Behavioral Health Support Specialist-Family Support Specialist

La Clinica Del Valle•Medford, OR

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Behavioral Health Support Specialist/Family Support Specialist (BHSS/FSS) is a core member of La Clinica’s school-based health center behavioral health team. In partnership with Behavioral Health Clinicians, the BHSS/FSS provides skills training, teaching, and mentoring to children and youth. This role also works in partnership with the parents/caregivers/legal guardians of youth in services to provide individualized peer support, education, and advocacy for families. This position facilitates and coordinates access to needed services and supports within the community. Specific to the role of a Family Peer Support Specialist, an FSS is a trained peer professional who provides individualized, strengths-based, one-on-one support to families navigating mental health, behavioral health, or child-serving system challenges. The role aims at drawing upon the specialist’s own lived experience to offer empathy, guidance, and advocacy to those families they serve. An FSS must meet the qualification criteria adopted under ORS 414.665 and may be either a peer support specialist or a peer wellness specialist who, based on similar life experiences, provides support services to and has experience parenting a child who: (a) is/was a current or former consumer of mental health or addiction treatment; or (b) is facing or has faced difficulties in accessing education, health, and wellness services due to mental health or behavioral health barriers. If an applicant meets these criteria but has not been certified as an FSS, training and certification must happen within 90 days of employment.

Requirements

Must have the ability to work independently and as part of a team performing each essential duty satisfactorily.
Must be able to interact with a variety of individuals at various levels under stressful circumstances while exercising sound judgement, tact, and diplomacy, communicate with clarity, both verbally and in writing to groups and individuals, be an exceptional listener, and be flexible and adaptable within a fast-paced primary care or dental care setting.
Minimum: High School Diploma
Three to five years of experience in social services field
Registers or is working towards a Qualified Mental Health Associate (QMHA) certification (QMHA-R) within 30 days of employment and maintains certification while employed.
Certification as a Family Support Specialist (FSS) is required at time of hire or within 90 days of employment.
Must have the ability to communicate with clarity, both verbally and in writing; read, analyze, and interpret complex documents, regulations, policies, and procedure manuals; and create professional business documents.
Must have the ability to understand confidential document security from a legal perspective
Must have the ability to effectively deal with a variety of abstract and concrete variables
Must have accessible phone service and maintain reliable transportation.
All La Clinica workforce members are required to follow current La Clinica policies regarding masking and mandatory immunization.

Nice To Haves

Certification in health coaching, alcohol and drug counseling, family support, and/or other health/behavioral health care related certification.
Excellent interpersonal communication and problem-solving skills
Skills to intervene and promote reconciliation, compromise and positive outcomes in difficult interactions.
Skilled at using electronic health records as applicable to area of work (EPIC, Wisdom)
Bachelor’s degree in health education, health promotion, psychology, or social work.
Preferred bilingual English/Spanish.

Responsibilities

Helps formulate and carry out individual treatment plans while working in partnership with other team members including Behavioral Health Clinicians, Primary care Providers, Nursing Staff, school personnel, and community partners as indicated.
Documents patient care in EPIC and is responsible for following workflows that result in capturing activities to meet client/family engagement standards as outlined in the APCM program.
Supports client/family in identifying self-management goals and developing customized plans with the behavioral health clinician, including goals and plan of action.
Provides ongoing follow-up support in-person or by telephone to support client-identified goals and assists client/family with accessing services and support to address additional treatment needs, medical needs, educational needs, etc.
Collaborate with the child, family, behavioral health clinician, and school staff to provide support and increase knowledge and understanding around issues and behaviors that are impacting the child.
Help the caregiver(s) and child practice skills to decrease specific behaviors in and increase child social skills and improve the caregiver-child relationship.
Utilize motivational interviewing to assess client/family’s readiness to change and actively engage the client/family in the client’s care using trauma informed practices.
Assists clients/families in identifying small steps toward goals (behavior change action plan.)
Supports client/family and team in identifying and advocating for referral to additional services (internal or external).
Coordinates and communicates care needs effectively with client/family, service delivery partners, and primary care team members to ensure a holistic plan of care.
Acts as an advocate or support with the family when requested in navigating systems.
Engages in biweekly supervision with Behavioral Health Clinician and/or BH Clinical Lead.
Ensures clear concise documentation within scope of practice and in alignment with organizational policies.
Screens and provides intervention for a variety of health screenings (i.e. PHQ, SBIRT, SDOH, etc.)
Screens and provides intervention to a person at risk for suicide or domestic violence, creates safety plans, consults and collaborates with BHCs on interventions and referrals to appropriate services.
Facilitate the administration of standardized Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) tools (e.g., ORS and SRS) with clients at the beginning and end of every clinical session.
Proactively analyze real-time outcome data to identify "at-risk" cases (clients not meeting expected treatment trajectories) and adjust clinical interventions accordingly.
Use session feedback to identify and repair ruptures in the therapeutic alliance, ensuring the treatment approach aligns with the client’s stated goals and preferences.
Incorporate FIT data and client feedback into progress notes to provide a clear, objective narrative of the client’s improvement or lack thereof.
Participate in individual and group supervision that utilizes FIT data to identify personal clinical blind spots and develop specific skills to improve overall effectiveness.
Maintain an open, non-defensive stance when reviewing client feedback that indicates dissatisfaction or lack of progress, using it as a primary tool for clinical growth.
Monitor personal "Effectiveness Benchmarks" (e.g., average effect size, dropout rates) compared to agency standards to ensure high-quality care delivery.
Maintain high data integrity by accurately entering feedback scores into the agency’s outcome management system (OpenFIT) immediately following each session.
Actively contribute to a "Culture of Feedback" within the team, sharing successes and challenges derived from FIT data during clinical staff meetings.
Completes required training designated on orientation checklist within 6 months of hire (i.e., motivational interviewing, trauma informed care, mental health first aid etc.)
Completes annually mandatory and role-based competencies.
Participates in care team huddles, discipline-specific team meetings, and monthly case consultation meetings.
Registers and maintains active certification with the Mental Health & Addiction Certification Board (MHACBO) for a qualified mental health associate (QMHA) certification.
When indicated, register as a certified alcohol & drug counselor (CADC) through MHACBO or as a family support specialist (FFS) through the OHA Traditional Health Worker Registry.
Ensure required CEs to maintain certifications are completed as required.
Actively seeks real-time feedback from clients and families about effectiveness of services (utilizing ORS/SRS models, FIT, and/or other feedback tools).
Other duties as assigned.