Director (Trauma Recovery Center) - Rising Ground, Inc

Overview

Rising Ground founded as an orphanage in 1831, 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, and each year, Rising Ground is a positive force in the lives of more than 25,000 individuals. We do this 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 serves 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 Director of the Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) implements and oversees all aspects of the TRC provided by TRC staff. The ideal candidate will bring a passion for social justice and anti-oppressive practice, ample experience providing clinical services to survivors of trauma, a desire to work collaboratively with a team of creative and committed advocates, and has demonstrated experience providing reflective clinical and administrative supervision. The TRC Director will serve in a leadership role and provide clinical supervision, consultation and training to staff and trainees on trauma-informed evidence-based interventions. The candidate will also be involved in program development and provide in-service trainings to other programs, and licensure hours to clinicians. The TRC Director will be involved with Developing, coordinating and supervising a comprehensive, well-coordinated model of care that includes mental health, physical health, psychosocial services and legal advocacy in a manner which increases access to services. 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. The candidate demonstrates the ability to provide trauma-informed assessment, psychotherapy and assertive case management services to survivors of violent crime.

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

Responsibilities

Leadership, Clinical Supervision, Teaching, Training, and Program Development:

• Oversees all services provided by the Trauma Recovery Center team including individual and group therapy, case management and advocacy to ensure quality and appropriateness of services.
• Provides clinical, administrative and case management supervision to clinical staff and interns; assist in resolving complex case management issues; conduct one-on-one supervisory sessions for all staff and interns; work collaboratively with faculty of sponsoring educational institutions to train and evaluate interns .
• Ensure that staff appropriately counsel and engage clients; monitor compliance with case contact requirements; assist staff to utilize legal, social, housing, educational, employment, and other resources which will enable clients to effectively navigate the criminal legal and social service systems; aid staff in making meaningful referrals.
• Manage the performance of paid staff; assess training and development needs of staff; assist with in-service training; evaluate job performance; appropriately address performance problems.
• Ensure that staff has the necessary supports to respond to client needs; responds to work-related stress of staff and interns.
• Actively engages in inter-disciplinary collaboration and case coordination with other Rising Ground programs and relevant agencies.
• Participates in weekly supervision and attends other meetings as required.
• Performs administrative tasks as needed.
• Maintains program records and completes reports.
• Takes the lead in preparing, planning and conducting inservice trainings and case conferences.
• Assists in organizing and co-teaching a didactic Trauma Seminar on the assessment and treatment of acute and chronic trauma in underserved populations, using evidence-based practices.
• Conducts community presentations on the assessment and treatment of trauma.
• Takes the lead in working on program development and initiating innovative models of care.
• Provides licensure hours for clinicians.
• Other duties as assigned.

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

• Conducts clinical intakes of new clients using a trauma-informed approach and identifies service needs when appropriate. Assessment includes identifying presenting problems, psychosocial history, mental status exam, and DSM-5 diagnosis.
• Clinical interventions include crisis intervention in the Hospital Emergency Departments as well as on-site at the TRC.
• Clinical services also include short-term, trauma-informed individual and group psychotherapy as well as comprehensive clinical case management, liaison with other health care providers, and referral and accompaniment to community services when appropriate.
• May visit patient at home and/or in the community for the purpose of outreach and follow-up if the patient is unable to keep regularly scheduled appointments.
• Caseload consists 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 problems as well.
• Provides consultation to a multidisciplinary treatment team on the psychosocial ramifications of trauma, substance abuse, psychiatric problems and chronic medical problems.
• Utilizes knowledge of the mental health, medical, and community resources in New York City and maintains familiarity with new programs.
• Develops a comprehensive treatment and service plan for each client, integrating knowledge from a wide range of human service resources.
• Facilitates coordination of services among various agencies; advocates for and links client to needed services. Helps eligible clients for social security disability, Victim of Crime, and other financial entitlements. Provides assistance with U-Visas and psychological asylum evaluations as needed. Serves 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.

Record Keeping and Administration and Other Duties:

• Maintain client records according to program requirements and regulations.
• Records data in client’s chart according to program standards.
• Meets program productivity standards; Completes productivity forms, clinical documentation and other documentation of services in a timely fashion.
• Assists in processing Quality Improvement requests.
• Assists in data collection for program evaluation and research purposes; Works collaboratively with the TRC Research Team.
• Attends staff meetings and other assigned meetings, participates in training sessions (e.g. in- services, grand rounds).
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility

Yes

Work Environment:

Office/Clinical/Home Visits

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work: 35 hours a week

Travel (if required): within Brooklyn, Home Visits, Community Partners, and to other Rising Ground HUBS in all boroughs

Qualifications

• LCSW, LMHC or Licensed Psychologist, required.
• SIFI certification (or eligible for SIFI certification).
• Training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and/or other evidence-based practice designed to support survivors of trauma.
• Bilingual in Haitian-Creole and English, strongly preferred; candidates bilingual in Spanish and English also considered. 
• Strong and diverse clinical and supervisory skills; Demonstrated experience supervising clinical staff and interns.
• Experience in conducting assessments using DSM-IV criteria.
• Experience in case management, outreach, and home visits.
• Experience working with trauma survivors from underserved populations, including young people of color, people who are homeless and/or chronically mentally ill, people from immigrant and refugee groups, and LGBTQ people.
• Dynamic understanding of the impact of key forms of trauma
• Keen ability to work with individuals of diverse backgrounds and identities; Must demonstrate cultural humility and a strengths-based recovery philosophy.
• Exceptional interpersonal, speaking, and writing skills and the ability to apply these skills in varied situations.
• Experience providing evidence-based, trauma-focused treatment.
• Experience doing case management, outreach, and home visits.
• Excellent organizational and strong interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to be flexible and work as a member of a multi-disciplinary team as well as independently.
• Demonstrated excellent attendance and reliability. Ability to work flexible hours; Ability to work independently and accountably.

Salary Range: $95,000 - $105,000 Annually