Mental Health Counselor

Educators for Quality Alternatives

EQA serves students who have dropped out, been expelled from, or have struggled academically or behaviorally in traditional settings and are looking for an accelerated path to graduation. There are three high school campuses, The NET:
Central City which opened in 2011, The NET:
Gentilly which opened in 2017, and a third high school campus, NET:
East / New Orleans Accelerated High School (NOAH), which opened in 2020 as a merger with ReNEW Accelerated High School. Students at the high schools earn a high school diploma and participate in internships, career counseling, and career training in various fields including construction, medical, and digital media. EQA also serves middle school students through The Bridge Middle School, a therapeutic program for 7th and 8th grade struggling students.

For all settings, our goal is that our students leave school with the skills, confidence and experience necessary to succeed in the career and education path of their choice.

EQA Schools seeks a highly skilled counselor to provide individual and group counseling to its students and to provide leadership to the school’s trauma-informed approach.

More than half of EQA School’s students have behavioral struggles. A large percentage of students suffer from PTSD or C-PTSD due to exposure to high levels of neighborhood violence. In a city and state which lack appropriate mental health, crisis, and wrap‑around services, EQA Schools believes it has more responsibility than schools normally do for providing high quality mental health services to its students.

This position is designed to join a team consisting of a combination of full and part time individuals such as school counselors, deans of students, family coordinators, attendance coordinators, psychologists, and Special Education personnel. EQA School’s culture is based on restorative approaches and all staff are selected for and trained in working with students with high levels of need and trauma.

• Assessing student needs
• Connecting students to resources
• Designing and providing interventions and counseling
• Managing crisis prevention and interventions
• Training, consulting with, and supporting staff
• Maintaining high levels program management and accountability
• Serving as a member of the School Based Level Committee
• Coordinating wrap around services with community service providers
• Supporting drop out intervention programs
• Constantly developing your craft

• 5-10+ years experience effectively counseling adolescents with mental health, behavioral health, and trauma issues
• Experience with restorative approaches, SAMSHA’s 6 Principles of Trauma‑Informed Approaches, and effective, culturally responsive interventions for adolescents with CPTSD
• Experience in schools preferred but not required
• LCSW or LPC required; all Louisiana certification/licensure must be in good standing

• Passion for improving educational opportunities for urban students and for being a part of a strong, mission‑driven team
• Commitment to EQA’s mission, vision and growth
• Demonstrated record of effective collaboration with diverse teams and with building effective partnerships
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Careful, detail oriented data/file/information management
• Flexible and learning mindset focused on effective and innovative problem solving
• Dedicated to continually growing as a professional and as a servant leader

• Start date:
  
  January 2026
  • Location:
    
    12000 Hayne
• Salary:
  Commensurate with experience
• Benefits:
  Comprehensive benefits and retirement
• Reports to:
  
  Principal

• Assessment
  • Select psycho-social assessments that are informed of a knowledge of the impact of race, gender and social in justice on the family and youth.
  • Complete psycho-social assessments on every student every semester
  • Effectively and appropriately assess needs, characteristics, and interactions of students, families, staff, and community
  • Use DSM V and current research to accurately assess student needs
  • Conduct compliant and productive Functional Behavior Assessments
  • Mainta…