Personal Service Coordinator/Certified Substance Abuse Counselor JR# 61

Company: Mental Health America of Los Angeles
Location: Lancaster
Posted on: June 10, 2021

Job Description:

PERSONAL SERVICE COORDINATOR/CERTIFIED SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR

Department: HOPE FSP

Reports To: Program Manager

FLSA Status: Non-exempt

Mission Category: Direct Service

Supervision Responsibilities: None

Summary: The Personal Service Coordinator shall assist clients with accessing any necessary community resources and supports and assist with gaining, restoring, improving or maintaining daily independent living skills.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. This is not an exhaustive task list, and other duties may be assigned as deemed appropriate or necessary by the supervisor or program director. Reasonable accommodation will be provided to any qualified person with a medical or psychiatric disability, providing it will not change the essential nature of the position, nor cause undue hardship to the Agencys operations. MHALA is an equal employer opportunity and service provider.

• Assists clients individuals with accessing any necessary community resources and supports
• Complete assessments regarding substance abuse/use status. Develop appropriate plan of care and interventions
• Assist in the collection of health information.
• Work collaboratively within an integrated mobile team to provide linkage, outreach, community-based case management, housing, mental health and primary care services to individuals experiencing homelessness.
• Take independent assessments to identify individual needs as necessary and initiate communication and collaboration within the integrated team and with referral sources to provide the resources to meet those needs
• Utilize evidence based practices in service delivery such as motivational interviewing, harm reduction, supported employment and education, intensive case management, housing first, and critical time intervention
• Uses evidence-based practices to provide services to include: Critical Time Intervention, Motivational Interviewing, Housing First, Harm Reduction, and SOAR (preparing disability claims)
• Ensures that all PATH services are culturally and linguistically respectful of and responsive to the individuals needs based on their cultural identity
• Participates in team meetings to discuss the status of each person
• Provides outreach and engagement efforts which include informing individuals who are homeless about PATH program services and establishing trusting relationships through an intensive, sustained and consistent process; provides clear documentation for terminating outreach efforts when the person is eligible for PATH to include the reason for terminating, the number of contacts made to engage the person, and the number of attempts to locate individuals who became missing during outreach
• Facilitates enrollments to individuals into the PATH program
• Meets required outcomes as identified in the grant
• Provides case management as defined by PATH which includes assisting individuals with referrals and confirming attainment of the referrals to one or more of the following based on the persons need/desire: community mental health services, substance abuse/use treatment, primary health services, income assistance/benefits establishment, supported employment and education
• Provides collateral supports which includes contacting family members and/or significant other with the individuals authorization to discuss how they can assist the person with their care/treatment goals
• Provides transportation including transporting individuals to services to which they have been referred and accompanying people on public transportation to ensure the assistance needed to attain services
• Provides crisis intervention including assessing acute psychiatric and other emergency situations and initiating hospitalization
• Provides life skills training including using habilitation interventions to assist individuals to gain, restore, improve or maintain daily independent living skills such as money and household management, developing social/leisure activities and maintaining overall health and wellness
• Arranges for participants access to psychiatric and nursing services including treatment of chronic or episodic needs to include diagnostic assessments, consultation, ordering laboratory tests, and prescribing, dispensing and monitoring the safety and effectiveness of medications
• Provides housing services including assisting individuals with obtaining documentation needed to apply to housing, assisting with completing housing applications, tracking the status of housing applications, assisting with accessing funding for security deposits, furniture/household goods, and moving into housing, and ensuring that the ongoing supports are in place for housing retention; as needed provides after regular business hours availability to speak with landlords and to address crisis and other emergency situations
• Disenrolls individuals from the PATH program when the individual is lost to contact despite repeated documented efforts to locate the person, or after the person repeatedly refuses services over a period of 90 days or the person will be incarcerated over 90 days or when the person has successfully transitioned into permanent supportive housing and has been linked to other community-based services including mental health services and a medical home; links individuals that are disenrolled from PATH who continue to need intensive services into FSP, IMHT or other intensive field-based programs
• Participates in local community homeless outreach teams and the Coordinated Entry System (CES) teams.

Other position requirements:

• Current certification as a Certified Addiction Counselor or similar
• LPS designation if/when eligible in order to facilitate 5150 involuntary holds when needed
• All billing and supporting documentation shall be entered into MHALAs EHR (electronic health record system) within 24 hours from the date of service delivery.
• All required data collection documents (as applicable to your program: MORS, Determinants, KEC, Los Angeles Homeless Authoritys HMIS, etc.) are submitted on or before due date.
• Personal experience with homelessness preferred
• Proficient in computer applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
• Knowledge of community resources
• Flexible work schedule to include some early mornings, nights, weekends and holidays
• Driving with current class C drivers license, a vehicle for transportation, proof of valid automobile insurance, the ability to be insured by MHA liability insurance are conditions of employment
• TB clearance and re-testing every year are conditions of continued employment

Keywords: Mental Health America of Los Angeles, Fargo , Personal Service Coordinator/Certified Substance Abuse Counselor JR# 61, Other , Lancaster, North Dakota