Child and Family Counselor- Bilingual

Sarah’s Inn is a community-based non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the lives of those affected by domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence for future generations. Our services and initiatives focus on ending relationship violence through domestic violence crisis intervention, community education, and violence prevention programs for youth.

Job Title: Child and Family Counselor

Department: Intervention                                   

Reports To: Counseling Program Supervisor                                   

FLSA status: Exempt/Full-time or Non-Exempt/Part-time                                                                                                 

Position Summary: Provide counseling, advocacy and direct service to children and teens including crisis intervention, emotional support, safety planning, general and legal advocacy, referral, domestic violence education and support and education group services. With parents provide trauma informed interventions to help strengthen the child-parent and family bonds.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

Provide comprehensive and quality services to victims of domestic violence and their families. Primary focus on children and families.

• Provide on-going counseling and emotional support to victims of domestic violence and their families through in-person individual sessions and group sessions.
• Provide crisis intervention, general and legal advocacy, referral, domestic violence education, safety planning, and emotional support for victims of domestic violence and their families over the phone or in-person.
• Organize and prioritize daily services and responsibilities to ensure that client needs are met.
• Advocate on behalf of victims of domestic violence and their families within various systems to include social service, housing, economic, legal, health care and education.
• Ensure professional relationships with clients to create an atmosphere of empathy, safety and support.
• Maintain accurate and current information regarding issues and policies impacting clients and their families.
• Design, plan and facilitate support and education groups.
• Update and enhance knowledge of community resources and materials relevant to the clients we serve.
• Coordinate responsibilities with team members to ensure client needs are met.
• Update client files in a timely and accurate manner.
• Update client case notes and service codes in a timely and accurate manner.
• Achieve productivity expectations pertaining to service hours. 
• Maintain knowledge of internal organizational guidelines and protocols.
• Work effectively with Intervention interns and volunteers.
• Provide coverage on the 24-hour crisis line during business hours (will be assigned shifts) and assistance with on-call (see below).

Participate in the on-call rotation for crisis line in order to support crisis line volunteers and clients (if exempt/full-time).

• Provide back-up support using the on-call phone for the crisis line off hours (evenings, nights, and weekends) for a week-long shift. Position could have up to 4 week-long shifts a year.
• Ensure support of volunteers who are on the line. Providing coverage if needed, answering questions, providing guidance, and taking over when clients are in need of support only staff can approve (hotel stays, transportation, food, etc.).
• Texting shift reminders to the volunteers who are scheduled.
• When on-call, responsible for responding to text line requests. The text line is directly linked to the on-call phone.
• Provide prompt feedback about concerns or successes during the on-call shift to the Volunteer and In-Kind Coordinator.
• Responsible for understanding and implementing the on-call and financial assistance procedures including awareness of technology used and troubleshooting as needed.

Build and enhance community relationships.

• Represent the organization with professionalism at community meetings and events, and demonstrate diplomacy and tact in all interactions with various system representatives and community partners.
• Participate and provide leadership on various external committees, task forces, and councils as assigned.
• Collaborate with other community and county agencies on behalf of the clients we serve.
• Develop and maintain partnerships with community programs that are in line with the mission of Sarah’s Inn.

Educate community members and professionals about domestic violence and Sarah’s Inn services.

• Provide community education presentations and professional trainings.
• Participate in community awareness events.
• Provide internal training to staff, volunteers, and interns.

Supervisory Responsibilities                                                

There are no staff supervisory responsibilities for this position.

In the future, the opportunity to supervise MSW interns may be added to this position. This would occur upon recommendation by the Counseling Program Supervisor and mutual agreement with the candidate and would include an increase in compensation. Associated responsibilities would include:

• Meet weekly with intern(s) to provide direction, reflective supervision, and coaching on job performance and skill development.
• With the Counseling Program Supervisor select and interns necessary to achieve the organization’s mission and vision.
• With the Counseling Program Supervisor oversee the supervision and training of interns.
• Co-facilitate the weekly group supervision for Interns with other members of the Intern Supervisor Team.
• Attend Intern Supervisor Meetings generally once a month.
• Complete learning agreements and performance evaluations as requested by interns’ schools/site monitors.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Location and Schedule:

Overall, this position is Monday through Friday during normal business hours, however there will be exceptions requiring evening and weekend hours (i.e. for Client or Sarah’s Inn Events, outreach events, on-call duties, and if clients are experiencing an emergency).

Education and/or Experience                                                 

• Masters in Social Work or Masters in Counseling degree required.
• One year or more experience providing direct service advocacy on behalf of victims of domestic violence and their families preferred.
• One year or more experience providing counseling, advocacy, and/or case management services to children and teens (relevant volunteer and internship experiences included).

• Completion of an Illinois Certified 40-Hour Domestic Violence Training preferred or required to complete within two months of employment.
• Training and experience with Child Parent Psychotherapy preferred.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Fluency in Spanish, oral and written, required.
• Demonstrated computer experience.
• Knowledge of victims’, children and youth issues specifically related to domestic violence.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize and handle a variety of tasks, and meet established deadlines.
• Ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with a wide variety of people, including but not limited to board members, staff, volunteers, interns, government officials, community partners, organizational donors and media.
• Commitment to and experience in working with people from diverse cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Ability to work some evening and weekend hours.
• Valid driver’s license, access to a reliable car with current insurance.

Success Factors/Job Competencies: (this is standard wording which represents the job competencies that will be measured in the performance evaluation process)

• Integrity& Ethics – models Organization’s Vision, Mission & Values
• Collaboration & Teamwork – embraces an inclusive workplace
• Innovation/Continuous Improvement – finds innovative ways of executing work
• Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise – demonstrates a clear understanding of and executes roles and responsibilities
• Time Management/Productivity/Accountability – manages time and resources effectively
• Problem Solving/Decision Making – demonstrates proper judgment, problem solving and decision making
• Communication – effectively communicates
• Colleague Development - provides guidance, encouragement and feedback to subordinates for professional growth

Physical demands and work environment:

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

            Physical demands: While performing duties of job, incumbent is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision and distance vision.

Performance Standards:

• Annual performance evaluation
• Attainment of annual goals established between supervisor and incumbent