Counselor

Pay rate: $21.00/hr

Summary

Provide resources, consultation, and assistance to deliver services to veterans and their families. The estimated job assignment will be 24-28 weeks.

Develop and maintain strong and collaborative working relationships with federal and state agencies, and local veterans' resources, for the purposes of developing maximum linkages; to promote appropriate suicide prevention, substance abuse services, homelessness prevention, VA and civilian system navigation, justice involved and diversion programs and veteran peer support for service members, veterans and their families. Provide resources, consultation and assistance to providers, federal, state, and local- agencies in the delivery of suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention, crisis intervention, and treatment services to service members, veterans and their families.

DETAILED STATEMENT OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As it relates to military service members, veterans and their families;

• Administers an in-depth intake which captures the following information: physical ability, service information, contact information, exposure to trauma, suicidal ideology, next of kin, mental health history and other pertinent information.
• Assists veterans with developing goals to be reached and creating Individual Recovery Plans (IRPs), relative to the intake and assessment.
• Refers veterans to service providers who can help them attain goals identified from the intake assessment.
• Links veterans to service providers by physically taking them to service providers or by facilitating face-to-face meetings between veterans and service providers.
• Provide EOVS related trainings to community and Veterans.
• Represent the SAVE and/or SERVE Team at Continuum of Care, various task force, interagency or intra-department meetings.
• Represent the SAVE and/or SERVE Team in public forums.
• Advocates for client's rights and benefits with community service providers, federal and state agencies, court systems, employers, landlords and significant others in order to ensure that client's rights are recognized and respected.
• Attends case management meetings and relevant training sessions, seminars, conferences and professional development courses in order to maintain and improve current knowledge of issues in the veterans' community
• Forms working relationships with other service providers and acts as the liaison between veterans and service providers.
• Recommend or develop enhancements to policies, procedures and systems development to Director of Special Population Programs and Services.
• Resolves issues related to the obtainment of objectives as outlined in the IRP.
• Address inquiries from providers, the general public and EOVS staff.
• Work closely with local municipal Veteran Service Officers to assist them in accomplishing their mission of servicing the veterans of the Commonwealth.
• Additional duties as assigned by supervision

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED AT HIRE (List knowledge, skills, abilities)

• Ability to follow protocol and procedures
• Manage active case management load, outreach schedule and administrative duties.
• Can meet deadlines, establishes priorities and work sequences as established within the Department.
• Proven ability to write concisely to express thoughts clearly, and to develop ideas in logical sequence.
• Capacity to communicate verbally and in writing in a professional, diplomatic, and understandable manner.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment.
• Must be comfortable talking about suicide and working with potentially suicidal Veterans and/or Veterans with severe PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).
• Familiar with military culture and implications, of such, in the service delivery system
• Coordinates efforts to obtain services from private, federal and state agencies.
• Ability to adhere to HIPPA regulations.
• Is comfortable speaking publicly about programs and services offered to veterans by the Commonwealth.
• Can attend publicity events outside of normal working hours.
• Willingness to assume on-call responsibilities.
• Must be comfortable attending veteran treatment courts and working with court and diversion veterans

QUALIFICATIONS ACQUIRED ON JOB (List knowledge, skills, abilities) On the job, the employee will acquire:

• Enhanced knowledge of veteran issues and services available in Massachusetts and understanding of the policies of Massachusetts' veterans’ programs.
• Knowledge of Federal programs relating to veterans
• Veteran candidates preferred

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENT:

LICENSE AND/OR CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

• Driver’s license required
• High school diploma or equivalent

Job Type: Contract

Pay: $20.00 - $21.00 per hour

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: In person

Salary : $20 - $21