STATE OF CONNECTICUT EXECUTIVE BRANCH JOBS

Professional Counselor (40 Hour)

Recruitment #240222-6355FP-001

Introduction



Are you a licensed professional counselor looking for a rewarding career?
We invite you to explore this opportunity with the State of Connecticut!

The Connecticut Department of Correction (DOC) is seeking to fill a position for a highly motivated and experienced licensed Professional Counselor, located at Corrigan Correctional Center in Montville.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU
State of Connecticut employees participate in a competitive benefits plan that includes: 
  • NEW: A Platinum Healthcare Plan, the nation’s best for state employees and dependents, according to a report by Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reform and article by Ellen Andrews, Ph.D., along with comprehensive benefit offerings.
  • Sick, vacation, and personal leave.
  • This is a Hazardous Duty Position and offers a pension plan, the State Employees Retirement System Tier IV.
  • Student Loan Forgiveness - the State of Connecticut is an eligible Public Service Loan Forgiveness employer, meaning you may be eligible to have qualifying student loans forgiven after 10 years of service. Click here for more information.
  • We encourage a healthy work/life balance to all employees.
Discover the opportunity to: 
  • To work for a Forbes top company: ‘Forbes’ State of Connecticut Ranked One of the Best Employers of 2023 - State of CT Receives National Recognition for Offering Job Growth, Competitive Benefits, and Flexible Schedule.
  • Engage in a rewarding career.
  • Assist our employees so they can achieve success.
  • Make a difference in the public sector.
  • Work together in a collaborative team environment.  
Our state has a lot to offer - from fun activities for all ages, to great food and shopping, to beautiful state parks and forests, to our diverse cultures and rich history. Connecticut is a great place to live! Learn more about Connecticut here.

POSITION DETAILS
This is a full-time, 40 hours per week position on 2nd shift. Schedule is Monday-Friday between 2:00pm and 10:00pm, with rotating weekends and holidays.

The Professional Counselor within the correctional setting will provide a range of clinical and case management functions to those entering the custody of Department of Correction.

The incumbent in this position will discover the opportunity to:
  • Work within a clinically rich setting;
  • Provide intake assessments, individual psychotherapy and group therapy, crisis management, suicide risk assessment, case management services and other clinical activities;
  • Engage in collaborative discharge planning with external support services and research driven programming.
Additional opportunities to engage in collaborative discharge planning with external support services and research driven programming, are also encouraged and available. Professional Counselors at the Corrigan Correctional Center work within a dynamic, multidisciplinary team comprised of social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists and APRNs, as well as medical personnel and custody staff, all sharing the common goal of providing high quality, service oriented care.

ABOUT US
Our Mission: The DOC shall strive to be a global leader in progressive correctional practices and partnered re-entry initiatives to support responsive evidence-based practices aligned to law-abiding and accountable behaviors. Safety and security shall be a priority component of this responsibility as it pertains to staff, victims, citizens and offenders.

Corrigan Correctional Center confines both pretrial and sentenced offenders. It serves superior courts in Danielson, New London, Norwich and Windham. Programs offered to offenders in the Corrigan Correctional Center include an extensive anger management curriculum for inmates with a history of violent tendencies. A close monitoring unit is maintained in order to segregate those offenders who have been classified as members of gangs. In this unit, cultural and gang awareness programs are offered to encourage offender insight into the negative aspects of gang participation. A full complement of educational and addiction services programming is also offered.

For an inside look at how healthcare employees can Make an ImpaCT in a correctional setting, watch the video below!

 

Selection Plan

FOR ASSISTANCE IN APPLYING:  Please read or watch our Applicant Tips on How to Apply!

To Apply:
• In order to be considered for this job opening, you must meet the Minimum Qualifications as listed on this job opening. You must specify your qualifications on your application.
• The minimum experience and training requirements must be met by the close date on the job opening, unless otherwise specified.
• Ensure that your application is complete and detailed before submitting it. In order to comply with Public Act 21-69, the State of Connecticut is no longer asking for resumes during the initial application process. You will not be able to make revisions once your application is submitted into the JobAps system.
• 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.

Important Information After You Apply:
• 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 questionnaire'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.
• 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.
• For current state employees, salary calculations are not necessarily comparable from one of the three branches of state government (i.e., Executive, Legislative, Judicial) to the other.
• The immediate vacancy is listed above, however, applications to this recruitment may be used for future vacancies in this job class.
• 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, performance reviews, attendance records, supervisory references, licensure, etc., at the discretion of the hiring agency.

Should you have any questions pertaining to this recruitment, please contact Jake Ferrari at jake.ferrari@ct.gov.

PURPOSE OF JOB CLASS (NATURE OF WORK)

In a state agency behavioral health program as part of a multi-disciplinary team at one or more locations this class is accountable for independently providing clinical counseling services.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES

  • As a member of a multi-disciplinary clinical team or within a network of community based behavioral health services, provides case management, needs assessment and supportive counseling in addressing client strengths, weaknesses and needs; 
  • Develops, implements and maintains individualized treatment and rehabilitation plans for clients; 
  • Works with treatment teams to assist individual patients in achieving social and emotional stability; 
  • Develops psychosocial assessments through clinical interviews; 
  • Provides clinical treatment services such as: triage, crisis intervention, individual and/or group counseling, screening and planning; 
  • Makes use of available community services and facilities to assist clients in meeting identified needs; 
  • Interprets and synthesizes client information, professional observations and evaluation reports in order to form professional judgments about services; 
  • Monitors and evaluates effectiveness of treatment plans, documents treatment in clinical records; 
  • Completes reports in accordance with agency and accrediting bodies; 
  • Consults and collaborates with other behavioral health providers to improve delivery of services to clients; 
  • Maintains counseling treatment and standards as required; 
  • Performs related duties as required.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND ABILITY

  • Knowledge of
    • principles, methodology, casework and techniques of counseling, interviewing and psychosocial assessment; 
    • family and interpersonal relationship dynamics; 
    • values, sanctions, purposes and ethics of professional counseling work; 
    • community resources; 
  • Considerable
    • interpersonal skills; 
    • oral and written communication skills; 
  • Ability to devise and implement a treatment plan with measurable goals that address client needs.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS - GENERAL EXPERIENCE

Licensure as a professional counselor in the State of Connecticut.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Correctional or Forensic Behavioral health treatment experience.
  • Experience with crisis intervention.
  • Experience with behavior management.
  • Experience with individual and group psychotherapy.
  • Experience with criminal justice involved adults.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Incumbents in this class must possess and retain a license to practice professional counselor work pursuant to Sec. 20-195 (a-f) of the Connecticut General Statutes.
  • Incumbents in this class may be required to have knowledge of sign language and communication ability with the deaf and hearing impaired in certain designated positions.
  • Incumbents in this class may be required to have ability in Spanish oral and written communication in certain designated positions.
  • Incumbents in this class may be required to travel.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Incumbents in this class may be exposed to some risk of injury from assaultive and/or abusive clients.

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.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

As defined by Sec. 5-196 of the Connecticut General Statutes, a job class is a position or group of positions that share general characteristics and are categorized under a single title for administrative purposes.  As such, a job class is not meant to be all-inclusive of every task and/or responsibility.