bending, stooping, filing, frequent sitting, twisting, typing, talking, hearing and repetitive motions. Occasional traveling, driving, walking, standing, grasping, pulling, pushing, and reaching. The work environment characteristics, and physical requirements described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing work in this position. Upon request, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions and physical requirements, unless doing so would create undue hardship for the company.

This may not be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements efforts or working conditions associated with the position. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current position, management reserves the right to revise the job description to require that other different tasks be performed when circumstances change (e.g., emergencies, changes in workload, business needs, facility, or technical advances).

On occasion staff in this position may be required to work scheduled or unscheduled overtime. All overtime hours must be approved in advanced.

Rancho is designated as an Essential Workplace, as such staff are required to complete all job duties as indicated above during emergency events, Pandemic/Epidemic Outbreaks and/or Disasters.

MENTAL DEMANDS:

The incumbent in this position must be able to accommodate to any or all the following: distractions, interruptions, uncontrollable changes in priorities and work schedules, and providing leadership and decision-making in stressful or emotionally-charged situations.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES:

Employees are expected to keep all sensitive medical and mental health information confidential in accordance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Rancho San Antonio (RSA) is an equal opportunity agency committed to practices and treatment that are free of discrimination and harassment based on actual or perceived race, ethnic group identification, ancestry, national origin/tribal identity, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity and gender expression, mental or physical disability, medical condition, or HIV status. As an RSA staff member, the expectation is to be welcoming and affirming to all youth.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $70,000.00 – $75,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k) matching
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Chatsworth, CA 91311: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)

Education:

• Master’s (Required)

License/Certification:

• Driver’s License (Required)
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Required)
• LMFT (Required)

Work Location: One location