STATE OF CONNECTICUT EXECUTIVE BRANCH JOBS

Mental Health Assistant 2 (35 Hour)

Office/On-site

Recruitment #230119-5723HN-002

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Introduction

Do you want to make a difference while participating in a dynamic and reciprocal health care environment in the public sector? If so, we have an excellent opportunity for you to join our hospital’s team! 

THE ROLE
The State of Connecticut, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), seeks a qualified individual for the position of Mental Health Assistant 2.  

HIGHLIGHTS
  • LOCATION: Southeastern Mental Health Authority (SMHA)
  • UNIT: Wellness Recovery Advocacy Program (WRAP)
  • ADDRESS: 401 West Thames Street, Unit 301, Norwich, CT 
  • SCHEDULE: Full-Time, 35 hours per week, first shift, 8:00am to 3:30pm, Monday through Friday. 
  • Position Number: 125924, 26148
WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU
  • We offer a competitive benefits plan that includes healthcare coverage, a retirement plan as well as paid time off, including 13 paid holidays per calendar year. 
  • We encourage a strong work/life balance for all state employees. 
  • We offer opportunities for professional and personal growth. 
  • We have limitless areas for you to perform relevant and significant work.

DISCOVER THE OPPORTUNITY TO:
  • Provide case management services based on the WRAP TEAM model;
  • Facilitate independent living by providing skill building for daily living through role modeling, teaching daily living skills and decision making;
  • Facilitate linkages to community providers, advocating for clients rights, and assist clients in accessing community-based resources;
  • Provide medication monitoring, developing relationships with community providers, families, maintaining housing, and natural supports;
  • Provide crisis assessment/risk management and completing required documentation including, but not limited to, Functional Assessments, Risk Assessments, Quarterly Reassessments, Recovery Plans, Periodic Assessments, Progress Notes, and Discharge Summaries;
  • Monitor client progress and document client interactions in an electronic health record in accordance with agency and regulatory requirements;
  • Accompany clients and participate in various community-based appointments, including those related to treatment, housing, legal involvement (Probation, Parole, Criminal Court, Probate Hearings), and entitlements;
  • Collaborate and maintain communication with appointed Conservators and Representative Payees; 
  • Communicate, via telephone and writing, with staff from various entitlement agencies, including, but not limited to, Social Security Administration and the Department of Social Services; 
  • Provide psycho-education to clients and their families/significant others; and 
  • Perform other duties as assigned.
ABOUT US
DMHAS is a health care agency whose mission is to promote the overall health and wellness of persons with behavioral health needs through an integrated network of holistic, comprehensive, effective, and efficient services and supports that foster dignity, respect, and self-sufficiency in those we serve. We promote and administer comprehensive, recovery-oriented services in the areas of mental health treatment and substance abuse prevention and treatment throughout Connecticut.  

SMHA is a community mental health agency operated by the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS). Its primary goal is to provide high quality behavioral health services to those in our community with mental health and substance use disorders who are 18 years or older and reside in New London County and its surrounding towns. Services, which include case management, outpatient behavioral health, crisis intervention, respite care, and forensic services, are recovery oriented and offered in a trauma informed and culturally sensitive manner. 

WRAP is a recovery-oriented, multi-disciplinary Community Support Program (CSP) with a team consisting of a prescriber, nurses, social workers, and rehabilitative staff. The program provides intensive, rehabilitative community support, crisis intervention, individual/group psycho-education, peer support, medication management, linkages to other community-based providers/services, coordination of services/care, and individualized skill building in activities of daily living in order to maximize each individual’s level of independence and functioning. The majority of services are provided to clients in the community and are personalized to meet the clients’ expressed needs/preferences

Selection Plan

FOR ASSISTANCE IN APPLYING: 
Please visit our 'Applicant Tips on How to Apply' page.

This position may be subject to Federal requirements of COVID-19 Vaccination. 

TO APPLY
  • In order to be considered for this job opening, you must meet the Minimum Qualifications as listed on the job opening. The minimum experience and training requirements must be met by the close date on the job opening, unless otherwise specified. 
  • You must specify your qualifications on your application. You will be unable to make revisions once you submit your application for this posting to the JobAps system.
  • In order to comply with Public Act 21-69, the State of Connecticut is no longer asking for resumes during the initial application process.
  • All application materials must be received by the recruiting agency by the time specified on the job opening for the position for which you are applying. Late applications may not be submitted and will not be considered. Exceptions are rare and limited to documented events that incapacitate a candidate during the entire duration of the job posting time period. It is the candidate’s obligation and responsibility to request an exception and provide a legally recognized justification to accommodate such exception. Requests should be made to DAS.SHRM@ct.gov.
  • This position will be filled in accordance with contractual language, reemployment, SEBAC, transfer, promotion and merit employment rules.
AFTER YOU APPLY 
  • Although applicants will receive correspondence via email, as a backup they are also encouraged to sign on to their Personal Status Board on a daily basis to monitor their status, view all emailed notices and complete tasks required in the recruitment process.
  • This posting may require completion of additional referral questions (RQs). You can access these RQs via an email that will be sent to you after the posting's closing date or by visiting your JobAps Personal Status Board (Certification Questionnaires section). Your responses to these RQs must be submitted by the question's expiration date. Please regularly check your email and JobAps Personal Status Board for notifications. Please check your SPAM and/or Junk folders on a daily basis in the event an email provider places auto-notification emails in a user's spam.
  • NOTE: At any point during the recruitment process, applicants may be required to submit additional documentation which support their qualification(s) for this position. These documents may include: a cover letter, resume, transcripts, diplomas, performance reviews, attendance records, supervisory references, licensure, etc., at the discretion of the hiring agency.
  • The immediate vacancy is listed above, however, applications to this recruitment may be used for future vacancies in this job class.
  • Interviews will be limited to candidates whose experience and training most closely meet the requirements of the position.
  • Candidates who are offered and accept a position with the State of Connecticut are bound by the State Code of Ethics for Public Officials and State Employees which is available at www.ct.gov/ethics.
CONNECT WITH US 
  • Due to the large volume of applications received, we are unable to provide confirmation of receipt or status during the recruitment process. 
  • Updates will be available through your JobAps portal account. If you have any questions pertaining to this recruitment, please contact Jensine Tran at jensine.tran@ct.gov. 

