Family Connector (Mental Health Services)

About the role

The ACCS Family Connector will ensure that each person served has a stable support network of family members, community members and friends as they make strides towards developing the life skills needed to successfully live independently. The ACCS Family Connector will work with adults with psychiatric conditions and those who identify as their supports to provide outreach, information, referral and direct support services.

Responsibilities

• Create a welcoming environment for parents, families, and other community members who identify as supporters in which families/supporters are respected and valued.
• Orient them to the services their loved one may receive from ACCS; share personal experiences with and engage their participation in helping the PS to meet their ACCS goals.
• Function as primary liaison for PS families (following HIPAA authorization by PS).
• Provide outreach to and collect current and historical family/supporters' information with focus on understanding the PS family/supporter relationships and their impact on the PS.
• Provide family psycho-education to families, supporters, and guardians.
• Refer families/supporters to resources in the community for family support and education when appropriate, including NAMI Family-to-Family groups.
• Collaborate with PS and their family members/supporters to determine how they can best support the desired level of family participation in the PS treatment.
• Address family/supporters needs who want to be engaged and are welcomed by the PS, engaged but not welcomed by the PS, and who are not engaged but PS would like them to be.
• Train and mentor staff in maintaining a family/supporter perspective in their work.
• Participate as member of intervention team for assigned PS.
• Deliver interventions identified on the Treatment Plan targeted at skills building in life domains including but not limited to activities of daily living, medication administration, symptom reduction, health and wellbeing, employment, education, socialization and recreation with supervision from clinically licensed Team members.
• Employ trauma informed, recovery-oriented, person-centered, culturally competent and strengths-based approaches and skills training techniques in their work.
• Provide competency-based clinical evidence-based practices and best practices to team members and GLE/SIE staff, including Motivational Interviewing; Harm Reduction and Addiction Treatment; Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT); Housing First; Stages of Change; Seeking Safety, Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), and Cognitive Behavioral interventions, as well as the development of Safety Plans and Crisis Prevention and Response Plans, and 8 Dimensions of Wellness.
• Promote healthcare and employment and education services access for PS.
• Promote engagement, housing permanency, community tenure, achievement of greater self-sufficiency and successful completion of service for all PS.
• Provide thorough and thoughtful documentation of PS needs and services.
• Create and sustain the ACCS Family Advisory Council if families/supporters' express interest in joining.
• Participate as member of Family Connector Community of Practice Workgroup for continuous role-specific competency development, mentoring and learning.
• Perform other related duties, as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in human services, Master's degree in Human Services, or very experienced direct care staff preferred.
• 2 to 3 years of experience working with adults with psychiatric conditions.
• Must have access to an operational and insured vehicle and be willing to use it to transport Person Served.
• Must have a US driver's license for at least 6 months.
• Preference given to bilingual/bicultural applicants and applicants with lived experience of psychiatric conditions.
• All candidates for this position must be at least 21 years of age and be able to pass a CORI, driving record, reference, educational and professional licensure check as well as a multi-state background check.
• All applicants must be able to become CPR, First Aid certified within 2 weeks of employment and MAP certified within 150 days of employment.
• Must meet Family Partner Qualifications as follows:
  • Experience as a caregiver of a youth (or adult) with special needs; preferably a youth (or adult) with a psychiatric condition.
  • Bachelor's degree in human services field from an accredited school & one year experience working with children/adolescents/TAY (or adult); or an Associate's degree in human service field from an accredited school & one year experience working with children/adolescents/TAY (or adult); or high school diploma/GED & two years experience working with children/adolescents/TAY (or adult).
  • Experience in navigating any of the child (or adult) family-serving systems and teaching family members who are involved with child (or adult) family-serving systems.
  • Knowledge of PS and family/supporter engagement strategies.
  • Knowledge of Family Support and Family psycho-education practices and principles.
  • Ability to form supportive, trusting relationships with PS and Families/Friends, etc.
  • Sensitivity to the cultural, religious, ethnic, disability, and gender issues of PS.
  • Knowledge of human, legal, and civil rights of PS.
  • Knowledge of the effects of prejudice (including internalized negative attitudes about oneself), discrimination, and oppression of people with psychiatric disorders, and the effects of poverty.
  • Knowledge and use of different communication and learning styles.
  • Ability to make independent judgments and decisions.
  • Ability to work in a professional and confidential capacity.
  • Knowledge of family dynamic and functioning assessment skills and practices.
  • Knowledge of recovery-oriented, person-centered and strengths-based values and principles.
  • Knowledge of trauma-informed and culturally competent services.
  • Ability to adhere to the standards of Motivational Interviewing; Harm Reduction; Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT); Housing First; Stages of Change; and Cognitive Behavioral interventions.
  • Skills and competence to provide interventions for effective Treatment Plan interventions, and to ability to train other staff in how to foster family/supporter partnerships.
  • Ability to collaborate effectively with other Team members to address the needs of PS in the Treatment Plan.
  • Knowledge of personal computer applications and equipment.
  • Knowledge of documentation standards and requirements.