Mental Health Counselor​/Discharge Planner; Mental Health

Job Title: Mental Health Counselor/ Discharge Planner (Mental Health)

Pay rate: $25.00/hr on W2 without benefits

Location: Cranston, RI 02920

Duration: 06+ Months

• The client has a growing number of seriously and persistently mentally ill (SPMI) incarcerated people, many of whom have complex clinical presentations that require specialized mental health discharge planning services and clinical care as they transition back into the community.
• This position will ensure that incarcerated people with serious mental health needs are discharged with sufficient resources to meet their needs and to support a successful reintegration.
• The Specialized Mental Health Discharge Planner (MHDP) will work within the existing behavioral health unit structure to enhance overall services and provide a linkage between community mental health providers.

• Provide discharge planning services to individuals designated as SPMI and incarcerated at RIDOC, and to those identified by qualified mental health professionals as having serious mental health treatment needs.
• Establish therapeutic relationships with each individual on the designated caseload while preparing for their return to the community.
• Clinically evaluate risk factors associated with recidivism and clinical needs for each individual scheduled for release from RIDOC.
• Collaborate with qualified mental health professionals to coordinate care and determine appropriate levels of service.
• Build and maintain collaborative working relationships with community mental health agencies and providers.
• Conduct in‑person sessions and assessments for each individual on the caseload across all facilities.
• Ensure all sentenced patients are seen within a designated time frame prior to their expiration of sentence date and that those awaiting trial receive timely assessment based on critical release needs.
• Assess level‑of‑care needs, including the need for psychiatric rehabilitation, crisis stabilization, or acute stabilization units, and complete all relevant applications and documentation.
• Arrange medication access to bridge the period between release and intake into community mental health care.
• Coordinate discharge plans with patients, identifying community providers, setting appointments before release, coordinating with other divisions for co‑occurring needs, and arranging referrals for housing support, transportation, assistance, , insurance benefit applications, and community resources.
• Exchange health information with community providers for coordination and continuity of care, including medication lists, problem lists, relevant evaluations, and other information (subject to signed releases of information).
• Provide post‑release follow‑up via phone and in‑person for the first 90 days after release.
• Attend monthly behavioral health staff meetings and facility triage meetings for collaboration and communication.
• Document all aspects of discharge planning in RIDOC's electronic medical record (EMR) in alignment with national standards.

• Possess a thorough knowledge of mental health disorders focused on serious and persistent mental illness; demonstrated experience working with individuals with serious mental illness; knowledge of discharge planning techniques, risk factor identification, and the continuum of mental health care; ability to conduct risk and needs assessments and develop discharge plans; knowledge of Rhode Island's community mental health agencies, resources, and public assistance programs.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a multi‑disciplinary team; build relationships with community partners and maintain effective relationships; collaborate with probation, parole, classification, custody, outside agencies, and other units as necessary; establish effective therapeutic relationships and use counseling interventions such as motivational interviewing to engage resistant patients; document information in a clinical record; compose reports as necessary.

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in counseling, social work, or psychology from an accredited college of higher education.
• At least two (2) years of employment in the field of mental health.