Arab American Family Support Center

JOB TITLE: Functional Family Therapy (FFT) Therapist 
EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Full-Time 
LOCATION: Hybrid – 2-3 days in office (Downtown Brooklyn office) 
REPORTS TO: Functional Family Therapist (FFT) Supervisor 
SALARY: $68,000-$70,500/annually 

ABOUT AAFSC: 

For over 30 years, the Arab-American Family Support Center (AAFSC) has proudly served immigrants and refugees. We help children stay safe, families remain together, and newcomers navigate life in New York City. While our doors are open to all, AAFSC has expertise in serving Arab, Middle Eastern, North African, Muslim, and South Asian communities.  

JOB OBJECTIVE: 

To provide functional family therapy to high-risk families referred by the Administration for Children’s Services. These families may be experiencing a wide range of challenges, including personal/marital/relationship problems, financial stressors, acculturation issues, family destabilization, and/or parent/child conflict. The Therapist provides intensive preventive services to avoid foster care placement and ensure the safety and welfare of children in the home. He or she provides the family with services according to ACS standards and requirements. The Therapist follows the Functional Family Therapy (FFT) model. FFT works with youth between the ages of 11 to 18 who struggle with behavioral and/or emotional problems and have been referred by the juvenile justice, mental health, school, or child welfare system. As a strengths-based model, FFT focuses on acceptance and respect and uses assessments and interventions to determine risk and protective factors in relation to the family and youth’s development. 

PRIMARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Manage assigned caseload (typically 8 active cases at any given time, though number may fluctuate) and provide direct clinical home-based treatment using methods compatible with Functional Family Therapy. 
• Conduct assessments including reviewing referral information, identifying, and engaging key participants, identifying systemic strengths and weaknesses and individualized case planning goals. 
• Maintain clear and concise documentation of treatment efforts that promote and demonstrate compliance with FFT model. 
• Participate in all model trainings, supervision, consultation activities, and staff meetings. 
• Build relationships with community stakeholders (e.g., child protection services, Guardians ad Litem, judges, schools, etc.) to ensure cooperation among service providers. 
• Manage the extensive documentation requirements to successfully comply with various mandates from FFT, ACS, OCFS, and other relevant stakeholders. 
• Document contacts and case progress in the Care4 system in a timely manner. 
• Adopt a strength focused approach with families, stakeholders, and within the program/treatment team. 
• Accompany families/clients to psychiatric appointments and other provider/community appointments. 
• Attend weekly supervision, consultations, and on-call meetings. 

Case Management & Advocacy 

• Provide case work/case management services to families receiving FFT services, which includes but is not limited to providing supportive casework, coping skills, parenting, etc., focusing on service goals, and child welfare laws, and improving family relationships and bonding, etc. 
• ​​​​​​​Conduct home visits and office visits to assess for child safety and risk complying with ACS requirements. Face-to-face contacts should be conducted at weekly. More visits may be required. Casework contacts occur at least weekly in the home; in instances of imminent risk front loading three sessions in ten days must occur; families with children under six months of age/two visits monthly until child 6 months of age and all children in the household must be seen at least once per month. 
• Ensure joint-home visits are conducted within 5 business days from the date of referral, in collaboration with the Conference Facilitator, Supervisor, and Program Director. Usher along decision for service within 10 days. 
• Evaluate and assess the current family functioning including child safety and home safety (e.g., assessing other adults in the home, ensuring safe sleep, working fire alarms, window guards, etc.), and formulating goals and a service plan with the family. 
• Ensure all initial intake documents (AAFSC/FFT intake, DV screening, child trafficking) are completed and processed accurately using AAFSC internal databases (i.e., Apricot, Care4). 
• Advocate for the family by linking them to needed services in the community: medical, mental health, entitlements, day care, home health aide, substance abuse treatment, anger management, etc., and following up to monitor participation and progress. 
• In collaboration with the Conference Facilitator, support the facilitation of regular Family Team Conferences and Service Termination Conferences, as well as other relevant ACS-led conferences. Family Team Conferences must be conducted 56 days prior to the reassessment FASP due date. 
• Ensure FASPs are launched 30 days prior to the due date and submitted to Supervisor 3 weeks prior to the due date. 
• Complete Initial, Comprehensive, all Reassessment FASPs, and Plan Amendments for all Advocate Preventive Only (ADVPO) cases offline. 
• Complete and submit Child Trafficking Screening for CWS and ADVPO cases. 
• Evaluate walk-ins and community referrals for needed services and potentially for advocacy cases. 
• Provide case coverage in the absence of a co-worker (as needed). 

Quality Assurance, Communication, and Documentation 

• Complete all documents required by ACS in a timely manner (5 business days) including but not limited to progress notes and FASPs which should reflect the progress or lack thereof of service goals, and the reaction of the family to services during the review period or contact. 
• ​​​​​​​Complete all ACS and internal forms required for case opening and closing. Obtain consents and forms needed for other case activities. 
• Obtain and maintain collateral contacts with all other service providers including school and medical reports on a regular basis. 
• Comply with all data entry requirements in a timely manner (Care4, PROMIS, Connections, Apricot, etc.). 
• Appropriately follow incident reporting procedures (as needed). 
• Maintain relationships with ACS personnel, including DCP workers, joint home visit ACS staff, and Family Service Unit (FSU) workers, for ongoing ACS supervision. 
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned. 
• Regularly collaborate and communicate with PPRS staff by responding to emails, maintaining an up-to-date outlook calendar, participating in supervision meetings, and scheduling office days. 

Trainings, Meetings, and Audit Preparation 

• Attend training provided by ACS, FFT model developer, and other organizations as required (minimum of 42 hours/6 days each fiscal year) and log training by submitting certificates to the Director of Training and Development. 
• Attend internal meetings and trainings as scheduled collaborating with the multidisciplinary team (e.g., monthly supervision). 
• ​​​​​​​Assist in preparation of internal and external audits (PEMS, PAMS, safety alerts, etc.) related to the program operation and delivery of services. 

BACKGROUND & POSITION REQUIREMENTS: 

A successful Therapist at AAFSC is one that is both compassionate and objective. The candidate must be a good communicator and problem solver who is able to quickly respond to unforeseen challenges. In addition to these general skills and traits, AAFSC is looking for a candidate with the following skills: 

• Required MSW or equivalent human services graduate degree and at least two years of relevant experience. 
• Computer skills in Microsoft Office suite and excellent writing skills are required. 
• Bilingual or multi-lingual fluency required. Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Bangla/Bengali, Russian, or Uzbek skills strongly preferred. 
• Experience working with under-served students in urban schools, child welfare system, and/or community-based settings a plus. 
• Exercises discretion regarding sensitive personal and legal information. 
• Job contingent on pre-employment background check and fingerprint clearance. 
• ​​​​​​​U.S. Work authorization required. 

We are an equal opportunity employer that values diversity at all levels. All individuals are encouraged to apply.