Mental Health Social Practitioner - Community Apartment Program

Fountain House; New York (NY); On-site; USD 63,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Empower Communities

Mental Health Advocacy

Leadership Growth

Job summary

Fountain House in Hell’s Kitchen, NY seeks a CAP Mental Health Social Practitioner to engage adults with serious mental illness in a dynamic community setting. You will support living skills, social connections, and independence through dinners, outings, and field activities with 3–4 roommates per apartment, fostering dignity and neighborhood ties.

You will collaborate with program staff to build therapeutic routines, conduct outreach, and advocate for members’ well-being, safety, and access to

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree or equivalent required.
• Graduate degree or equivalent preferred.
• 1–3+ years experience with individuals with serious mental illness and/or community settings preferred.
• 1–2 years coaching and counseling experience preferred.
• 1–2 years vocational rehabilitation, training or employment specialist experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Perform member engagement, social design, relationship development and ongoing assessment to support members in transitional environments.
• Develop a therapeutic community based on Social Practice and clubhouse standards.
• Design interventions to address social isolation, low self-esteem, anxiety, and poverty.
• Assist members with access to housing, education and employment supports.
• Foster community connections to enhance social networks and reduce loneliness.
• Complete documentation and maintain confidentiality while collaborating with the supervisor.

Skills

Crisis counseling

Community outreach

Advocacy

Education

Undergraduate degree

Graduate degree preferred

Job description

Description

About the Community Apartment Program

Join Fountain House’s Community Apartment Program (CAP). The CAP Mental Health Social Practitioner works to help the members of the apartment program live their lives to the fullest and develop independent living skills and social connections. We use community as our tool to do this, and the CAP Mental Health Social Practitioner will use group dinners as well as outings into the neighborhood to engage the 3-4 roommates in each apartment. The group will grow their social connections, hopefully become friends, and use consensus decision making to figure out how they want their apartment set-up. We want our members to have dignified homes and to feel comfortable in their apartment and to connect with the neighborhood.

This position requires interest in community, creativity, and flexibility. There will be no typical day in CAP, but if you could see yourself fostering relationships and connections to community for adults with mental illness by cooking group dinners, taking a group to the movies, assisting someone to learn how to do their laundry at the local laundromat, advocating at a social service provider, or helping one of your members to apply to a job in the community then this could be the position for you.

The CAP Mental Health Social Practitioner will be based at our clubhouse in Hell’s Kitchen and in the field at our scattered site apartments. They will work 9 am to 5 pm three days a week and 11 am to 7 pm twice each week. The evening shifts will allow them to cook dinner with their members. During the dinner they will assess the apartment for repairs, engage with the members and support their increase in socialization, social networks, and decrease loneliness and isolation.

Staff at Fountain House embody the values of the clubhouse model, demonstrating what we call our HERO characteristics: fierce optimism, professional curiosity, and a deeply communitarian approach to partnerships, leadership, and engagement.

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Requirements

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Member Support & Advocacy

• Perform member engagement, social design, relationship development, continuous assessment and therapeutic intervention and management of transitional environments with the Fountain House membership
• Support and develop a therapeutic community based on Social Practice and the International Standards for Clubhouse Programs
• Utilize the community to design positive interventions to deal with common barriers such as social isolation, poor self-esteem, anxiety, symptom management, and poverty
• Create access to environments outside of Fountain House not traditionally therapeutically oriented, to build general skills, a sense of confidence, and to support members’ self-efficacy. This includes the provision of on-site support in employment, education, and housing environments outside of Fountain House
• Develop relationships with Fountain House members and the community that can be leveraged to provide support for positive change and risk-taking, combat social isolation and increase meaningful connections, and introduce members to new opportunities
• Engineer various environments and social interactions to create therapeutic results and develop an accessible positive community
• Observe and assess experiences with members in a variety of naturalistic environments in order to create specific interventions for individuals’ rehabilitation
• Provide daily advocacy and engagement with Clubhouse members to help gain self-worth, purpose of confidence, while offering guidance for appropriate problem-solving techniques
• Provide counsel for members, individually and in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, and making changes

Training Support & Entitlements

• Provide training support (vocational training) for transitional employment opportunities and maintain strong relationships with employers for job opportunity developments
• Support and fill-in for members in their Transitional Employment (TE) opportunities, if/when needed
• Assist members with entitlements and benefits; food stamps, SSI/SSDI, Medicaid/Medicare and ticket to Work/ACE/Access VR, Supplemental Need Trusts, & ADA accommodations
• Facilitates supported housing applications (2010E), Single Point of Access applications and work to find appropriate housing; assist members with physical moves into housing units
• Advocates for members well-being, safety, and livelihood with supports around clinical, legal, housing, appointments, medications, and independent living opportunities
• Acquire proficiency in skills and tasks of the (unit) you are assigned. This may include safety protocols, health guidelines, inventory lists, how to guides, etc.
• Complete all documentation including but not limited to progress notes and reach out documentation on time
• Maintain compliance with all government agency requirements, company policies and procedures
• Periodic overnight travel to High Point Farm, work some holidays including Thanksgiving, some weekend and evening hours
• Flexibility with staying late or arriving early, if necessary, to fulfill unit or member needs, and interchangeability with other staff on the unit.
• Maintain confidentiality of records relating to members’ progress
• Perform related duties as assigned by supervisor

Required Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Undergraduate degree or an equivalent combination of training and experience required
• Graduate degree or equivalent preferred
• 1-3+ years’ experience working with individuals with serious mental illness and or/hands on experience working in a community setting preferred
• 1-2 years coaching and counseling experience preferred
• 1-2 years of vocational rehabilitation, training or employment specialist experience preferred
• Ability to effectively manage and handle member concerns and behaviors
• Proven experience with mental health crisis management by supporting and counseling members under emotional distress

Required And Preferred Education, Experience, And Credentials

• Undergraduate degree or an equivalent combination of training and experience required
• Graduate degree or equivalent preferred
• 1-2 years’ experience working with individuals with serious mental illness and or/hands on experience working in a community setting preferred

Why Join Fountain House?

• Empower Marginalized Communities – Elevate the voices of individuals with lived experience and drive real systemic change.
• Innovate in Mental Health Advocacy – Join a mission-driven team at the forefront of mental health reform.
• Professional Growth & Leadership – Access mentorship, training, and career development opportunities in a rapidly evolving field.

Join Us & Make an Impact!

Be part of a movement that is transforming mental health care through research, advocacy, and community.

Salary Description

30.58