Is your passion working with individuals with dementia in their homes and in the community? Do you enjoy traveling throughout the community and partnering with stakeholders to achieve maximum outcomes and provide training for this population? If so, the Regional Older Adult Facilities Mental Health Support Team (RAFT) has an opportunity for an experienced and passionate Dementia Support Specialist. This position is part of the RAFT Dementia Support Program and meets with individuals and their family/caregivers in their homes and provides education, training and support to clients, family, and caregivers. In this way, families and caregivers learn essential skills to successfully manage the illness and accompanying behaviors, have access to community resources, and develop an action plan to prevent crises. The team also collaborates with resources throughout the region to create a safety net of resources for individuals with dementia, their caregivers and other community partners.
 
The RAFT Dementia Support Program is a new service that is part of the RAFT Program, a regional program managed by Arlington County. This program fulfills a vital community need for individuals with dementia and their caregivers to prevent psychiatric hospitalizations, and to successfully discharge from psychiatric hospitalization back to their home with necessary resources to continue to live in their community.
 
Specific duties include:
  

• Performing assessments to determine and identify client and caregiver needs for services and resources; 
• Developing a dementia focused Wellness and Recovery Action Plan in conjunction with client, family, and/or caregivers; 
• Developing and revising individualized service plans for clients that outline specific action items to improve behaviors related to dementia; 
• Providing education, training, and support to family/caregivers to improve their skills when caring for loved ones with dementia; 
• Connecting clients and their families with linkages to services and resources, including physicians, day programs and other agencies; 
• Providing support and advocacy in the home, at appointments and in the community as necessary; 
• Monitoring client’s progress and successes of dementia care training;
• Participating in daily clinical updates regarding clients; 
• Documenting all services in the electronic health record daily and ensuring accurate and complete case records in compliance with reporting requirements; 
• Participating in outreach regarding dementia services, referrals, program success; and 
• Collaborating with agencies in each of the five counties in Northern Virginia, and other community organizations on dementia related services. 

• Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals.
• Interpersonal skills to persuade or manage others and to resolve complaints. 
• Problem solving skills to gather relevant information to solve vaguely defined practical problems. Ability to effectively provide education and training to individuals with dementia and their caregivers. 
• Ability and desire to work as part of a cohesive team, by communicating with team members and supervisor often and/or as needed.

Minimum: Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, Special Education, Mental Health, or Counseling plus some experience working with individuals with dementia, care coordination and service delivery to this population including teaching/applying behavior management techniques, counseling, training/teaching, and/or making human services/social services referrals.
 
Substitution: Additional directly related experience can substitute for the education requirement. A Master's degree in a directly related area may substitute for up to one year of experience.
 
Desirable: Master’s Degree in Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, Mental Health, or Counseling and one or more of the following:
 

• Experience documenting client encounters in an electronic record keeping system.
• Experience working with individuals from diverse cultural/ethnic backgrounds. 
• Coordination and delivery of services through an integrated service model and throughout the range of service intensity in the continuum of care. 
• Bilingual in Spanish or Korean.

A pre-employment criminal records check will be conducted. It may include checks of the following: criminal record, driving record, education, professional licensure, and credit history. You may be required to sign a release authorizing the County to obtain your background information.

Applicant must possess, or obtain by the time of appointment, a valid motor vehicle operator's license from the applicant's place of residence, or the applicant must have the ability and willingness to use alternative methods of transportation to perform assigned duties and responsibilities at locations other than the primary worksite. If the applicant possesses or acquires a license, the applicant must provide or authorize Arlington County to obtain a copy of the applicant's official state/district driving record. Any offer of employment may be contingent on a favorable review of the applicant's driving record.
 
Must complete pre-hire federal background check and State of Virginia Central Registry check.
 
Covid-19 Vaccination: Arlington County Government is committed to the health, safety, and wellness for all staff.  In support of that commitment, all current and newly hired employees are required to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination.  For those qualified employees with a disability or sincerely held religious belief which prohibits them from receiving a vaccine, you will be able to contact the Office of Human Rights to request a reasonable accommodation. Adherence to this policy is a condition of employment

Hours of Operation: 40 hrs per week, Monday through Friday.
Rotating shifts or alternate work schedules are available

RAFT is grant-funded and administered by Arlington County.

The official title for this position is Human Services Specialist

An online application is required. Your responses are required and give us additional specific information that we require to evaluate your qualifications for this position. These responses are considered part of the selection process. Please do not give "see resume" as a response to the questions. Incomplete applications will not be considered.