Lead Counselor

Bonita House, Inc. (BHI) is a well-respected nonprofit mental health agency with multiple sites in Alameda County and a current operating budget of $11 million. Founded in 1971. BHI is also a social rehabilitation agency providing a full range of Medi-Cal services to adults with co-occurring serious mental health and substance use disorders.

In response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May 2020 and the ensuing protests across the nation, the Berkeley City Council initiated a wide-reaching process to reimagine safety in the City of Berkeley. As part of the Re-Imagining Public Safety process, the City engaged in research and planning for a Specialized Care Unit (SCU). This Unit will become a 24/7 mobile unit designed to respond to and support people who are experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis without direct involvement of the police.

Location: 

In person, Berkeley CA

Agency Values: 

Compassion: Committed to caring, dignity, and kindness 

Respect: Honor each individual and provide highly ethical services 

Progress: Leading the way in creating opportunities to change for the better 

Resilience: Channeling hope, building strengths to successfully recover, adapt and grow 

Embracing Differences: Honor and celebrate our diverse communities and individual uniqueness 

Bonita House fully supports the Board of Behavioral Sciences' commitment to protect the consumers of California through effective enforcement, ensure credibility and high professional standards through examinations and licensing requirements, and provide excellent customer service to all its constituents.

Position Summary:

Under the direction of the Program Director and Assistant Program Director, the Lead Counselor is responsible for overseeing and providing intensive group and individual counseling to adults diagnosed with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. The residential clinician will also provide ongoing assessment, intervention, and crisis management as needed. As part of a multidisciplinary team, this position provides strength-based therapeutic care, facilitates a wide variety of recovery-oriented activities, and offers training and coaching in life skills within a 24/7 milieu setting.

Minimum qualifications:

· Two years current experience in client caseload management and group counseling

· Demonstrated knowledge of the disease and treatment of chemical dependency including 12-step work and social model programs.

OR

· Master’s degree in Psychology, Social Work, Counseling or related field and two years’ experience working in mental health or substance use disorder treatment, or related social services.

· Actively working towards BBS registration and associate licensure (AMFT/ASW)

· Must be able to pass community care licensing criteria for employees of residential care facilities, and pass the Federal Background check, including fingerprint check.

· Must demonstrate an ability to work both independently and as an active and self-initiating member of a multi-disciplinary treatment team.

· Must have strong communication and organizational skills with a keen attention to detail.

· Must demonstrate excellent writing skills and be able to meet required standards of documentation.

· Must demonstrate basic computer skills.

· Must have a valid, current driver’s license with an insurable record and be willing to drive the agency van for outings when needed.

· Must demonstrate a high-level of professionalism with the capacity to set boundaries kindly and consistently with a diverse population of residents in a milieu setting.

· Must be able to effectively prioritize competing demands and meet weekly deadlines on an ongoing basis.

· Must demonstrate enthusiasm, flexibility and be able to work amicably with multiple team members.

· Must be able to assist in the evacuation of people from the house in the event of an emergency.

Essential Functions/Skills:

· As a lead counselor on the clinical team, oversee treatment to up to 15 adults with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders within a milieu setting providing ongoing assessment and intervention.

· Planning and facilitating a wide range of integrated treatment groups within a social rehabilitation treatment program, providing weekly individual counseling, and participating in weekly clinical team meetings and individual supervision.

· Crisis intervention and crisis management as needed.

· Facilitates residents' development of recovery and adult daily living skills including personal hygiene, cooking, and cleaning through modeling, coaching, teaching and working alongside them.

· Facilitating feedback to counselors, and support staff, around client interactions and group facilitation.

· Collaboratively working with counselor to formulate treatment plans with residents, writing weekly progress notes, daily log assessments, discharge summaries, and maintaining resident charts in compliance with regulatory standards.

· Assists residents in monitoring their own medications as prescribed by their physicians per agency policies and procedures.

· Consulting with other treatment/service providers (i.e. case managers, psychiatrists, physicians, etc.) to support collaborative, multidisciplinary care, service brokerage, and advocacy and discharge planning.

· Responsible for monitoring compliance with state licensing requirements and specific on-site program operations as assigned.

· Assist in the management, maintenance, up-keep, and repair of the house.

· The nature of this position requires that meal periods be taken "on duty".

· Other duties as assigned by the Program Director.

Physical demands:  

• Constantly have ability to bend and stoop, ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time, possess hand-eye-foot coordination and color recognition, good manual dexterity, with the ability to perform all tasks related to job assignments.       

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Benefits Package: 

Valued on average at $9,000 annually per employee, our benefit package includes: 

• Medical coverage (Kaiser)
• Dental coverage (Delta Dental - Dental Premier) including adult orthodontia.

• Vision coverage (VSP - Signature Plan)
• Life and AD&D insurance (Sterling)
• Long-Term Disability insurance (Reliance)
• Flex Spending Account (FSA) (Sterling)
• Chiropractic and Acupuncture coverage (Landmark)

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 13 Paid Holidays
• Birthday off without using PTO
• 23 days of accrued PTO during the first year
• Retirement plan (Mutual of America)

• Supervision toward licensure for most interns
• iPhone and laptop with data for mobility in fieldwork
• Flexible schedules
• Tuition reimbursement
• 5 paid professional development days

COVID-19 considerations:
In response to COVID-19, we have instituted many safeguards to protect our employees by requiring that all staff and clients be required to wear masks prior to entering our facility, are COVID symptom screened and contact traced, we are taking temperature checks daily, and have installed a clear protective barrier at our front desk.

EOE AA M/F/V/Disability:  

BHI is committed to providing equal opportunity to all qualified persons regardless of race, color, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law (“Protected Status”). 

Salary : $11 - $9,000