PURPOSE OF JOB CLASS (NATURE OF WORK)

In a Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services hospital, community behavioral health facility or program this class is accountable for leading Mental Health Assistants in the assessment, planning and implementation of paraprofessional nursing, clinical and/or rehabilitative interventions designed to support client short and/or long-term needs. In outpatient or community programs this class is accountable for independently performing the full range of paraprofessional functions in case management and crisis intervention services.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES

Participates in assigned nursing, clinical and/or rehabilitative interventions to meet client short and long-term needs; advocates for services or resources that meet client needs and preferences; observes and records client behavior; prepares incident and accident reports; monitors client progress; assists client with decision making and problem solving; assists client in learning and utilizing daily living skills, budgeting, medication monitoring and/or community adaptation skills; acts as a role model and instructs staff in crisis intervention techniques; develops goal directed relationships with individuals and/or groups; identifies and facilitates use of appropriate support networks; investigates alternative placement for client; participates in education and training activities to further skill development; participates in admission and discharge planning activities; protects civil rights of client; maintains a safe and healthy environment; may coordinate and direct programs and activities for a group of clients; performs related duties as required.

Community and/or Outpatient Programs: Functions as a team member of a case management or crisis intervention team; participates in assessment crisis, monitoring within facility or community at large (i.e. emergency rooms jails, homeless shelters, outpatients programs, etc.); provides individual, group and/or family supportive treatment under appropriate supervision; identifies and reinforces client skills, strengths, resources and preferences; applies accepted standards of nursing care to clients; participates in community outreach programs that include crisis intervention and family contact in home settings; identifies and accesses wide range of community resources; participates as a liaison to community agencies; makes arrangements for outpatient appointments; consults with care givers in other facilities regarding crisis intervention techniques; manages client behaviors through verbal communication when necessary; may problem solve with clients in community.

Inpatient Ward or Unit: Leads, trains and participates in training and development of Mental Health Assistants and other assigned employees; participates in developing and maintaining a therapeutic milieu; coordinates maintenance of a safe and healthy living environment; participates in meeting psychological and physical needs of client; identifies client strengths and assists in development of treatment plans; orients new client to ward or unit; participates in team nursing activities and development of nursing care and rehabilitation programs; may supervise self-administration of oral medications; may assist with data collection.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND ABILITY

Considerable knowledge of psychiatric rehabilitation and/or case management principles, practices and procedures; considerable knowledge of acceptable standards of nursing care; knowledge of dynamics of human behavior; knowledge of hygiene and sanitation; knowledge of safety and fire procedures and security measures; knowledge of community resources and programs; considerable interpersonal skills; considerable communication skills; considerable counseling skills; observation skills; ability to lead staff; ability to supervise client activity; ability to interpret and implement agency and/or facility policies and procedures; ability to apply principles of therapeutic counseling under supervision; ability to develop curricula and instruct groups; organizational ability; ability to understand, interpret and carry out oral and written instructions.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS - GENERAL EXPERIENCE

Three (3) years' experience at the level of Mental Health Assistant 1.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS - SUBSTITUTIONS ALLOWED

1. College training in mental health technology, a behavioral science, social work, rehabilitation therapy or its equivalent may be substituted for the General Experience on the basis of fifteen (15) semester hours equalling six (6) months of experience to a maximum of two (2) years.
2. Completion of a mental health trainee certificate program may be substituted for six (6) months of the General Experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience working in community-based settings with clients diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness and substance abuse disorders 
  • Experience teaching daily living skills, such as money management, food management, home management, and accessing transportation with clients in the community
  • Experience working with clients in accessing community resources/entitlements and in securing and maintaining housing                                                           
  • Experience working on a multi-disciplinary outpatient team/program
  • Experience completing such documentation as Recovery Plans, Reassessments, DLA-20s, Periodic Assessments, WITS notes, Releases of Information, Social Security Applications, and entitlement redeterminations

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

1. Incumbents in this class may be required to be bilingual or fluent in American Sign Language.
2 . Incumbents in this class may be required to possess and retain a valid Motor Vehicle Operator's license.
3. Incumbents in this class may be required to travel.

Conclusion

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.





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