Mental Health Therapist

SAL Community Services•Davenport, IA

7d•$25 - $28•Onsite

About The Position

Skip-a-Long Childhood Centers, part of SAL Community Services, is the Quad Cities areas leading provider of early childhood care and education. We provide a safe, secure and supportive environment centered on how playing can charge the mind of the children we care for. As part of the Skip-a-Long early learning team that develops young children into future leaders and our next generation of parents in our community, the Mental Health Therapist position role is to engage meaningfully to discover strengths, scaffold children and families to meet their needs and to highlight opportunities for children, parents and staff to have increased social emotional capacity. The Mental Health Therapist position provides play-based intervention and consultation to children and families, as well as coaching and supporting Skip-a-Long early care and education staff as part of innovative programming to provide intentional interactions that support the cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and social health and well-being of involved stakeholders. The role of the Mental Health Therapist works to reduce negative impacts of trauma, poverty, and systemic barriers on children’s development by fostering resilience, emotional regulation, and healthy family engagement.

Requirements

Master Degree in Social Work, Mental Health, or Counseling and an active Illinois License Clinical Social Work/Iowa Licensed Independent Social Worker or Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor/Iowa Licensed Mental Health Counselor or will obtain an Illinois/Iowa Clinical License within a six-month period of start date.
Plus, minimum of two years of clinical experience providing mental health services to children and/or families in Early Childhood, Community Based, Social Service, or Family Support settings.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
This position must obtain required background clearances.

Nice To Haves

In addition to required, five or more years providing mental health services to children and/or families in a classroom-based setting.
Previous work with children and/or group therapy desired.

Responsibilities

Provides direct onsite services to children, families, and staff including: assessments, counseling, classroom support, and family consultations.
Applies developmentally appropriate therapeutic interventions, advanced psychosocial theory and methods to individuals, families, and staff with appropriate regard for the complexity of given problems.
Assess and respond to children’s and families’ complex needs through the use of standardized screening tools, behavioral data, and coordinated preventive and therapeutic supports.
Provide therapy services in individual, family, and group sessions along with classroom-based interventions.
Lead the development and ongoing support of program evaluation framework to assess the strengths of the program, identify areas for growth, and inform a responsive and culturally attuned service model through structured focus groups with families, staff, and partners.
Remain current with best practices, industry trends and provide internal and external direction within our Agency and with local, regional, state and federal agencies and stakeholders.