Closing Date:
09/02/2022

District Mental Health Response Member
(27 positions)

Who We Are:
Waukegan Community Unit School District No. 60 serves nearly 15,500 students in preschool through grade 12 and is located halfway between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan. The District has 1 early learning center, 15 elementary schools, five middle schools and a high school program divided between two campuses. The District encompasses portions of Waukegan, Beach Park and Park City.

Why We Do This Work:
The Waukegan Community Unit School District No. 60 has set an ambitious agenda for change, guided by the belief that all children, regardless of circumstances, can achieve at high levels and academic gaps can and will be eliminated with the support of teachers who deliver engaging, relevant, and academically rigorous instruction that excites students and instills a love of learning in them.

What We Need:
The District Mental Health Response Member is directly responsible to the Director of Crisis Intervention and Safety and the Deputy Superintendent of Operations, Safety and Facilities and/or his or her designee.

• To work with the Mental Health Response Team during school-wide, district-wide, and/or community/regional/state-wide crises;

• To provide direct crisis intervention and postvention services to children and their parents;

• To provide direct crisis intervention and postvention services to district faculty and staff;

• To provide consultation to students, parents, faculty, staff, and administration before and after a crisis occurs;

• To conduct suicide and threat assessments as assigned by the Crisis Intervention Coordinator or his or her designee throughout the district;

• To provide direct service and support during preventative crisis intervention curriculum;

• To use PREPaRE and/or the current district designated crisis intervention model to provide crisis intervention services;

• To be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide crisis intervention services where the Director of Crisis Intervention and Safety and/or Incident Commander (i.e., Superintendent, Principal, Chief of Police, etc.) has designated;

• If crisis intervention services are required, the mental health response team member must immediately stop whatever duties he or she is performing at school and immediately go to the site where crisis intervention services are being provided. The member must respond to crisis when called upon regardless of current assignment;

• To attend Mental Health Response Team meetings as designated by the Director of Crisis Intervention and Safety;

• To stay up-to-date with crisis intervention information, concepts, and new developments within the field of crisis intervention services;

• To attend and keep up with training requirements on the PREPaRE Crisis Intervention Curriculum and/or on the crisis intervention curriculum designated by the Director of Crisis Intervention and Safety and the Waukegan Public Schools;

• To participate in school and district-wide mental health prevention programs as directed;

• Maintain lines of communication with various outside agencies that provide child and family services and make appropriate referrals as necessary;

• To work with parents during crises in helping them to understand the needs of their children during the crisis and how to appropriately respond to their children's needs during crises;

• You may be assigned a pager or other wireless communication device in order to facilitate the process of being on-call;

• To assist with the periodic review and updating of the WPS Crisis Management and Intervention Plan and Manual;

• To conduct staff trainings on the Crisis Management and Intervention Plan and crisis intervention referrals as directed;

• This position may require Mental Health Response Team Members to work hours longer than the typical school day and/or on weekends providing crisis intervention and postvention services as determined by the Director of Crisis Intervention Safety and/or Incident Commander;

• Perform such other duties as may be assigned by the Director of Crisis Intervention and Safety, Deputy Superintendent of Operations, Safety and Facilities and/or Incident Commander.