POSITION SUMMARY

Become a Social Practitioner and join a collaborative and inspiring movement to support individuals (Members) with serious mental illness (SMI). Fountain House is more than just an organization; it’s a community dedicated to fostering growth, collaboration and positive impact. We use community as our tool to do this based in our Clubhouse environment

A Clubhouse is a community-based location designed to support the recovery of people living with serious mental illness (SMI). 

Each clubhouse provides a restorative environment for people whose lives have been severely disrupted because of their mental illness. The concept of a clubhouse — which was pioneered by Fountain House in the 1940s — starts with the idea that “community is therapy.”

In each clubhouse, an intentional community is created, where members and staff work together, side-by-side, to carry out all daily operations of the clubhouse.

The Mental Health Social Practitioner works to support the community through social practice and help Members live their lives to the fullest, while developing independent living skills and making social connections. This position requires interest in community, creativity, and flexibility. There will be no typical day as a Social Practitioner, but if you could see yourself fostering relationships and connections to community by making lunch, sharing a common interest over coffee, advocating at a social service provider, or helping one of your members to apply to a job in the community, then this could be the position for you.

The Mental Health Social Practitioner will be based at our Clubhouse in Hell’s Kitchen, and you will be required to take part in transitional environments (e.g. at a local business) outside of the Clubhouse, take occasional overnight trips to our Community Farm in New Jersey and participate occasionally in evening and weekend activities.

Learn more via this link:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlPYZZhtiC8&list=PLSpUSkxCSDz6UX9Pbl8mJatHQoEYQrNaB. 

Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (with flexibility).  fully in-house

Pay: $29.12 per hour

Please Note: To be considered, we would like all candidates to include a cover letter with your application!   

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Member Support & Advocacy  

• Have a working knowledge of all of Fountain House’s employment opportunities (transitional employment, supported employment, independent employment, careers) and be able to connect members with the appropriate contact(s) for each potential path 
• Act as a liaison between the units of Fountain House and the ERC to create employment plans that utilize the work of the units to support members in their employment goals 
• Utilize the community to design positive interventions to deal with common barriers to employment such as social isolation, poor self-esteem, anxiety, symptom management, and poverty 
• Develop relationships with Fountain House members and the community that can be leveraged to provide support for positive change and risk-taking, combat social isolation and increase meaningful connections, and introduce members to new opportunities  
• Engineer various environments and social interactions to create therapeutic results that will support members in achieving their employment goals 
• Provide daily advocacy and engagement with Clubhouse members to help gain self-worth, purpose of confidence, while offering guidance for appropriate problem-solving techniques 
• Assist members with entitlements and benefits as necessary; food stamps, SSI/SSDI, Medicaid/Medicare and ticket to Work/ACE/Access VR, Supplemental Need Trusts, & ADA accommodations 
• Advocate for members well-being, safety, and livelihood with supports around clinical, legal, housing, appointments, medications, and independent living opportunities 
• Complete all documentation including but not limited to progress notes and reach out documentation on time 

Fountain House + Body 

• Serve as a job coach at Fountain House + Body, a Fountain House run social enterprise, 2-3 days per week 
• Use social practice to create a therapeutic work environment for members working at the store 
• Observe and assess experiences with members at work in order to create specific interventions for individuals’ rehabilitation 
• Work with the ERC and social practitioners to staff the store with members who will gain the most rehabilitation from the job 
• Work with individual members to further their employment goals by uncovering difficulties that they may have and helping them to work through these obstacles 
• Coordinating with other ERC staff to offboard members when necessary. Conflict resolution for member issues on the job will also be done in collaboration with the ERC 

Other 

• Maintain compliance with all government agency requirements, company policies and procedures 
• Work some holidays including Thanksgiving, some weekend and evening hours 
• Maintain confidentiality of records relating to members’ progress 
• Perform related duties as assigned by supervisor 

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and Education

• Undergraduate degree or an equivalent combination of training and experience required 
• Graduate degree or equivalent preferred 
• 1-3+ years’ experience working with individuals with serious mental illness and or/hands on experience working in a community setting preferred 
• 1-2 years coaching and counseling experience preferred 
• 1-2 years of vocational rehabilitation, training or employment specialist experience preferred 
• Proven experience with mental health crisis management by supporting and counseling members under emotional distress 

Physical Requirements

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty and meet all physical requirements satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.