Mental Health Associate (Timekeeping) (40 Hour) Office/On-Site #260629-7376FK-001

About Us

DMHAS is a health care agency whose mission is to promote the overall health and wellness of persons with behavioral health needs through an integrated network of holistic, comprehensive, effective, and efficient services and supports that foster dignity, respect, and self-sufficiency in those we serve. SWCMHS strives to provide high quality, compassionate and culturally competent mental health and substance abuse services to adults with behavioral health disorders who are indigent. With three locations throughout Fairfield County, SWCMHS promotes and administers comprehensive recovery oriented services in the areas of mental health treatment and substance abuse prevention and treatment. These services include inpatient treatment programs and outpatient clinical services, as well as a wide range of additional supportive treatment services.

Highlights

• Facility: Southwest Connecticut Mental Health System (SWCMHS)
• Address: 1635 Central Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06610
• Unit: Staffing Office
• Schedule: Full-Time, 40 Hours per Week, First Shift, Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm (no weekends or holidays)

Opportunities We Offer

• Professional growth and development opportunities
• A healthy work/life balance

Responsibilities

• Supervise, train, and evaluate mental health assistants assigned to staffing department
• Maintain records and logs and assure confidentiality of oral and written reports
• Review and monitor hours worked to ensure the employee's time is accurately recorded
• Collect and verify timekeeping information for all employees in the hospital service division
• Work with employees to resolve errors in hours reported
• For corrections after the payroll has processed, complete a timesheet change form, obtain the employee and supervisor signature, and email to the payroll department
• Adjust hours worked and any time off (leave) an employee has recorded
• Approve an employee's timecard at the end of each pay period
• Have visible access to an employee's time worked and leave
• View an employee's vacation, sick leave, and comp time balances and total hours worked
• Assist supervisors with questions regarding their employee's timecard
• Set up and maintain office procedures, filing and indexing systems and forms for office use and to meet recurrent needs
• Maintain calendars of due dates and initiate recurring work or special clinical projects accordingly
• Respond to internal requests for information and assistance
• Interpret and implement agency/facility policies and procedures

Purpose of Job Class (Nature of Work)

In a Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services hospital, community behavioral health facility or program this class is accountable for the administration of a designated number of wards or units or a major clinical training program for mental health assistants. In outpatient divisions and community programs or clinics this class is accountable for the direct supervision of mental health assistants and/or independently performing a full range of advanced para-professional functions in case management and crisis intervention services or the administration of a complex program component.

Examples of Duties

In Wards or Units

• Assumes responsibility for the supervision, training, and evaluation of assigned staff
• Plans and develops personnel schedules and assignments to provide adequate and safe coverage
• Applies accepted standards of nursing care and administration
• Assists in the evaluation of the quality of nursing care being administered
• Investigates and reports any unusual incidents
• Assures confidentiality of oral and written reports
• Coordinates support services such as dietary, maintenance, etc.
• Supports and participates in the protection of human and civil rights of clients
• Assures that federal and state regulations and directives are followed
• Participates in unit, program, and department meetings
• Collaborates with members of other disciplines in the planning, development and implementation of hospital programs and services
• Cooperates and collaborates with clinical personnel in developing and maintaining a therapeutic milieu
• May supervise the self-administration of oral medications
• May assist in approved research projects
• Performs direct client care functions and other related duties as required

In Community/Outpatient Mental Health Programs

• Coordinates and facilitates the activities of clients
• Functions as team member of a case management or crisis team or program
• Participates in the assessment, crisis intervention and monitoring of clients in the community at large (i.e., ERs, jails, homeless shelters, outpatient programs, etc.)
• Assists clients in acquiring daily living skills, budgeting, medication monitoring and/or community adaptation skills
• Provides individual, group and/or family supportive treatment under appropriate supervision
• Applies accepted standards of nursing care to clients
• Supervises staff of lesser grades or other disciplines
• Provides clinical therapeutic counseling and/or preventive education services to community groups and individuals, including the development and administration of curriculum on various issues relevant to the community
• Independently participates in community outreach programs that include crisis interventions, case management and/or family support in home settings
• Participates as a liaison to community agencies
• Makes arrangements for outpatient appointments
• Provides information on department philosophy and objectives
• May perform problem-solving techniques with clients in their natural environment
• May assist in the motivation of long-term clients in small groups hospital programs or in community
• May coordinate crisis-intervention plans to circumvent hospitalization
• May support and supervise clients in transitional living facilities
• May assess families in need of respite care programs
• Performs direct client care functions and other related duties as required

In a Comprehensive, Structured Training Program

• Trains mental health assistants in the principles, practices, and procedures of client care, nursing care, supervision and administration, hygiene, sanitation, safety, security, and fire prevention, the management of assaultive behavior, report writing, and writing of behavioral objectives
• Provides information on the dynamics of human behavior
• Trains employees in the techniques of group work
• Trains employees in the methods of supporting clients in avoiding hospitalization
• Performs direct client care functions and other related duties as required

Knowledge, Skill and Ability

Considerable knowledge of acceptable standards of nursing care; psychiatric rehabilitation and/or case management principles, practices, and techniques; causes, treatment and prognosis of mental illness and intellectual disability; clinical and community resources available to clients; community and social agencies available to clients and their families; principles and practices of supervision and training; relevant agency and community policies and procedures; and proper documentation methods. Considerable interpersonal skills; oral and written communication skills; and ability to understand and apply complex program policies and regulations.