La Rabida Children’s Hospital 

Family Advocate and Trauma Therapist 

La Rabida Children’s Hospital is hiring a full-time Family Advocate / Trauma Therapist for our Behavioral Health Division and Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) in Park Forest, IL.
Our mission is simple: we’re dedicated to maintaining and improving the quality of life for each of our patients with complex conditions, disabilities, and chronic illness. The path to completing this mission, however, is often complicated. Fortunately, we’ve got the best team around. If you are looking for your next career opportunity to partner with a compassionate multidisciplinary collaborative team, we have the job for you!

Job Summary:

The Forensic Interviewer/Trauma Therapist is a dual role at the CAC. The Advocate portion of the role is responsible for promoting a child-focused, supportive environment at the Children’s Advocacy Center by providing crisis support, system information, and community resources for children and their families who participate in an investigation of child abuse or for children who have witnessed traumatic and violent crime throughout the life of the case. This will be approximately 75% of the role. The Trauma Therapist portion of this role provides outpatient therapeutic services to children who have experienced psychological trauma and their families. This will be approximately 25% of the role.

Essential Trauma Therapist Functions: 

Advocacy (See NCA 2023 Accreditation Standards, Standard 4):

• Provide crisis support to children and their families who are receiving services from the CAC, including but not limited to: greeting families, explaining the role of the CAC in the process of the investigation, supporting non-offending parent/caretaker when the child is interviewed, and supporting the child and other accompanying family members when the parent is in conference with the MDT.
• Carry a caseload of advocacy cases and participate in active outreach, which requires follow-up with families beyond initial assessment and crisis response. Follow-up services must include ongoing, regular contact until the CAC concludes its involvement with the case. Continue engagement with the child and family regarding participation in the investigation/prosecution.
• Implement crisis assessment and intervention tools that are used to assess risk and safety. Understand individual and cultural or special needs of child and non-offending caregiver to ensure those needs are addressed.
• Assist in procuring concrete services (e.g., housing, protective orders, domestic violence intervention, food, transportation, public assistance, etc.)
• Provide updates to the family on case status, continuances, dispositions, sentencing, and inmate status notification.
• May provide court and medical examination education & courthouse/courtroom tours, support, and court and medical examination accompaniment.
• Must engage in 24 hours of initial training in advocacy and demonstrate participation in ongoing education in the field of child maltreatment and/or advocacy consisting of a minimum of 8 contact hours every 2 years. (See NCA 2023 Accreditation Standards, Standard 4 Essential Components A and B.)
• Will participate in monthly supervision, at minimum, with the CAC Program Manager related to this role.
• Provide on a rotating, on-call basis, after hours/urgent/emergency forensic interviews and/or advocacy.

Trauma Therapy (See NCA 2023 Accreditation Standards, Standard 6):

• Provide direct abuse- and trauma-focused outpatient psychological services, including trauma-specific clinical assessment and short-and long-term psychotherapy to children exposed to the full range of potentially traumatic events.
• Will complete an initial 40 hours of training in an evidence-supported mental health treatment for children who have experienced trauma from abuse, with an additional 8 hours of continuing education in child abuse, trauma, clinical practice, and/or cultural applications every 2 years. (See NCA 2023 Accreditation Standards, Standard 6 Essential Components A and B.)
• May be cross trained to provide other clinical services.
• Refer the child or family members to other clinical services as needed.
• Participate in weekly clinical supervision, to include group supervision, with a supervisor from the CCTC.

Administrative:

• Maintain required advocacy data entry and tracking on cases, maintaining appropriate documentation of services provided.
• Complete clinical assessment, quarterly reports, treatment plans, progress notes, etc., within appropriate timeframes.
• Complete and submit monthly service forms.
• Participate in regular Multidisciplinary Team Case Review Meetings to ensure accountability and collaboration between team members.

What we need from you:

• Education: Master’s degree in psychology, social work, or equivalent degree required.
• Related Work Experience: Two years of experience within the field of child abuse investigation and knowledge of child development and psychological impacts of childhood trauma is strongly preferred.
• Licensure/Certification: LCSW, LCPC, or Licensed Clinical Psychologist required
• Specialized Knowledge and Skills: Knowledge of overall child protection and legal system. Bilingual (Spanish/English) preferred.
• CPR required: Only certifications issued by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross will be accepted.

What you will receive:

• Competitive Salary

• Medical, Dental, and Vision

• Pet Insurance 

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

• Life & Disability Insurance

• Retirement Savings Plans & Matching

• Tuition Reimbursement

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Generous Paid Time Off & Holidays

Who we are:

La Rabida is a place unlike any other. We understand the needs of families with children dealing with the most serious or complicated of conditions. With teams of the best healthcare providers in Chicago, we give continuous, comprehensive care, education and support, helping families face their unique obstacles head-on.

La Rabida Children’s Hospital is very proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

#INDLAR2024