Family Counselor, Brooklyn Transitions Program

The Brooklyn Transitions Program is a specialized borough-wide prevention program for families challenged by substance use and/or mental health issues. The Social Worker/Case Worker provides home-based, intensive, strength-based, comprehensive services using the Solution-Based Casework (SBC) framework.

Reports To: Social Work Supervisor

Location: 503 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Hours: 35 hours- Non Exempt (Position requires Staff to be onsite. Hybrid schedules are at discretion)

Salary: $50,000 - $55,000 Annually Based on Relevant Experience******

Our superstar Family Counselor candidate is:

• Passionate about providing high quality services to families in child welfare
• A lifetime learner, continuously developing their clinical skills
• Dedicated to modeling strength-based, trauma-informed practice with families and colleagues.
• Culturally humble with a commitment to the Good Shepherd Services mission, vision, and values

Major Duties of Family Counselor:

Direct Work with Families

• Provide home-based and on-site individual, family, and group counseling, as well as short-term crisis intervention, including advocacy and outreach for designated caseload of eight (8) families.
• Engage families immediately upon referral, at times participating in Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) Child Safety Conferences.
• Implement and integrate the principles and procedures of Solution-Based Casework (SBC): assessment, family and individual level outcomes, action plans, and documentation and celebration.
• Handle case-related crises with professionalism, urgency, and care, including incidents involving reports to the State Central Registry.
• Conduct screenings and assessments for substance use, mental illness, and child safety and well-being, including assessing caregiver capacity, home environment and conditions, discipline methods, etc.
• Integrate the practices of SBC into every counseling session.
• Ensure that every child has been seen and properly assessed every month.
• Meet appropriate case work contacts for each phase of treatment: Initial, Baseline, and Stabilization.
• Represent participant needs, concerns, and perspectives at all required ACS and GSS meetings and trainings.

Administrative and Advocacy Role

• Collaborate closely with ACS, alcohol and other drug treatment providers, schools, medical and mental health clinics, and other resources serving family members.
• Provide consultation to and collaborate with Family Workers as needed to ensure high quality services to families.
• Collaborate with ACS Family Services Unit (FSU) staff, Family Court Legal Services (FCLS) staff and other service providers in making safety and treatment decisions.
• Attend and participate in Family Court hearings for families involved with ACS FSU.
• Facilitate referrals to alcohol and substance abuse treatment facilities, mental health treatment providers, and other service providers, including escorts to appointments as needed.
• Actively participate in Clinical Diagnostic Team meetings (CDTs) to provide case information, updates, and assessments in order to obtain recommendations for continued case practice or case termination.
• Participate in case consultation, continued SBC training, and the SBC certification process.
• Prepare and maintain FASP documentation, monthly statistical reports, and case work notes in adherence with agency policy.
• Provide Court reports as needed to inform as to families’ progress or lack of progress in achieving outcomes.
• Maintain appropriate utilization of state and city databases including PROMIS and Connections, as well as other agency databases as needed.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree required in (Social Work; Human Services, Psychology, Sociology, Counseling and Humanities degrees considered)
• Child welfare experience required
• Bilingual - English/Spanish preferred
• Must have strong organizational, interpersonal, and counseling skills
• Must be able to work at least 2 evenings per week to accommodate working families’ schedules
• Must have strong inquiry skills and ability to seek and share internal and external best practices
• Must have a commitment to work from a strength based, trauma-informed & youth and family development perspective
• SBC trained and/or SBC certified a plus