Bilingual Mental Health Clinician

Job Description

Position: Bilingual Mental Health/Substance Abuse Clinician

Department: Familias Unidas

Reports To: Director of Behavioral Health Operations

Agency Summary: Casa Esperanza, Inc. is a bilingual/bicultural behavioral health treatment provider serving Boston and the Merrimack Valley. Our mission is to empower individuals and families to recover from addiction, trauma, mental illness and other chronic medical conditions; overcome homelessness; and achieve health and wellness through comprehensive, integrated care. Casa Esperanza has an operating budget of $6.3 million and more than $9 million in assets.

Job Summary: The Mental Health Clinician will assist the organization in ensuring the provision of quality care in an outpatient Mental Health clinic serving individuals with co-occurring disorders. The Mental Health Clinician will primarily provide support to clients by utilizing client’s strengths, needs, abilities and preferences in completing assessments and to develop individualized service plans. The Mental Health Clinician will also provide group treatment services using evidence-based practices, as needed.

Essential Functions: Client Care

• Provides crisis intervention counseling, with referrals to ongoing Mental Health services when needed.
• Utilizes case conferencing and the program team to coordinate and ensure client treatment plans are effective and appropriate.
• Engages external and internal service providers to better meet clients’ needs
• Provides group treatment using evidence-based practices including Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Relapse Prevention, Relational and Psychodynamic therapy, etc., as needed.
• Participate in weekly clinical meetings to provide updates and assist in the decision making related to treatment planning and implementation.
• Functions as a resource to the rest of the team on Mental Health related issues, and assist in the various components of this program.
• Provides backup clinical coverage to the program to include staff supervision and program oversight.
• Respond to client grievances and complaints
• Provide on-call coverage, as needed.

Administrative

• Ensures adherence to program treatment philosophies and policies.
• Maintains client and program records in accordance with agency requirements and timelines
• Assist with utilization management to include assessing for appropriateness, effectiveness and medical need for services.
• Work with Billing Specialist to ensure authorizations are up to date & units have not expired.
• Assist in all reporting as required by supervisors.
• Attends all training's and professional development opportunities as required.
• Attends mandatory weekly MDT meetings.
• Maintains knowledge of current trends and developments in the field.
• Participate in weekly programmatic and clinical supervision.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree required in social work, psychology, counseling, or related field required, LICSW, LMHC, LCSW a PLUS .
• Two years’ experience working with a psychiatric/substance abusing/co-occurring population.
• Knowledge of appropriate community resources
• Knowledge of the issues affecting people with HIV/AIDS in recovery from substance abuse/alcoholism
• Experience with homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence.
• Experienced in crisis management and intervention
• Experience providing individual, family and group interventions to target population.
• Spanish required
• Strong verbal/written communication
• Ability to work as both an effective team member and independently
• Knowledge & Practice of evidence-based practices including cognitive behavioral therapy, relapse prevention and motivational interviewing techniques preferred

Ability to meet the physical requirements and training requirements of the position