Employment

“Every child deserves a champion; an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be” – Rita Pierson

Join our team!  Be a champion and an advocate for children, teens and their families, by providing safe, responsive and confidential counseling services in a school-based setting.  We provide affordable and immediate COUNSELING, CARE, and CONNECTION for clients to thrive.

Benefits to joining our team:

• Report to: Clinical Director
• Simple IRA option, Dental options
• 37.5 Hours/Week for 36 weeks (Total school year)
• Competitive Hourly Rates, Commensurate with Industry Best Practices

Keys to success:

• A personal desire to help those in need
• Care to make a difference in the life of a child.
• Connections on a personal and professional level

Title:                                      School Based Mental Health Counselor

Responsible To:                Clinical Director

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, Education, Child Development or related field
• Some prior work in schools or prevention preferred
• National Certified Counselor (NCC) preferred
• Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Social Worker, or Licensed Certified Social Worker preferred
• Student Assistance Program (SAP) certification preferred
• Act 33/34/73 Clearances.

Position Update:   November 2024

Primary Responsibilities:           

• This position will coordinate and provide preventive mental/behavioral health services in a middle school/high school contracted with Outreach Teen and Family Services.
• This position will serve as the specialist of the host system and Outreach.
• The position will be the key communicator, facilitator, needs assessor, and customer representative.
• This position may be asked to provide direct counseling to students, crisis intervention, participate on the SAP team, identify and coordinate linkages to treatment services, develop psycho educational classroom presentations, curriculum-based groups, support groups, individual psycho educational sessions, in-services, and parent education forums to the schools and other host settings.

Other Duties and Responsibilities:

• Implement and maintain the Outreach’s philosophy, principles and procedures in all facets of performance.
• Prepare or assist in preparation and implementation of educational plans and goals for the school.
• Assess or provide counseling, intervention and/or education to consumers in a professional manner.
• Complete timely and accurate documentation. This includes weekly schedules, accurate and timely billing forms, school logs, and monthly reports.
• Communicate, collaborate and meet with staff, families, external agencies and/or others as necessary to support services to consumers and the mission of the agency. Meets with the schools or host settings administrative staff regularly to continue to assess host settings needs and refers them to the appropriate level of community services.
• Maintains hours of services as per contract.
• Prioritizes high-risk situations including at-risk students and helps develop an intervention plan (as part of but not limited to core teams), that accesses and provides the appropriate interventions and critical incident documentation.
• Participates in planned supervision. Comes prepared with an agenda and keeps supervisor informed.  Knows when to act independently and when to seek help.
• Fully participate as required in staff development opportunities, which are offered to enhance professional growth especially to maintain license, certification, or identified program performance skills.
• Perform other duties as assigned

Goal:

The goals of the program are to retain students within the system, to intervene with students who have social, family or emotional problems which could affect their functioning in school, and to facilitate an appropriate learning atmosphere within the school.

Send cover letter and resume to: Kaitlyn Pry, kpry@outreachteen.org 

“Every child deserves a champion; an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be” – Rita Pierson

Join our team! Be a champion and an advocate for children, teens and their families, by providing safe, responsive and confidential counseling services. We provide affordable and immediate COUNSELING, CARE, and CONNECTION for clients to thrive.

Benefits to Joining Our Team:

• Report to: Clinical Director
• Simple IRA option, Dental options
• Part-time position: Flexible Hours, Excellent Setting
• Competitive Hourly Rates, Commensurate with Industry Best Practices

Keys to Success:

• A personal desire to help those in need
• Care to make a difference in the life of a child.
• Counseling times that are flexible.
• Connections on a personal and professional level

Primary Responsibilities:

This position provides therapy and counseling services focusing on early intervention, prevention and psych-education to children and families in an outpatient office setting; utilizes other community supports as deemed clinically necessary; provides services in accordance with the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics and Standards, and in alignment with the agency’s Mission, Vision, Polices, Procedures and Practices.

Other Duties and Responsibilities:

• Conduct clinical assessments (initial evaluations) to identify treatment goals. The therapist shall utilize a strengths-based, family-driven approach in client needs.
• Provide individual and/or family counseling sessions in person. Demonstrate an ability to conceptualize cases and translate significant issues into attainable treatment goals in collaboration with the client, family, and/or relevant service providers.
• Demonstrate the ability to select appropriate short and long-term goals and treatment modalities based on the diagnostic criteria and client’s current level of need.
• Contribute to the design of the treatment plan, in conjunction with the client and family in a timely manner while reflecting specific and measurable objectives.
• Use good judgment in securing additional therapeutic consultation as clinically indicated while demonstrating the ability to use supervision/consultation effectively for continuous quality improvement and treatment fidelity.
• Maintain ongoing dialogue regarding client treatment with family members and significantly involved Agencies (e.g., schools, CYF, etc.) when clinically appropriate.
• Ensure that each client or family is documented in progress notes and included on the case activity form assuring that the client file is constantly updated with contact.
• Provide all requested clinical information to the Clinical Director in a timely manner, in a well-organized case consultation of client’s current status (e.g., progress toward treatment goals, treatment compliance, etc.) during supervision.
• Maintain strict professional boundaries with all clients/families in accordance with good clinical judgment, agency policies and licensing body code of ethics.
• Perform other duties as asked including group facilitation(s), educational speaking engagements and monthly clinical supervision.
• Utilize an agency provided email address and voicemail box that is checked regularly and respond to messages within 24 hours.
• Adhere to all required Documentation Policies and Procedures.
• Perform other duties as assigned

Educational/License Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, Education or Counseling required.
• Current active PA Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW) and/or PA Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) Preferred.
• All Legal Clearances required.

Please submit resume, cover letter and preferred hourly rate to:

Kaitlyn Pry, kpry@outreachteen.org 

Internship Opportunities
This non-paid program is open to college students of all majors who are interested in gaining real work experience in the non-profit and mental health fields of study. The positions will be located at Outreach’s office at 615 Washington Road, TL-6 Pittsburgh, PA 15228.

Application process
Candidates must send their cover letter and resume to Program Manager, Maggie Zangara, at mzangara@outreachteen.org. Interviews will be held at the office where the internship positions are located. Rolling applications accepted for Fall, Spring, Summer semesters.

Program requirements
Candidates must be enrolled in an accredited college or university as a current sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate student. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

Orientation
The one-hour orientation provides a forum for interns to:
Become familiar with Outreach’s mission and areas of operation
Gain insights into mental health care industry trends
Create a schedule that meets their workload and expectations

Meaningful work
Outreach is committed to providing relevant and meaningful work experiences for our interns. Internships are project-based, and participants work closely with our full-time staff and therapist team. Interns will have the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge and gain real-world experience in the non-profit and clinical mental health fields of study.

Evaluation and feedback
Interns and managers will meet regularly to share feedback and discuss opportunities for learning and improvements. At the end of the program, interns will be asked to complete an internship evaluation of their internship experience, and their feedback will be used to develop improvements for the following year.

Internships for credit
If a student requires an internship for credit, we will work with the university to ensure that the responsibilities and work experience outlined in the internship position meet the required criteria set by the university.

Quotes from pervious interns
“I had SO much fun working with Outreach this summer, and I feel as though the work I was doing was benefitting me and my academic/professional career instead of being given “busy work.”
“Everyone is so welcoming and supportive! It truly seems like everyone helps each other out and values each other, making it a great atmosphere!”