Mental Health Professional (MHP)

Position Summary: 

The mission of Hope the Mission (HTM) is to prevent, reduce, and eliminate poverty, hunger, and homelessness by offering immediate assistance and long-term solutions. Our mission is to meet our participants’ needs through an individualized and non-judgmental approach that will ultimately lead to long term housing stability. 

Working under the supervision of the Licensed Mental Health Professional (LMHP), the Mental Health Professional (MHP) fulfills the mission of the HTM by providing a myriad of supportive services including outreach and engagement, crisis management support, facilitating psychoeducational groups, and linking participants to long-term behavioral and mental health services. 

The MHP is required to maintain thorough and accurate records in both written and electronic form via a designated database system. The MHP will be under the direct supervision of a Licensed Mental Health Professional and will engage in individual supervision, group supervision, and case consultation meetings. The MHP will engage in interagency training and community training, regularly and as assigned to expand his/her skills and knowledge. The MHP will contribute to the delivery of exceptional and compassionate supportive care to participants. As a MHP, you must be prepared and dedicated to work with individuals experiencing homelessness while utilizing a harm-reduction, housing-first, low-barrier, and trauma-informed care approach. This position will work closely with Licensed Mental Health Professionals (LLMHPs), key program staff, and representatives from third-party agencies, as applicable, to facilitate a comprehensive and collaborative approach to client care. By fostering effective communication and coordination among all stakeholders, this position aims to support a multidisciplinary framework that ensures the delivery of holistic, client-centered services tailored to meet the diverse needs of participants.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Conduct outreach and engagement 1:1 support to participants. 

• Coordinate and implement strategic outreach and community engagement activities to increase participation and awareness of supportive services. 

• Conduct needs assessments, provide referrals, and coordinate mental health and behavioral health care for participants of HTM shelters. 

• Perform crisis intervention and teach de-escalation/conflict management strategies to participants. 

• Participate in team huddles, shift-change meetings, all-staff meetings, behavioral contract meetings, and discharge meetings, as requested. 

• Establish and/or maintain good rapport and working relationships with co-workers, including management and supportive staff. 

• Provide assistance and support to participants with self-administration of medication, to help participants take medications correctly and promote adherence.

• Help coordinate refills with providers and pharmacies when necessary. 

• Responsible for meeting specific performance outcomes set out by program funders. 

• Coordinate and provide transportation for participants to appointments, as needed. 

• As needed, accommodate participants to important medical, dental, behavioral health, mental health, and court appointments.

• Interact and collaborate with other health care providers in a variety of settings to coordinate care of participants. 

• Develop and lead facilitation of psychoeducational groups.

• Create psychoeducation training for participants. 

• Provide guidance to Interim Housing staff, including direct collaboration with case managers, on participants who are struggling to secure permanent housing due to mental health and behavioral health needs. 

• Conducting suicide risk assessments, safety planning with participants, and securing EMS/PMRT support, as needed.

• Travel may be required for this position.

Other Duties:

• Perform any other duties, projects, and responsibilities as assigned by the supervisor. 

• Communicate effectively and respond to correspondence in a timely manner. 

• Observe department guidelines to conduct personal business during breaks and lunch hour. 

• Project a positive professional image and adhere to organizational dress code. 

• Identify potentially unsafe systems/processes/situations and take initiative to report them to your supervisor. 

• Attend weekly team meetings and individual supervision.

• Represent HTM at care coordinator, community, provider and other external meetings.

• Comply with local, state, and federal laws and regulations pertaining to confidentiality.

• Maintain accurate and timely data collection for physical and electronic records for services provided to each participant.  

• Provide regular written and accurate reports to the supervisor and additional reports as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree in Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology, Professional Clinical Counselor or a related field required. 

• An active, unrestricted CA license in a mental health discipline (e.g., ASW, AMFT, APCC, LCSW, LMFT, or LPCC) is preferred, but not required.

