Child First Clinician I

UCFS strives to use person-centered care to improve the health and well-being of everyone in our community. Share in our vision of being Eastern CT’s best choice for patient-centered healthcare!

We are currently seeking a Child First Clinician I provides intensive, home-based intervention with children, prenatal through age five, and their caregivers by working to strengthen the caregiver-child relationship by facilitating play and improving the caregiver’s capacity to reflect on the meaning of the child’s behaviors.

UCFS Hours of Operation: Open 8:00am - 7:00pm; Hours Vary By Day & Location

Expected Schedule: FT, 40 hours/week; Monday through Friday

Two late nights are expected per week with additional possible weekend coverage

Child First is an evidence-based, relationship-focused, two-generation, home visiting approach that partners with families, infants, and young children from pregnancy through age 5, to enhance strong, loving relationships. Child First aims to support caregivers and their children by processing the stresses and traumas in their lives and enhancing healthy patterns of interactions between caregiver and child. Child First is intentional in considering structural inequities experienced by families, as well as the impact of past and present trauma including historical trauma, oppression, and structural racism. Child First strives to identify children at the earliest possible time so families can be connected to needed services and supports within their communities that will help ameliorate the stress they are experiencing.

The Child First Clinician partners with a Care Coordinator to support families served by the program. The Clinician engages with both the caregiver and child in a supportive, reflective, and exploratory manner which fosters a protective, nurturing, and responsive caregiver-child relationship. The Clinician’s therapeutic intervention focuses on 1) healing from trauma; 2) helping caregivers understand typical developmental challenges and expectations; 3) increasing caregivers’ ability to reflect on the meaning and feelings motivating a child’s behavior; 4) supporting caregivers’ problem solving; and 5) helping caregivers understand the psychodynamic relationship between parental feelings, history, and the caregiver response to the child. The Clinician can also provide consultation to teachers in early care and education settings, as needed.

Essential Responsibilities -

• Assess, evaluate, diagnose, and treat mental, emotional, developmental and behavioral difficulties in young children and families based on clinical standards of practice.
• Formulate treatment plans and treatment plan reviews based on assessments.
• Engages actively in all aspects of the Child First learning collaborative including in-person or live remote training, distance learning curriculum, specialty training, and clinical conferences.
• Collaborates with relevant providers and community partners to support treatment and strengthen the program’s community presence
• Respond to client crises during work hours and on-call to support family stabilization.
• Maintains up-to-date case records on each client family, including weekly contact reports, service agreements, evaluations, treatment plans, and termination summaries, as well as timely data entry to meet funder requirements.

Why UCFS?

Our team is passionate about the services we provide and is committed to making a difference for our clients and community. At UCFS, a Federally Qualified Health Center, we specialize in integrated care which means having access to essential services to meet the complex needs of those we serve. We work collaboratively across programs at our agency to remove barriers and streamline access to services including behavioral health services, primary care, dental, case management and more. If you are committed to improving the health and well-being of our community, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity.

Minimum Education and Experience

• Master's degree (M.A., M.F.T., M.S.W.)
• One year of clinical experience

Minimum Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

• Must hold a CT state LMSW, LPCA or LMFTA
• A valid driver’s license and state mandated levels of auto liability insurance required.
• Enrollment in CPP training within the soonest available cohort
• Eligibility for CPR/First Aid Certification

Minimum Skills and Abilities

• Access to transportation for 75% travel to New London, Windham, and Middlesex counties (DCF Region 3)
• Ability to work two late nights per week and possibly weekends
• Familiarity with Microsoft Suite and ability to learn new technological platforms
• Experience with EHR preferred
• Excellent written and oral communication and interpersonal skills
• Self-awareness and critical thinking skills

UCFS is committed to the professional development of our clinicians through:

• Weekly clinical supervision towards licensure hours
• Training and development opportunities to include free access to in house training
• Team meetings and case collaboration
• UCFS prides itself in utilizing a supportive team approach to include interdepartmental collaboration to help better serve our communities.
• Promoting self-care for our employees including an Employee Assistance Program

UCFS offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Flexible schedules
• Competitive salaries
• Generous paid time off including 3 weeks' vacation, 4 floating holidays and 10 sick days each year
• Medical, dental and vision insurance
• 401(k) plan with 6% employer contribution
• Paid life and disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Additional voluntary benefits
• National Health Service Corp. Loan Repayment
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility

UCFS is strongly committed to a workplace environment that respects, appreciates and values employee differences and similarities. By providing and supporting an enriching work culture, UCFS will continue to better serve our communities and provide quality patient, client, and resident care and services. UCFS is an employment at-will organization and an equal opportunity employer committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, and genetic information or disability, as defined and required by applicable state and federal laws. Additionally, UCFS prohibits retaliation against an applicant or employee because they have engaged in protected activity under the statutes prohibiting discrimination in the workplace.