Social Worker MSW - Child First

Position Highlights

• Department: Child First
• Hours: 40.00 per week
• Shift: Shift 1

Position Summary

The Child First Clinician provides in-home therapeutic services to children ages 0-5 and their caregivers. The Clinician partners with a Care Coordinator to team together and engage families who are referred to the Child First home-based intervention. The Clinician uses trauma-informed Child-Parent Psychotherapy, a relationship-based, dyadic, parent-child treatment model, which focuses on the primary attachment relationships of the young child. The Clinician is responsible to provide direct services as a part of a multidisciplinary team including clinical/developmental assessments, formulations, treatment plans and discharge planning. The Clinician also provides consultation to teachers in early care and education settings, as needed.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Direct Patient Contact:

• Engage with the Child First family and the Care Coordinator in the collaborative family assessment process (i.e., gather information from interviews, observations of interactions and play, reviewed records, collateral sources, and standardized measures).
• Use all available information to develop a thoughtful, well-integrated clinical formulation and Child and Family Plan of Care, in partnership with the Care Coordinator and family.
• Provide Child First home-based psychotherapeutic intervention with young children and their caregivers using relational, dyadic psychotherapy (CPP) and other modalities.
• Help the caregiver gain insight regarding personal history (including trauma history), feelings for the child, and current parenting practices.
• Avert crisis situations by assisting the family in times of urgent need (e.g., risk of harm to child or caregiver, pending child removal), in consultation with the Care Coordinator and Clinical Director.
• Provide mental health and developmental assessment and consultation within early care and education settings and to other early childhood providers.
• Embrace use of videotaping to enhance both therapeutic work with families and reflective supervision.
• Engage in weekly individual, Team, and group reflective clinical supervision with Clinical Director.
• Engage actively in all aspects of the Child First Learning Collaborative, including in-person trainings, distance learning curriculum, and specialty trainings.
• Keep all appropriate documentation for clinical accountability and reimbursement.
• Meet all expected program benchmarks and maintain fidelity to the model
• Participate in other clinical and administrative activities as appropriate.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree in social work, counseling, marriage and family therapy (LMSW, PC-A, MFT-A)
• Possession of valid clinical license in Connecticut
• Valid driver's license a must for in home services
• Comfort with using DSM 5 and understanding diagnoses
• Must have excellent writing and communication skills, be highly organized
• Must be able to work as a part of a team
• Willingness to work evenings if needed

• Previous experience providing clinical care is desirable including experience in infant and early childhood mental health.
• Openness to learning, capacity for self-reflection, and eagerness to participate in reflective clinical supervision.
• Knowledge of relationship-based, psychodynamic intervention and early childhood development; parent-child relationships and attachment theory; effects of trauma and environmental risks on early childhood brain development, especially violence exposure, maternal depression, and substance abuse; and community-level risk factors (e.g., poverty, homelessness).
• Knowledge and experience working with adults with mental health, substance use, and cognitive challenges.
• Experience providing mental health assessment and consultation to early care and education sites.
• Highly organized, self-motivated, reliable, and flexible
• Experience providing intervention within diverse home and community settings.

Comprehensive Benefits Offered

• Competitive and affordable benefits package
• Shift Differentials
• Continuing Education assistance
• Tuition reimbursement
• Student Loan relief through Fiducius
• Quick commute access from I-84, Route 9 and surrounding areas

About Middlesex Health

The Smarter Choice for your Career!

Come join one of Connecticut’s Top Workplaces, and a Magnet designated organization! At Middlesex Health, we have a unique combination of award-winning talent, world-class technology, and patient-first care that's making health care better. Through our affiliation with the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Middlesex Health has access to the most advanced medical knowledge and research available.