Mental Health Clinician, CHOICE Motel

At New Narrative, we envision a future where everyone seeking mental health care can live the life they choose. From clinical care and peer support programs to housing, we provide resources so people seeking mental health care can develop the tools to thrive, not just survive.

If you believe in a radical rethinking of mental health services, that everyone is the author of their own story, and that services should apply to the whole person, not just the diagnosis – we want you on our team!

New Narrative provides a $3,000 sign-on bonus to new applicants and eligibility for state and federal student debt relief.

Position Description:

The Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP) mental health clinician is a member of the Cultivating Community and CHOICE Motel Support Team that provides outreach and support to serve participants who are housed in emergency motel placements across multiple locations. The goal of the Motel Support Team is to provide supplemental support and connection to motel program participants and aid consumers in accessing community based resources.

The clinician will provide services which include: advocacy, counseling, crisis prevention and de-escalation, skills training, community navigation, case management, transportation to appointments or facilitation of transportation (ie. Ride to Care, Trimet LIFT, etc.), collaborative meetings with treatment teams and other external providers to ensure safe housing placement, obtaining food boxes, and referring to community based mental health and substance use disorder providers if needed.

With additional peer and risk case management support, the program aims to minimize participant hospitalizations (emergency department and psychiatric admissions), increase necessary contact between the participant and their respective mental health and substance use service providers, and aid linkage to transitional or permanent housing programs.

Summary of Job Duties:

• Willing to meet and engage with people “where they are,” including their environment and readiness for change
• Provide skills training, advocacy, case management, community navigation to support caseload participants in working towards their identified goals
• Provide crisis response and de-escalation in a community based setting
• Use crisis prevention approach to decrease use of crisis services, Project Respond, EMS, police, hospitalization, etc.
• Ability to work in collaboration with emergency services (ie. police, Project Respond, Multnomah County Crisis, Behavioral Health Unit)
• Support harm reduction approach, linkage to resources such as, but not limited to: clean needle exchange, NARCAN, MAT, SUD services, education around harm reduction, etc.
• Case management for linkage to services, coordination, and advocacy. Coordinate with legal, mental health, and substance abuse services, and intervene as necessary with community stakeholders to ensure residential stability and fiscal responsibility of consumers
• Provide individual and group skills training opportunities at motel as well as in the community, including but not limited to: ADLs, iADLs, coping, regulation, safety, interpersonal, community integration, community navigation, etc

Qualifications:

• Qualified Mental Health Professional credential required
• Master’s Degree Required
• Experience with SPMI and houseless population preferred.
• Bilingual (Spanish/English) preferred
• Persons of color and all genders encouraged to apply
• Incumbents with a substance use disorder must be sober and free of substance use for 2 full years preceding date of hire, and must maintain this sobriety.
• Must maintain current Oregon driver’s license and insurance. Must have own reliable vehicle to meet participants in the community, as the position requires a lot of driving.
• Must be able to pass State of Oregon criminal records check.