Triage Clinician

Job Type

Full-time

Description

SCHEDULE: 40 hours, (4 days) Sunday-Wednesday, 8AM-630PM, or (5 days) Sunday-Thursday, 8AM-4:30PM; may include nights, early mornings, and weekends as needed. Essential in the event of an emergency. Participates in 24/7 On-Call Rotation

Pays $70,990.4 - $114,400.00 annually DOE, (Salary ranges provided are based on relevant experience and skill set)

LOCATION: 444 Harrison Avenue, with additional coverage at363 Albany St, and 170 Morton St. Boston, MA. Work is 100% on site.

SUMMARY OF POSITION:

The Triage Clinician will work within Pine Street Inn's (PSI) Shelter Clinician Services Program to assess new guests at the Front Door of the Shelter System and immediately begin working with guests to quickly identify their needs and resources in order to determine a housing pathway. The Triage Clinician will work alongside the Shelter Operations, Shelter Clinicians and Clinical Case Managers to provide consultation, crisis Intervention and offer therapeutic support for guests during the assessment process. The Triage Clinician will play a vital role in working with individuals whose mental illness, substance use, or trauma history present additional barriers to their housing. The Triage Clinician will conduct bio-psych-social assessments and provide immediate referral services. Each guest will have varying support needs. The Triage Clinician will work with guests to develop a safe placement and stability plan with a goal for diverting individuals to appropriate community placements and resources. These services could include, but are not limited to, safety planning, connection to medication resources, and referral to Shelter Clinician and/or Clinical Case Manager, in support of guests accessing detox or recovery services and other stabilization services as needed. Once the Triage Clinician and the guest have established a safe placement and stability plan, the Triage Clinician will participate in warm hand offs to internal and external providers for continued work toward permanent housing.

The Triage Clinician will also take a proactive, leadership role in diverting from shelter whenever appropriate and will work with community providers of health and behavioral health services to coordinate care plans which do not rely on emergency shelter when other more appropriate medical and behavioral health services should be explored and utilized. The Triage Clinician will work with local hospitals and care facilities to educate on the appropriate use of our shelters and will provide advocacy for clients. The Triage Clinician will work to coordinate appropriate discharge plans for guests who are reentering the community from incarceration with a clear focus on upstream services which avoid unnecessary reliance on emergency shelter. The Triage Clinician will work within a best practice framework of Harm Reduction, Motivational Interviewing and Trauma-Informed Care and, whenever possible, will provide support toward family reunification and mitigating barriers to securing alternative options for safe housing.

The Triage Clinician will work closely with other team members of Outreach, Shelter Clinical Services program, Shelter Operations, Housing Placement and other providers such as BHCHP nursing staff, DMH HOT team, BEST team, etc.

Working in conjunction with Pine Street Inn's Program Evaluation department, the Triage Clinician will be responsible for producing data and updating guest files on a regular basis entering into an electronic system. The Triage Clinician will also assist the Triage Clinical Supervisor and the Associate Director of Shelter Clinical Services in preparing monthly, quarterly and annual progress reports. The Triage Clinician is responsible for documenting their work with clients in both written and electronic formats.

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Requirements

EDUCATION/TRAINING:

REQUIRED:

• Master's Degree in Social Work or related field

• A valid Massachusetts Driver's License in good standing
• Eligible to obtain LICSW or LMHC within 24 months of hire

• Minimum of three (3) years direct care experience providing clinical services, including assessment and referral, crisis intervention and stabilization, individual and group treatment to adults with mental illness and addictive disorders
• Knowledge, understanding and application of Motivational Interviewing, Trauma-Informed Care and Stage of Care work
• Knowledge of and strong commitment to harm reduction philosophy, principles and practices
• Knowledge of crisis Intervention and stabilization
• Awareness of and commitment to self-care strategies, practices and support
• Ability to consult about psychiatric issues with professional and non-professional staff
• Strong computer skills including familiarity with management information systems or database programs

• Experience working in a hospital or trauma center
• Experience in triage and or diversion
• Experience working with chronically homeless, medically vulnerable individuals, with tri-morbidities (mental illness, substance abuse, medically compromised)
• Experience supervising, coaching, mentoring, empowering and otherwise supporting non-clinical direct-care staff
• Knowledge and professional alignment with Housing First philosophy
• Expertise in Motivational Interviewing
• Expertise in Trauma-Informed Care, including the impact on direct-care staff (i.e. secondary traumatic stress, vicarious traumatization)
• Bilingual in Spanish and English
• Familiarity with the Massachusetts public and private mental health systems