Clinical Care Coordinator

April 2013
Position Announcement
Clinical Care Coordinator
SalaryRange: $50,000-$65,000

Welfare Research, Inc. (WRI) is a 501-c-3 non-for-profit corporation located in Albany, NY and is not an agency or instrumentality of the State of New York or the City of New York. WRI is seeking one (1) qualified candidate to fill the full-time position of Clinical Care Coordinator in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's (DOHMH) Bureau of Mental Health.

The Office of the Criminal Justice Special Advisor, within the Bureau of Mental Health oversees all activities for people with serious mental illness who have been touched by the criminal justice system and all activities aimed at preventing individuals with serious mental illness from becoming involved in the criminal justice system. This office collaborates with other DOHMH offices, including Correctional Health Services, and other NYC agencies which serve justice-involved individuals with mental illness.

The provisions of mental health care in jails vs. hospitals are distinct and have unique clinical challenges. Treatment In jails can be challenging due to the voluntary nature of adhering to care. The hospital has the ability to obtain a court order to treat over objection. Mentally ill patients that decompensate on RikersIsland are routinely transferred to BellevueHospital for a period of stabilization. This has resulted in a cohort of severely and persistently mentally ill patients who are transferred between Bellevue and RikersIsland ("high utilizers") based on fluctuating illness acuity. Once discharged from Bellevue, often after having established a therapeutic rapport with at least one staff member and likely receiving a court order for medication over objection, a group of these patients stop taking their medication on RikersIsland, decompensate, and lose both the treatment gains from the hospital and the capacity to work with their attorney. Without capacity, these patient-inmates cannot accept the required plea necessary to be diverted out of the criminal justice system. They also have a much higher chance of being found incompetent to stand trial (IST) and therefore spending more time incarcerated before final disposition of their legal case.

The Clinical Care Coordinator position will be assigned to work with all jailed (in NYC DOC custody) individuals admitted to the Bellevue Forensic Psychiatric Ward from RikersIsland for the second time on their current charge. This will require the Coordinator to split his or her work time between the RikersIsland jails and Bellevue working to ensure continuity of care and optimization of treatment regimens across locations. It is expected that this ongoing therapeutic relationship, spanning two locations, will increase these patients' medication/treatment compliance by helping to continue the treatment established at Bellevue in the RikersIsland jail setting

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Maintain a caseload of 10-20 patients;
• Conduct 3 clinical encounters with their assigned patients per week (might be at both sites if patient is transferred) and provide group treatment at both sites;
• Document all clinical encounters in the DOHMH eCW (electronic medical record) and Bellevue EHR;
• Maintain data collection points to assess preventable hospitalizations for this population;
• Actively participate on both the RikersIsland and Bellevue Hospital Clinical Treatment Teams and attend daily treatment team meetings at each site if schedule permits;
• Participate in joint DOHMH/HHC meetings as assigned;
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements/Preferred Skills:

• A Master's degree from an accredited college in clinical or counseling services , human services, or social services;
• One (1) year satisfactory full-time professional experience working with individuals with mental illness involved in the criminal justice or correctional system in NYC;
• Ability to think strategically around policy, program development, and project management;
• Excellent written ,oral , and organizational skills and;
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel , Power Point

Work Location: The Clinical Care Coordinator will work at both the RikersIsland jails and BellevueHospital Forensic Psychiatric Ward.

Salary: Commensurate with experience