Job Description
Description:
Child First Model:
The Child First model is an evidence-based, two-generation intervention program that aims to provide effective support to children, from prenatal care through age 5, and their families to reduce the occurrence of serious mental health issues, developmental and learning disabilities, and abuse and neglect. The Child First model strives to provide psychotherapeutic, dyadic intervention to strengthen the parent-child relationship. Additionally, Child First works to instill care coordination to work with the family to overcome barriers and access needed services.
This program is recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as an evidence-based home visiting model and has also garnered support from the National Registry for Effective Programs and Practice of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration.
Position Overview:
The Child First Mental Health and Developmental Clinician partners with a Family Support Partner to engage families who are referred to the Child First home-based intervention. Child First's primary goal is to strengthen the caregiver-child relationship so that it serves both as a protective buffer to unavoidable stress and directly facilitates the child's emotional, language, and cognitive growth. The Clinician uses trauma-informed CPP, a relationship-based, dyadic, parent-child treatment model, which focuses on the primary attachment relationships of the young child. The Clinician engages with both the caregiver and child in a supportive, reflective, and exploratory manner which fosters a protective, nurturing, and responsive parent-child relationship. The Clinician's therapeutic intervention focuses on 1) helping caregivers understand typical developmental challenges and expectations; 2) increasing caregivers' ability to reflect on the meaning and feelings motivating a child's behavior; 3) supporting caregivers' problem solving; and 4) helping caregivers understand the psychodynamic relationship between parental feelings, history, and the caregiver response to the child. The Clinician also provides consultation to teachers in early care and education settings, as needed.
Essential Job Functions:
- Engage with the Child First family and the Family Support Partner in the collaborative family assessment process (i.e., gather information from interviews, observations of interactions and play, reviewed records, collateral sources, and standardized measures).
- Use all available information to develop a thoughtful, well-integrated clinical formulation and Child and Family Plan of Care, in partnership with the Family Support Partner and family.
- Provide Child First home-based psychotherapeutic intervention with young children and their caregivers using relational, dyadic psychotherapy (CPP) and other modalities.
- Help the caregiver gain insight regarding the personal history (including trauma history), feelings for the child, and current parenting practices.
- Avert crises by assisting the family in times of urgent need (e.g., risk of harm to child or caregiver, pending child removal), in consultation with the Family Support Partner and Clinical Supervisor.
- Provide mental health and developmental assessment and consultation within early care and education settings and to other early childhood providers.
- Embrace the use of videotaping to enhance both therapeutic works with families and reflective supervision.
- Engage in weekly individual, Team, and group reflective clinical supervision with Clinical Supervisor.
- Engage actively in all aspects of the Child First Learning Collaborative, including in-person training, distance learning curriculum, and specialty training.
- Keep all appropriate documentation for clinical accountability and reimbursement.
- Participate in other clinical and administrative activities as appropriate.
Education/Skill Requirements:
- Licensed or licensed-eligible Master's or Doctoral level mental health provider (e.g., LCSW, LMFT, LPC, MA, clinical psychologist, other).
- Experience working psychotherapeutically with culturally diverse children and families, including parent-child therapeutic work and play therapy with very young children (0-5 years), for a minimum of three years. Past CPP training is highly valued.
- Openness to learning, capacity for self-reflection, and eagerness to participate in reflective clinical supervision.
- Knowledge of relationship-based, psychodynamic intervention and early child development; parent-child relationships and attachment theory; effects of trauma and environmental risks on early childhood brain development, especially violence exposure, maternal depression, and substance abuse; and community-level risk factors (e.g., poverty, homelessness).
- Experience providing mental health assessment and consultation to early care and education sites.
- Knowledge and experience working with adults with mental health, substance use, and cognitive challenges.
- Experience providing intervention within the diverse home and community settings.
- Ability to speak a second language (Spanish, other), highly valued.
- Strong commitment to the vision, mission, and goals of Child First.
- Highly organized, self-motivated, reliable, and flexible (including willingness to work non-traditional hours, including at least one evening).
- Able to work as part of a team.
- Able to communicate well verbally and in writing.
- Comfortable with computers and experience with Word and Excel.
- Reliable vehicle and appropriate insurance for home visits.
Material and Equipment Directly Used: (including, but not limited to)
Agency computer and records systems, copier, fax, telephone, email and voice mail
Work Environment
General office environment; light physical work as needed: travel or errands outside the office.
Applications close October 31, 2024
Compensation details: 28.85-38.95 Hourly Wage
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