Therapist - Access and Community Response

Purpose:

To expand access to core mental health services by providing timely initial assessments and crisis stabilization to children and adolescents. Engage individuals more deeply from their first encounter with PACES by being responsive to their immediate needs and concerns. Collaborates and coordinates with external partners within the community and promptly provides mental health assessments, hospital screens, and mobile crisis intervention. Assess and connect families to higher levels of care including SED Waiver services and Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities. 

Essential Functions:

1. Provides a timely initial assessment to individuals who present for same day service.

2. Formulates disposition of initial assessment which could include completing mental health evaluation and internal referrals, crisis stabilization & safety planning or referral for follow-up services. 

3. Completes admission assessments and coordinates annual evaluations for SED Waiver.

4. Collaborates with families, Managed Care Organizations, and treatment team providers to complete evaluations for admission into Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities. 

5. Provides liaison duties to community partners for hospital admissions and discharge planning back into PACES services and development of diversion plans to help reduce and/or prevent hospitalizations. 

6. Identifies strengths and needs of client and families and acts to collaborate with them in planning for desired services.

7. Provides mobile crisis interventions with individuals, families, and/or others present as needed, with an emphasis on assessing needs, securing appropriate level-of-care services, and minimizing trauma.

8. Collaborates and coordinates with external community partners within the Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte community (KCK Police Department, local hospitals, KCK, Bonner, Turner and Piper School districts and the 24/7 crisis house Robert’s Place, etc.) to collaborate care and other community services or resources.

9. Provide effective de-escalation and crisis triage skills.

10. Familiarizes clients and families with community resources for educational, cultural, social activities, and other specialized services.

11. Coordinate with 24/7 crisis line contractor to assist in follow-up care. 

12. Completes clinical assessments to determine the necessity of higher levels of care using the Kansas screening process and facilitates admissions to higher levels of care, when deemed necessary.

13. Completes timely and accurate documentation of services in the medical record.

14. Assures compliance with Medicaid, State licensing regulations, grant, and other contractual standards.

15. Meets weekly with Manager of Access and Community Response Services for supervision and is open and responsive to feedback regarding job performance and service delivery.

Performs other duties as deemed appropriate by immediate supervisor or designate 

 Qualifications:

Education: Licensed by the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board and possess minimum academic credentials for Medicaid outpatient reimbursement for practice at the Center.

Experience: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including both oral and written. Experience and rapport development skills with people experiencing acute crisis. Ability to establish effective on-going professional working relationships with clients, internal partners, and various community partners.  

Skills & Abilities: 

· Exceptional verbal and written communications skills, including the ability to write and speak concisely, succinctly, and accurately in a style appropriate to the audience. 

· Must have excellent interpersonal skills and be at ease in conversing with constituents at all levels. 

· Must have the ability to be diplomatic at all times, while exercising excellent judgment and discretion as appropriate. 

· Persuasive, tactful and discreet with excellent follow-through essential. 

· Must have excellent organizational skills, be detail-oriented, able to effectively multi-task.  

· Demonstrated or proven ability to set priorities, attain deadlines, while balancing multiple projects. 

· Flexible and adaptable as demands and focus shift. 

· Exceptional rapport building skills with persons in crisis. 

· Strong decision-making skills in fast-paces environment. 

· Experience conducting Kansas hospital screens. 

· Creative, innovative, and flexible approach to work functions. 

· Bilingual and bi-cultural preferred. 

· Ability to work with some flexibility in work hours. 

· Complies with all relevant Center policies and procedures. 

· Performs other related duties as deemed appropriate by immediate supervisor or designate. 

· Ability to recognize and be sensitive to cultural and ethnic differences. 

· Must be able to safely perform essential job functions, with or without reasonable accommodations

· Clearance through the Kansas Child Abuse/Neglect Register and criminal background check.