Community Support Specialist
Do you care deeply about social justice? Consider joining us by becoming a Community Support Specialist! Working at Thresholds means making a difference in someone’s life every day. For decades, Thresholds has provided mental health and substance use services in Chicago and the surrounding counties that give hope to those who need it most. We have opportunities for this role in the north, south, and west sides of Chicago, the surrounding suburbs, Kankakee, and Lake and McHenry counties.
Take advantage of our excellent training programs to learn the latest in evidence-based clinical practices. Enjoy flexibility and autonomy in how you accomplish your work. At Thresholds, one of Chicago’s award-winning best workplaces, we offer competitive compensation and benefits packages, opportunities for growth and continuing education, and clinical supervision for LCPC/LCSW licensure.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Provides direct service to clients through individual and group counseling/therapy, vocational support, crisis intervention, and psycho-social rehabilitation.
- Identifies risk factors related to relapse and develops relapse prevention plans and strategies.
- Develops and reviews members’ care plans by identifying goals, objectives, and specific mental health services needed.
- Teaches members independent and community living skills, such as housekeeping, meal preparation, coping skills, etc.
- Provides support to members with collateral social service agencies and the community.
- Documents services provided in an Electronic Health Record in a timely manner.
EDUCATION
- Candidates must be at least 21 years of age and have:
- High school diploma or GED certificate with 5 years of supervised job related experience in the field of social services OR Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Social Work, or related field
REQUIREMENTS
- Daily access to a personal vehicle
- Valid driver’s license
- Willingness to provide transportation for members of the program
- Must obtain and maintain liability car insurance of $100,000 per person bodily injury / $300,000 per accident / $100,000 property damage
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Community Support Specialists work on one of three teams determined by the level of care for our members:
- Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) works with multidisciplinary staff to serve a shared caseload of members who are seen at the highest frequency. May be required to work flexible schedules and be available to work on weekends or evenings as required to accommodate 24-hour coverage. May be required to be on call.
- Community Support Team (CST) shares a caseload among a team, whose members are typically each seen about once a week.
- Community Support Individual (CSI) has individual caseloads of members who are each typically seen once or twice a month.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.