• Two years of providing behavioral health and or mental health services is preferred.

• Experience working with individuals experiencing homelessness is highly preferred.

• Experience with culturally diverse populations with co-existing substance abuse diagnosis populations. 

• Bilingual Spanish is desired, but not required.

• Ability to create and conduct psychoeducation groups.

• Demonstrate ability to develop training material and train/coach others. 

• HMIS or other EHR experience is preferred.  

• Must possess excellent problem-solving skills.

• Knowledge of housing-first, harm-reduction, and trauma-informed care principles is preferred. 

• Highly motivated self-starter, with proven ability to develop creative solutions. 

• Commitment and ability to work in collaboration with staff at various HTM sites and HTM leadership team. 

• Demonstrated ability to utilize computers and proficiency in Google Suite. 

• Possess excellent written and oral communication skills, interpersonal skills, and ability to work individually and as part of a team. Commitment to ending homelessness. 

• Drug screen, Criminal Background, Motor Vehicle Record (MVR), and TB test are required. 

• A valid CA Driver’s License is required. 

Knowledge: 

• Willing and able to work well with no or low-income homeless individuals. 

• Demonstrate courtesy, mutual respect and compassion in dealing with others.   

• Initiate and present positive solutions to problems. 

• Demonstrate effective working relations and work effectively as part of the team to facilitate the organization’s ability to meet goals and objectives. 

• Demonstrate a willingness to accommodate requirements or changing priorities in the workplace 

• Knowledge of current legal standards pertaining to professional practice, reporting requirements (i.e., suspected abuse; Tarasoff), professional boundaries and related issues.

Skills:  

• Excellent verbal, oral and presentation skills 

• Ability to delegate work responsibly 

• Strong interpersonal skills 

• Ability to train, guide and supervise employees 

• Problem solving and strategizing capabilities 

• Proficient in Google Suite and other databases 

• Ability in decision-making and problem-solving

●   Ability in decision-making and problem-solving

Employment Classification:

• FLSA Status: Exempt 

• Payroll Status: Salary 

• Work Schedule: Full-time 

◊ Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS, ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, EQUIPMENT: 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions. The employee is required to: walk and climb stairs; stand, bend,  squat, climb, kneel, and twist on an intermittent or sometimes continuous basis; grasp, push, pull objects such as  files, file cabinet drawers, and reach overhead; handle, finger, grasp and feel objects and equipment; reach with  hands and arms; be mobile by moving oneself from place to place quickly and easily; repeat various motions with  the wrists, hands, and fingers; be able to perform visual activities for (including, but not limited to) administrative  and clerical tasks; ability to lift up to 25 lbs.; communicate, receive and exchange ideas, information by means of  the spoken and written word; drive vehicles in and around Los Angeles County; be able to enter various buildings  that may require climbing stairs; be periodically subjected to outside environmental conditions. The employee may work in proximity to service animals and emotional support animals; use a desktop and/or laptop computer; copy, postage, and fax machines. Complete all required forms in personal writing. 

Work Environment: 

The employee may be in contact with individuals and families in crisis who may be ill, using alcohol and drugs, and who may not be attentive to basic personal hygiene, health and safety practices. The employee may experience a number of unpleasant sensory demands associated with the participants’ use of alcohol and drugs, and lack of personal hygiene. The employee must be ready to respond quickly and effectively to many types of situations, including crisis situations and potentially hostile situations. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate in an office setting. Sometimes work may become stressful when working under pressure. 

◊ EEO: HTM (Hope the Mission) provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, HTM complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, placement, promotion, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. 

◊ HTM will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act. You do not need to disclose your criminal history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you. After making a conditional offer and running a background check, if HTM is concerned about a conviction that is directly related to the job, you will be given the chance to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide mitigating evidence, or challenge the accuracy of the background report. Find out more about the Fair Chance Act by visiting the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s Fair Chance Act webpage.