Camp Mental Health Support Specialist

Arts Center

Description

At Caldera, we believe in the power of creativity. Our mission is to inspire and support youth from underserved rural and urban communities by awakening the potential of their creative voice. We do this through a unique fusion of art, environment and mentorship. Our Youth Program provides students from Portland and Central Oregon with long-term relationships with caring adults, which nurtures individual creativity, beginning in sixth grade and continuing into young adulthood.

Caldera has a $5M budget, a 18-member board, 21 full-time year-round employees, and a range of seasonally contracted artists and staff. Its administrative office is located in Portland, Oregon, and its Arts Center is located outside of Sisters in Central Oregon.

Typical days are 8+ hours in length, with sessions that make for up to 10 straight days of work without a full day off. Each staff member will have at least 1 night off per session.

Sisters, OR

Salary/Rate of Pay: $165/day, with 1% increase for each year of experience working at Camp Caldera (not to exceed 7%)

• Training Salary/Rate of Pay: $75/day
• Room and board provided during days with programming; room only during non-programming days. A light dinner will be provided on staff arrival days. Brunch is served on the last day of each session.

The Mental Health Support Specialist works to maintain and improve the social environment for both youth and adults at Camp Caldera. They are adept at boundary setting and can make a clear distinction between providing support vs. therapy while directing participants to resources as needed.

• Work with camp leadership to define, communicate, and uphold behavioral norms and agreements among both learners and adults.
• Proactively and reactively respond to social-emotional needs of the camp community, completing thorough documentation as needed
• Communicate with learner families when relevant, connecting them to external resources as appropriate
• Initiate proper reporting processes and ensure timely communication with all stakeholders
• Actively participate in pre-camp training and meetings
• Maintain confidentiality (except in the event of specific necessary disclosures)

• Alert supervisor to relevant issues; communicate regularly regarding concerns, updates, and challenges.
• Document all mental health concerns and communicate follow up steps with families and summer leadership

• Alert supervisor to relevant camper issues
• Promote program understanding and involvement through Caldera’s goals and agreements, participation agreement, and responsibility process
• Actively participate in all aspects of camp life including: camper orientation, community meetings, evening activities, campfire, free time, etc.
• Model appropriate camper behavior at all times
• Perform duties with consistency and integrity
• Set and respect personal boundaries while acting as mentors, guides, and allies to campers
• Oversee health and safety of charges in fire drills and emergency procedures
• Maintain cleanliness of living and common areas and help with clean-up at the end of

• Masters of Social Work degree, LCSW, or relevant completed coursework
• At least one year experience working with middle and/or high school youth
• At least one year experience connecting clients to resources
• Knowledge of social services throughout Portland and Central Oregon
• Ability to respond to and absorb a high degree of stress
• Strong communication skills and experience giving constructive feedback to youth and adults
• High degree of flexibility and adaptability to rapidly changing situations
• Ability to understand our racially diverse student population’s perspective, either through lived experience, previous qualifications, or work experience
• Ability to navigate through potentially triggering and challenging conversations and situations while maintaining focus on the wellbeing of youth
• Ability to discreetly and…