Clinical Social Worker/Therapist

Overview

Rising Ground has been at the forefront of evolving community needs. Driven by the belief that each of us can thrive when life has hope and opportunity, Rising Ground provides caring support and proven paths to positive change, helping children, adults, and families rise above adversity. Each year, Rising Ground is a positive force in the lives of more than 25,000 individuals through 101 programs in 138 locations throughout New York City and Westchester. Our strong belief and commitment to diversity shows not just through our work with supported persons but is integral to the building of a strong staff that reflects the communities we serve. Rising Ground is headquartered in downtown Brooklyn.

The Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) of Rising Ground understands the importance of removing barriers to care and providing trauma-informed services. Through this dedication, the TRC aims to transform services for survivors of violent crime. Rising Ground’s TRC is designed to help victims of violent crimes overcome barriers to accessing mental health treatment, health care, and legal resources in the acute aftermath of trauma. The TRC supports recent victims of violent crime, including survivors of physical assault, sexual assault, gunshot wounds, stabbings, domestic violence, and human trafficking. The Trauma Recovery Center facilitates healing for survivors of trauma, violence, and loss through an innovative model that blends comprehensive care, advocacy, and outreach.

The Clinical Social Worker/Therapist of the Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) will provide clinical intakes, assessments, planning, and implementing individual and group psychotherapy, assertive outreach, and clinical case management services, using evidence-based practices that are effective for the service population. The ideal candidate will bring a passion for social justice and anti-oppressive practice, ample experience providing clinical services to survivors of trauma, and a desire to work collaboratively with a team of creative and committed advocates. All candidates must have a strong understanding of trauma-based work and experience providing crisis intervention and emotional support to trauma survivors. The ideal candidate recognizes that “the most harmed are the least helped,” understands the importance of removing barriers to care, and has a passion to increase accessibility of services to survivors of violent crimes.

This position is located in our downtown Brooklyn location with a hybrid schedule of 3 office days and 2 days remote. To meet program needs, all staff in the TRC will conduct home visits and accompaniment/advocacy in the community, as needed.

Responsibilities

Clinical Intervention, Consultation, Psychotherapy, Liaison, Outreach and Case Management:

• Conduct clinical intakes of new clients using a trauma-informed approach and identify service needs when appropriate. Assessment includes identifying presenting problems, psychosocial history, mental status exam, and DSM-5 diagnosis.
• Provide crisis intervention and emotional support to clients.
• Deliver short-term, trauma-informed individual and group psychotherapy as well as comprehensive clinical case management, liaise with other health care providers, and refer and accompany clients to community services when appropriate.
• Visit patients at home and/or in the community for outreach and follow-up if the patient is unable to keep regularly scheduled appointments.
• Manage a caseload of complex clients, all of whom have histories of trauma, including acute and chronic physical and sexual abuse, and are victims of interpersonal violence such as sexual assault, physical assault, domestic violence, gunshot wounds, political torture, and immigration trauma. Many clients also have concurrent medical problems, psychosocial problems, and may have substance abuse issues.
• Utilize knowledge of the mental health, medical, and community resources in New York City and maintain familiarity with new programs.
• Develop a comprehensive treatment and service plan for each client, integrating knowledge from a wide range of human service resources.
• Facilitate coordination of services among various agencies; advocate for and link clients to needed services. Help clients to qualify for social security disability, Victim of Crime, and other financial entitlements. Provide assistance with U-Visas and psychological asylum evaluations as needed. Serve as a client advocate and liaison with the District Attorney’s Office and Police Department for victims of crime wishing to file police reports, restraining orders, etc.

Clinical Supervision, Teaching, Training, and Program Development:

• May provide supervision to clinical interns.
• Participate in in-service trainings and case conferences.
• Conduct community presentations.
• May assist with program development, including identification and implementation of types of appropriate measurement-guided mental health treatment.

Record Keeping, Administration, and Other Duties:

• Maintain client records according to program requirements.
• Record data in client’s chart according to program standards.
• Meet program productivity standards; complete productivity forms, clinical documentation, and other documentation of services in a timely fashion.
• Assist in processing Quality Improvement requests.
• Assist in data collection for program evaluation and research purposes; work collaboratively with the TRC Research Team.
• Attend staff meetings and other assigned meetings, participate in training sessions (e.g., in-services, grand rounds).
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bi-lingual in Haitian-Creole/English or Spanish/English preferred.
• Master’s degree in social work, mental health counseling, or related field.
• MSW with clinical experience. Licensure within 6 months of hire (LCSW, LMSW, or LMHC) required.
• Training in evidence-based practices designed to support survivors of trauma preferred.
• Knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of trauma and the intersections of trauma.
• Ability to move between different treatment approaches (clinical case management and evidence-based, trauma-focused psychotherapy) depending on the needs of the client.
• Demonstrate cultural humility and a strengths-based, recovery philosophy.

Annual Salary Range: $70,000 - $75,000

EEO

It is the policy of Rising Ground that the Agency wholly complies with equal treatment of all employees and applicants for employment without unlawful discrimination as to an individual’s perceived or actual race, creed, color, national origin, alienate, citizenship status, gender, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or veteran status in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, layoff and termination and all other terms and conditions of employment.