Mental Health Social Practitioner - Community Apartment Program

POSITION SUMMARY

Join Fountain House's newest housing innovation-The Community Apartment Program (CAP). The CAP Mental Health Social Practitioner works to help the members of the apartment program live their lives to the fullest and develop independent living skills and social connections. We use community as our tool to do this, and the CAP Mental Health Social Practitioner will use group dinners as well as outings into the neighborhood to engage the 3-4 roommates in each apartment. The group will grow their social connections, hopefully become friends, and use consensus decision making to figure out how they want their apartment set-up. We want our members to have dignified homes and to feel comfortable in their apartment and to connect with the neighborhood.

This position requires interest in community, creativity, and flexibility. There will be no typical day in CAP, but if you could see yourself fostering relationships and connections to community for adults with mental illness by cooking group dinners, taking a group to the movies, assisting someone to learn how to do their laundry at the local laundromat, advocating at a social service provider, or helping one of your members to apply to a job in the community then this could be the position for you.

The CAP Mental Health Social Practitioner will be based at our clubhouse in Hell's Kitchen and in the field at our scattered site apartments. They will work 9 am to 5 pm three days a week and 11 am to 7 pm twice each week. The evening shifts will allow them to cook dinner with their members. During the dinner they will assess the apartment for repairs, engage with the members and support their increase in socialization, social networks, and decrease loneliness and isolation. The Social Practitioner will have one paperwork day that can be taken at home. They will attend a weekly team meeting to brainstorm how to better support members and be appraised of ongoing issues. They are expected to become part of our community.

Shift: This is a full-time, in-person position, 5 days a week. They will work 9 am to 5 pm three days a week and 11 am to 7 pm twice each week.

Salary: $29.12 per hour

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support a member list of 8 individuals living with severe and persistent mental illness to achieve their goals, avoid isolation, and connect to work, school and community.
• Provide one-on-one support with individuals living in the Community Apartment Program, including weekly in person face-to-face meetings.
• Cook dinner with residents at the members' apartment and facilitate their connection to each other and the community at large.
• Engage members in each apartment to decorate and clean so that their housing is as dignified as possible and encourages interaction. The Housing Social Practitioner will use social design to create opportunities for comfort and socializing even when they are not present with the members.
• Provide support outside the apartment in the community so that members feel comfortable at their local laundromat, grocery store, pharmacy, etc. and engage the members in social events in the community.
• Ensure that the apartment passes necessary health and safety checks for maintenance, cleanliness and perform monthly fire drills.
• Create Individualized Service Plans and Service Plan Reviews regularly, according to duration of services.
• Develop strong relationships with building management to advocate for members to maintain safe and dignified apartments.
• Facilitate discharge planning both for when members move out, but also for when a group of members desire to transition their apartment from this program to a more independent level of support.
• Find the positive goals that members have, and engage with them to pursue school, work, and social activity.

Administrative Duties

• Maintain and update files according to New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) guidelines.
• Correspond and collaborate regularly with various benefit organizations such as Social Security, HRA, SNAP, Medicaid as well as with hospitals and care managers that support our members.
• Document all services provided by writing progress notes, service plans, and service plan reviews regularly.
• Limited Transitional Employment.
• Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Ability to engage and develop relationships with members.
• Strong creativity and problem solving ability.
• Detail-oriented and strong written, oral and communication skills.
• Knowledge of light home repair and maintenance (install blinds, replace doorknob, etc.) preferred.

REQUIRED AND PREFERRED EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND CREDENTIALS

• Undergraduate degree in related field required or related experience.
• Experience either personally or professionally in building community.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty and meet all physical requirements satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.