Position Summary:
A wide range of efforts have been underway to improve the care of Philadelphia citizens who have been arrested and adjudicated Incompetent to Stand Trial (IST). The Forensic Support Team (FST) of BHJD is one of the programs that was established to meet the unique needs of individuals who are IST. The FST Clinical Assessor is a part of this team which was created to work within the Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP) and Norristown State Hospital (NSH) in order to assist these individuals while in jail, when transitioning from jail to NSH, and when re-entering the community typically under the court’s jurisdiction. To support this forensic population, FST and the FST Clinical Assessor help individuals navigate the Philadelphia judicial and behavioral health systems while also seeking to address each individual’s unique legal, behavioral, medical, physical, cultural, and/or financial needs. The FST Clinical Assessor is an important part of a team comprised of: one FST Manager, three Clinical Assessors, and a Coordinator. The FST works closely with a Reentry team and a Postdoctoral Psychology Resident.
The Clinical Assessor is responsible for completing comprehensive clinical assessments, providing discharge and treatment recommendations, orienting new team members or interns, serving as liaison to partner agencies, facilitating communications across systems, and assisting with community-referred evaluations. In addition, since FST is part of BHJD, the Clinical Assessor would have the opportunity to assist with division-wide projects that could encompass behavioral health, justice-related programs or initiatives overseen by BHJD.
Duties and Responsibilities:
The FST Clinical Assessor will utilize their experience and knowledge in the field to assist individuals who have been adjudicated incompetent due to severe mental illness and criminal justice involvement. More specifically, the FST Clinical Assessor will help these individuals and the individual’s support system to navigate PDP, NSH, the court system, residential programs (if needed), and support services upon reentry into the community. He or she will also reduce barriers that keep these individuals with mental illness and criminal justice involvement from accessing timely treatment by identifying behavioral health needs and directing individuals to appropriate resources.
To be successful in this role, the Clinical Assessor must be:
Building and maintaining effective working relationships is the foundation of effective forensic navigation. The FST Clinical Assessor will continue to build upon existing relationships and utilize those relationships to improve coordination of care and reduce barriers for re-entry for people with mental illness who are involved with the legal system. The Clinical Assessors have collaborative working relationships with several different groups of people: individuals who are incarcerated, the individual’s family members, healthcare teams within PDP, assistant district attorneys, defense attorneys, criminal court officials, Norristown State Hospital staff, resource providers within the community, and colleagues at BHJD. The Clinical Assessor will also be asked to orient and introduce new staff members to these systems. When orienting staff or building working relationships, the Clinical Assessor is expected to practice cultural humility.
Clinical care coordinator:
The FST Clinical Assessor conducts forensic evaluations and coordinates care for individuals who are adjudicated IST in Philadelphia. They coordinate with the court system, NSH, and treatment providers to determine the most clinically as well as culturally appropriate and effective interventions and levels of care, and they provide the needed linkages. They plan re-entry for individuals who will be returning to the community. Moreover, the FST Clinical Assessor enhances the continuity of care as individuals transition between PDP, NSH and the community. They may be tasked with assisting other members of the team with cases as appropriate.
Creative problem solver:
The FST Clinical Assessor finds creative solutions to barriers. Some individuals with mental illness utilize commonly used services, but others have unique needs that require initiative and creative thinking to locate the appropriate resources. The FST Clinical Assessor will utilize their years of experience, observation of their more experienced colleagues, and cross-team interactions to locate and access such resources.
Organized information manager:
The FST Clinical Assessor manages and tracks a large amount of information about each individual that he or she evaluates and the multiple systems that each individual must navigate. He/she will monitor referrals, evaluations, legal statuses, and treatment histories of Philadelphians who are adjudicated IST. In addition, the FST Clinical Assessor will be tasked with assisting with challenging cases, initiating clinical follow-up and taking the lead on organizational charts. By law, this information must be kept confidential and secure. It is important that the FST Clinical Assessor understands how to ethically manage this information with a professional and systematic approach.
Skills Required:
This position requires at least two years of clinical forensic experience, above standard clinical forensic assessment skills, and above standard PMHCC performance evaluations. This position also necessitates experience with case management skills, an ability to navigate systems of care especially within the criminal justice system, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, and community mental health.
Education and Experience :
1.Masters level degree in social work, psychology, or a related clinical field with at least two years of clinical forensic experience working with individuals who have a serious mental illness.
2. Candidates must have a working knowledge of the Philadelphia Behavioral Health System as well as the Philadelphia Criminal Justice system.
Equal Opportunity Employment :
PMHCC, Inc. is committed to equal opportunity. It is our policy to support equal employment for all employees and applicants without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual preferences, age, national origin, disability, behavioral health status, military status or any other characteristic protected by law.
Americans with Disabilities Act :
Employees as well as applicants who are currently, or become disabled, must be able to perform the functions of the job with either reasonable accommodation or unaided. PMHCC, Inc. will examine reasonable accommodations on a case by case basis in accordance with the law.