Early Head Start - Counselor - Mental Health And Disabilities Coordinator

Position Type:

Early Childhood/Early Childhood

Date Posted:

5/9/2024

Location:

Crockett Early Head Start

Date Available:

08/01/2024

  Additional Information: Show/Hide

Primary Purpose:

The Mental Health Professional, under the supervision of the Early Head Start Director, shall provide a program developed to meet the personal, social, emotional, and physical/cognitive special needs of Early Head Start students, families, and staff.

Qualifications:

Professional Qualifications:

M. A.

• Psychology: Licensed Psychological Associate, Counselor LPC

Required: M.A., M.S., or M.Ed. in Psychology, Counseling, Social Work, or related field

Preferred: Licensed Professional Counselor or LPC Associate; Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist or LMFT Associate; Licensed Psychological Associate; Licensed Clinical Social Worker or Associate Clinical Social Worker

Performance Responsibilities:

General

• Responsible for following and complying with all AISD and EHS Staff Policies and Procedures.

• Maintain professional work environment through a positive attitude, punctuality, regular

• attendance, phone etiquette, and personal appearance.

• Give leadership to the development of an integrated and quality content area service plan and assist in evaluation and enrichment of all facets of the component.

• Advise the director in preparation of a budget for the assigned content area.

• Assist in determining training needs of staff, parents' and/or persons in the assigned content area and arrange for or provide the training when appropriate.

• Attend staff meetings, professional development, and prescribed training, as necessary.

• Supervise and train volunteers and content area staff.

• Keep proper records and documentation to track and report content area service data and progress. Submit reports as required.

• Ensure compliance with all AISD, Child Care Regulations, HS Federal Performance Standards, and all other licensing or funding agency requirements pertaining to the content area.

• Maintain Program Service Plans.

• Anyone who works for Early Head Start Program has the primary responsibility for the health and safety of children, staff, parents, and volunteers.

• Project enthusiasm for program goals, philosophy, relationships, and job responsibilities, maintaining a good attitude and working in a professional manner.

• Cooperative and friendly toward co-workers and everyone else employee encounters.

• Maintain a regular daily work schedule to ensure continuity of care for families and children.

• Accurately documents, maintains reports, and tracks referrals, follow-up, and other services to families. Keep timely, clear, and accurate documentation.

• Work to assure that all information is maintained in a confidential manner that conforms to the program's confidentiality policy.

• Makes appropriate referrasls to other leadership team members as necessary and follows up through carefuldocumentation and tracking

• Provide on-going communication with and serve as a role-model for families with sensitivity to cultural differences.

• Work in partnership with all content areas to ensure integration and continuity of quality services to children and families.

• Participate in annual program self-assessment, development of campus improvement plan, and annual revision of content area service plans.

• Substitute in the classroom to allow classroom teachers to attend meetings, conferences, lunch, etc.

• Serves as an advocate and a public relations representative for the program, and children and families by representing EHS on boards, committees, etc.

• Prepare any required reports for the EHS/PRS Director, agency, grantor, state, and federal in accordance with stated time requirements.

• Maintain confidentiality of records in a manner consistent with all ethical and legal standards.

• Performs other duties as assigned by the EHS Director.

Other-Content Area Specific:

• Be available and provide services to Early Head Start children, families, and staff in order to assist in meeting their mental health and disability needs.

• Provide on-site Mental Health services that may include, but are not limited to individual, peer, group, and career/job consultations or referrals, information, and referrals for counseling or other mental health services in the community, and identification of and intervention in parent/staff concerns about the mental health of PRS/EHS children and families.

• Conduct observations, actively participate in scheduled interdisciplinary staffing meetings, and student support team meetings for EHS students and/or their parents, as needed, to assure continuity and comprehensive service delivery.

• Maintain communication with health professionals regarding the EHS prenatal student's pregnancy and health status.

• Consult & collaborate with school counselors, nurses, teachers, and administrators on AISD campuses to enhance the services for EHS students.

• Help EHS parents to recognize a variety of ways in which they can further their children's intellectual, emotional, and social development at home.

• Assist EHS students and families to process and integrate information and schedules from school, social service agencies, doctors, and other providers.

• Provide information that will help EHS staff members better understand normal development as well as the more common behavior and developmental concerns seen in children.

• Provide practical advice and help to the teaching staff by observing the children in their physical surroundings at least semi-annually.

• Advise and assist staff in referring children with serious atypical behaviors and/or developmental delays for further evaluation and treatment when needed.

• Advise and assist staff in obtaining and providing special services for children with atypical behavior and/or developmental delays when needed.

• Have a working knowledge of mental health resources in the community in order to assist in development of a file of community resources, including referral procedures and documentation of their use.

• Participate actively as a member of the Health Services Advisory Committee, Community Services Advisory Committee, and Family and Community Partnerships Teams.

• Ensure that well documented computer history and files are maintained for each EHS child or family with mental health and/or developmental delays/concerns.

• Obtain a written parental consent for special mental health and disability services.

• Attend professional development conferences and seminars to facilitate professional and personal growth.

• In conjunction with EHS administration, policy council, parents, and staff assist in designing or redesigning, writing, and the annual review of an integrated disabilities plan. This plan includes identification, referral, implementation, and planning for families who have children with disabilities.

• Organize and coordinate the program's disabilities effort in recruitment, enrollment, diagnosis, documentation, and provision of services to include children with disabilities into the regular classroom.

• Assist other coordinators or agencies with the screening process, including a review of screening results to determine eligibility of the child as a "child with a disability".

• Coordinate with a multidisciplinary team, including the appropriate lead agency Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), parents, and staff in developing, implementing, and tracking the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) for each child with a disability.

• Develop and assure implementation of a referral system for children requiring further evaluation which includes information gathering, completion and processing of the referral document, and securing parental permission.

• Develop and update an on-going referral list.

• Conduct or arrange for parent and staff training to provide skills to meet the special needs of children with disabilities.

• Provide role modeling for teachers, parents, and staff through classroom observations, direct interaction with children, home visits, and specific training for disabilities to assure appropriate services are received by each child.

• Monitor, accurately document, and maintain a comprehensive file on the child with disabilities progress through the EHS program. Use My Head Start and Teaching Strategies GOLD to monitor and document children's progress toward their developmental goals.

• Assist the EHS administration in developing, coordinating, and monitoring partnership agreements with service providers.

• Develop a plan to assure a smooth transition of children with disabilities and assist the children, parents, staff, and other agency staff when the child leaves EHS or makes changes within the EHS program.

• Develop and maintain knowledge of federal, state, and local laws relating to children with disabilities. To update and train EHS administration and staff of changes in federal, state, or local law.

• Assures all federal, state, and local laws are met concerning children with disabilities.

Wage/Hour Status: Exempt

Pay Grade: Administrative Professional

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The Abilene ISD does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Employment decisions will be made on the basis of each applicant's job qualifications, experience, and abilities.

Attachment(s):

• EHS - Mental Halth & Disabilities Coordinator.pdf