2023-2024 Mental Health Practitioner

Company Description

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW:

By 2025, KIPP DC will build upon two decades of proven results to develop into a more impactful, innovative, and inclusive school system that provides joyful, identity-affirming learning experiences so that all students and alumni achieve extraordinary outcomes. We are a network of eighteen schools educating nearly 7,000 students and employing 1,200 teachers, leaders, and staff members dedicated to our mission. As part of the KIPP network’s 255 schools, we share best practices and innovations with our peers across the city and country.

Our work is grounded in a commitment to excellence, equity, and justice. We believe all students have the right to rigorous, relevant, and joyful learning experiences led by exceptionally talented and diverse educators and support staff who promote student achievement and a sense of belonging. We are seeking an occupational therapist who is passionate about educational equity, driven by student and family relationships, and provides intentional support for their students. 

​​​​​​POSITION OVERVIEW:

KIPP DC is looking for a dynamic, committed and flexible mental health practitioner to become part of a vibrant educational community. KIPP DC mental health practitioners are responsible for delivering effective, high-quality, interventions that are data driven. We are looking for a dedicated mental health practitioner that will drive the social, emotional, and behavioral well-being of our students and families through a responsive continuum of services to ensure academic growth. Standard work hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm two times per week, and 7:30 am to 4:00 pm three times per week. This role is an exempt position and reports to the school leader.

Job Description

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Service Delivery 35%

• Provide group and individual therapy and classroom support to special education students, general education students, as well as assess student response to the interventions identified.
• Respond to acute mental health crises and provide appropriate intervention services to students and families.
• Develop and manage student behavior intervention plans, monitor progress, and provide support and consultation to general and special education teachers to promote implementation.
• Conducts student and classroom observations to monitor individual student progress 
• Provide on-going consultation to teachers, parents, and other school personnel to support students’ learning, behavioral challenges, and mental health needs. 
• Conduct risk assessments when students present with safety concerns.
• Acts as a team member who supports mental and behavioral health programming at the Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 levels of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)

Workflow Documentation 25%

• Complete all necessary special education paperwork for special education meetings.
• Log progress notes with all of the required information about the student’s specific IEP goals, responses to the designated interventions, and plan for upcoming sessions, in a timely manner.
• Serve as 504 case manager for students with a 504 plan.  Complete paperwork, monitor implementation of accommodations, provide behavior support services when applicable, and log notes when applicable.
• Collects data to track plan fidelity and monitor progress towards goals for IEPs, Tier 3 plans, and BIPs.
• Collects social/emotional & behavioral functioning data for students in the referral process. 

Stakeholder Collaboration 20%

• Consult and collaborate with school leaders, teachers, and student support team members to offer prevention and intervention strategies to resolve learning and behavioral challenges of students.
• Support stakeholders in understanding the integration of child development, student academics, and social-emotional functioning. 
• Demonstrate a positive, collaborative, problem-solving mindset with students, parents/guardians, educators, administrators, community members, and colleagues.
• Work directly with Community Based Organizations to make referrals for students in need of mental health services.
• Collaborate with the school team to decrease chronic absenteeism and truancy.

School and Community Support 20%

• Serve as the school liaison to social service agencies in the surrounding community.
• Act as the School-Based Homeless Liaison, identifying and supporting families that are in need of permanent housing through completion of referrals and fulfilling identified needs.
• Participate in mediations, administrative reviews, discipline hearings, and due process proceedings as it relates to st