Crisis Response and Community Preparedness Support Specialist

The Jewish Board•New York, NY

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Jewish Community Services (JCS) enhances the resilience and mental health of New York City's Jewish community through a population health approach. By equipping Jewish-serving organizations with essential knowledge and resources, JCS strengthens mental well-being and supports communities in navigating both everyday challenges and large-scale crises. This includes tailored training, scalable crisis response models, and operational frameworks designed for preparedness and rapid mobilization. The Crisis Response and Community Preparedness department strengthens the capacity of Jewish communities and partner organizations to prepare for, respond to, and recover from crises, trauma, and emerging communal challenges through clinical expertise, organizational consultation, preparedness planning, and resilience-building. The department responds when crises occur, builds capacity before they occur, and sustains individuals and communities through specialized stabilization services. Crisis Response provides structured clinical and operational leadership before, during, and immediately following community crises and critical incidents. This role supports the operation of JCS crisis response. Working under the direction and clinical supervision of the Senior Director, the Crisis Response and Community Preparedness Support Specialist carries crisis operations and coordination, staff and community support, Psychological First Aid, deployment and scheduling of response staff and volunteers, delivery of trainings and toolkits, and response documentation, so that support reaches communities quickly and each response is well run and well captured. The Crisis Response and Community Preparedness Support Specialist serves as the operational point person for JCS crisis response and is part of the crisis response lead team. The Senior Director leads each response, provides clinical oversight, and guides the continued development of the program. The Support Specialist coordinates people, logistics, and resources, supports the mobilization of staff and volunteers, and helps deliver the materials and trainings that bring support to the community quickly. Crisis response is the day-to-day anchor of this role. Program development and community support work is carried out as projects alongside it, structured so the Support Specialist can step fully into a response when a situation is activated. This is a new role within a growing department. It calls for someone who is clinically grounded, culturally attuned, comfortable working in an evolving environment, and motivated to help build something new. The Senior Director provides clinical supervision alongside direction, guidance, and mentorship. This role offers the opportunity to help build an emerging crisis response and community preparedness program and grow alongside it.

Requirements

Master's degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, or a related clinical field.
LMSW licensure in New York State.
Training or coursework in trauma and crisis intervention.
Two to three years of professional experience in behavioral health, community mental health, or a related clinical or community-based setting.
Experience delivering or facilitating training, workshops, or educational programming.
Experience coordinating logistics, projects, or schedules.
Ability to work independently and shift priorities rapidly during urgent situations.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) and comfort with documentation systems and virtual communication platforms.
The candidate should be able to read paper and electronic documents and perform significant data entry into various computer programs.

Nice To Haves

Training or certification in Psychological First Aid preferred.
Exposure to crisis response or crisis intervention preferred.
Experience working with Jewish communal organizations preferred.
Experience training or coordinating volunteers preferred.

Responsibilities

Serves as the operational point person and response team coordinator for JCS crisis response.
Maintains response readiness, including current protocols, contact lists, and resource materials.
Initiates the internal response protocol and coordinates its execution upon activation by the Senior Director or designated department leadership.
Mobilizes and deploys response staff and volunteers as directed by the Senior Director, and manages scheduling and coverage throughout the response.
Sets up and manages response logistics, including booking and scheduling systems, internal communications, and documentation.
Provides staff and community support throughout the response.
Provides Psychological First Aid and trauma-informed crisis support, under the clinical supervision of the Senior Director.
Produces and distributes response materials and referral information, coordinates translation and interpreter services, and uses culturally appropriate language in materials and communications.
Tracks and organizes situational information and community updates, and shares them with the Senior Director.
Coordinates the logistics of follow-up and recovery planning.
Documents each response and captures after-action observations, including what worked well and what did not, to inform protocol updates made by the Senior Director.
Produces and maintains crisis response resources, toolkits, referral guides, and language materials shaped in collaboration with the Senior Director, and supports the development of program materials and workflows.
Responds to individual crisis situations in support of Community Stabilization Services, providing short-term trauma-informed support and connecting individuals to resources, under the clinical supervision of the Senior Director.
Delivers and facilitates training for crisis response volunteers and staff, and community resilience programming, using curricula developed with the Senior Director, and supports volunteer readiness, scheduling, and coordination.
Supports the Senior Director in facilitating tabletop exercises and organizational preparedness work with partner organizations, preparing materials, managing logistics, and supporting facilitation in the room.
Maintains program data and documentation to support evaluation and reporting.
Supports departmental planning and continuous quality improvement efforts.