Elementary School Based Mental Health Counselor (24-25) - KIPP Texas Public Schools

KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 57 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 34,000 students across Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose - college, career, and beyond - so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Founded in Houston in 1994, and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in our classrooms, in our offices, and in the communities we serve is unwavering. We are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. Join our Team and Family and champion equity, chase excellence, persist with purpose, bring joy, and help us rise together.

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 280 schools, nearly 15,000 educators, and 175,000 students and alumni.

You can see all our job opportunities at https://kipptexas.org/join-our-team/.

Every member of the Team & Family at KIPP Texas Public Schools plays a critical role in ensuring our students have the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose - college, career and beyond. Our educators are passionate advocates for their students and their families, working tirelessly to ensure that our students have access to opportunity. In our classrooms and across the KIPP family we embrace, honor and celebrate our differences across several characteristics that construct our unique identities in our little and big KIPPsters. We are especially committed to attracting and developing individuals who share the life experiences of our students because we believe the best work we do is grounded in the realities and experiences of our families and KIPPsters. The primary role of the Licensed Mental Health Professional is to identify and assist students, families and school systems in overcoming barriers that interfere with learning through the use of assessment, counseling, consultation, and coordination of school and community resources.  The Licensed Mental Health Professional utilizes knowledge of human behavior, social and emotional competencies, and community systems to guide service delivery.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

·       Conduct assessments of individuals and families with the goal of improving student social, emotional, behavioral and academic outcomes.

·       Conduct reliable and valid assessments of students and families to inform the design of interventions to remove barriers to learning.

·       Complete assessments of campus needs to prioritize service delivery

·       Provide consultation to school personnel, parents/guardians, and community partners for the purpose of enhancing their understanding of student needs, developing effective interventions, and building school capacity.

·       Act as a liaison with community agencies to ensure continuity of services. 

·       Facilitate crisis response and provide follow up crisis counseling and referrals to appropriate providers.

·       Demonstrate the use of evidence informed practices in their interventions

·       Utilize data in assessing needs of, planning interventions for individual students, groups, and/or whole school population.

·       Maintain accurate, complete and punctual records, as well as safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of information as required by law, District policy, and licensing requirements.

·       Demonstrate a commitment to the values and ethics of the individual’s professional code of ethics.

·       Meet the minimum professional development requirements as set forth by the licensing board.

·       Adhere to state and District mandating reporting requirements as they pertain to safety concerns.

·       Ensure that students and their families are provided services within the context of multicultural understanding and competence.

·       Utilize evidence-informed practices, skills, and techniques that reflect the understanding of the role of culture in the helping process.

·       Empower students and families to gain access to and effectively utilize school and community resources.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

This position requires a Master Degree in Social Work or Master’s Degree in Counseling, or related counseling field with a current Texas license as either a Licensed Master Licensed Mental Health Professional (LMSW), Licensed Clinical Licensed Mental Health Professional (LCSW) or Licensed Master Licensed Mental Health Professional-Advanced Practitioner (LMSW-AP), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC-I/LPC-A).  Incumbent is responsible for maintaining active licensure throughout employment. 

SKILL REQUIREMENTS

This position requires candidates to have knowledge of social services and programs available to meet a range of mental health, physical health, academic, and social service needs, as well as knowledge of state, local, and federal laws impacting the lives of students.  Candidates must also have experience in crisis response.  Candidates must have the ability to conduct interventions within a broad range of settings, in a professional manner and with competency. 

Candidates must be able to work independently demonstrating persistence, self-motivation, and excellent communication, organization and time management skills.  Candidates must work effectively within a multidisciplinary team, maintain appropriate boundaries, and serve as a liaison between school and community. Candidates must be able to manage a student caseload for one single campus.

Compensation

As a full time KIPP Texas employee you are eligible to participate in all KIPP Texas’ benefit plans. KIPP Texas offers a robust variety of benefits choices with competitive rates, including medical, dental, and vision options, as well as life insurance and disability plans.

KIPP provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.