On-Call Family Stabilization Counselor

Position Title: On-Call Family Stabilization Counselor (FSC)

Basic Function: This position is on-call (from 5pm –9am) 1-2 days per week, including weekends and holidays, to respond to locked-out, runaway, or homeless youth. This position provides individual and family services to youth at risk of placement with DCFS or Juvenile Justice systems and carries a small therapy caseload (up to 12 cases). Services include intake, treatment planning, and clinical interventions for youth presenting with a range of symptoms or behaviors; in some cases, this position will also place in short-term shelters while conducting intensive reunification work with families.

The ideal candidate understands and uses trauma-informed interventions, demonstrates the ability to work independently and as a member of a team, demonstrates accountability for their work, demonstrates time management, and has excellent written and oral communication skills. 

Responsibilities

The Family Stabilization Counselor: 

• Is on-call 1- 2 days per week, including weekends and holidays.
• Provides individual and family driven interventions based on presenting symptoms or behaviors and will minimally include brief assessment, solution-focused counseling, and linkage with needed resources to ameliorate the immediate family crisis. 
• Develops treatment plans in collaboration with client/family and other service providers within timelines and sets realistic, short-, and long-term goals that are concrete, behaviorally focused, and participant-centered.
• Initiates services for long term clients within two days of referral assignment. Renders services that are client and family centered, culturally sensitive, community based, trauma responsive, and multi-systemic.
• Attends and actively participates in staffing, psychiatric appointments, meetings with schools and/or families, and other activities to ensure access to needed services and the protection of their rights.
• Attends peer jury Wednesday evenings as assigned. 
• Provides group therapy within the Palatine community. 
• Carries a caseload of non-crisis driven clients referred to The Bridge for individual and family counseling and provides up to 12 hours weekly of direct client therapy on a schedule. 
• Acts as a liaison to key partners including schools, police stations, hospitals, and agency partners. 

Professional Development:

• Ability to apply principles of mental health treatment in developing treatment modalities.
• Ability to assess clients’ needs and diagnose using the DSM-5 assessment. 
• Ability to analyze data from multiple sources.
• Ability to develop treatment plans with clear goals and concrete step-by-step objectives. Ability to modify and review treatment plans per program protocol to accommodate emerging needs.
• Ability to remain calm in a crisis and provide crisis de-escalation communication to assist the situation. 
• Ability to work within a team model approach. Ability to form collaborative working relationships and to communicate effectively with clients, their families, and other service providers.
• Ability to state and abide by the provisions of the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act and the legal requirements of the “duty to warn” and “duty to report.”
• Ability to recognize abuse, neglect, and illegal employee-participant interactions.
• Sensitive to the service population’s cultural and socioeconomic characteristics.

Education and Experience 

Master's degree in social work or psychology from an accredited school required. 

LSW (Licensed Social Workers) or LPC (Licensed Professional Counselors) highly preferred. 

Other Requirements: 

Must have daily use of a car, current insurance, valid driver’s license. 

Ability to lift 25 pounds 

Availability to manage the on-call schedule 

The Bridge offers health, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance. The Bridge offers a 403B, generous PTO, and 9 holidays a year. The Bridge also offers LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker), LCPC (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors), and LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists) supervision hours toward licensure. 

Exempt 

Reports to: Clinical Supervisor 

The Bridge provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.