Director of Counseling Services

The mission of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is to spread the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. In the faithful pursuit of this mission, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese is seeking a full time Director of Counseling Services. This position implements systemic and local school counseling initiatives and newly adopted comprehensive school-based mental health services through leadership and resource development for local school leadership and school counseling teams. The position provides direction and guidance to Catholic school leadership in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington (RCADW) as each school implements local and archdiocesan prevention programming, counseling services and reporting practices. The Director of Counseling Services reports directly to the Assistant Superintendent of School Operations and Student Services and works closely with other leaders within the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) to align priorities of the Superintendent for Catholic School.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary lead for ADW school counseling initiatives and provide leadership and support to schools and the archdiocese in the area of mental health support.
• Develop, coordinate, and facilitate professional development opportunities for school-based mental healthcare practitioners by integrating standards of excellence and Catholic Identity with school counselor professional development needs, archdiocesan initiatives, and Policies for Catholic School (2022)
• Design and implement archdiocesan-wide and local school training in all areas of school counseling, crisis response and management, school-based mental health services, and progress monitoring for prevention programming requirements.
• Lead, organize, and maintain the crisis intervention team.
• Assist school leaders with counseling and mental health related issues.
• Prepare communication plans to inform pastors, principals, teachers, and community regarding school counseling initiatives and comprehensive procedures and timelines.
• Assist with strategic planning processes related to enhancing the socio-emotional growth of students in archdiocesan schools.
• Assist archdiocesan schools with development of counseling support plans.
• Revise procedures for school-based mental healthcare standards, accountability procedures for school-based counselors, creation of an evaluation tool for counselors
• Maintain budgetary supports and balances aligned with strategic efforts
• Establish annual goals and priorities based on data analysis and in alignment with strategic planning efforts.
• Receive, disseminate, and respond accordingly to parental concerns regarding schools.
• Supervisor Counselor Coach or Consultant.
• Actively collaborate with members of the Catholic Schools Leadership team.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• Knowledge and respect for the Catholic faith and teachings
• Strong organizational skills
• Strong communication skills (written and verbal)
• Initiative taker
• Willing to work as a member of a team.

Education and Experience
• Master's degree in psychology, counseling, school-based mental healthcare, or related field.
• Currently licensed as a psychologist, clinical professional counselor, or clinical social worker in the State of Maryland and/or the District of Columbia.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in counseling leadership and/or mentorship.
• Knowledge of Catholic school administration a plus.
• Experience in a Catholic school, a plus
• Practicing Catholic preferred
• Experience in school counseling initiatives, comprehensive (systemic) school-based mental healthcare services and school finance/budget.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, at minimum creating, editing, utilizing professional Word documents and Excel databases required.
• Experience in psychoeducational measurement, school-based assessments, and school-based counseling programs.
• Maintains strong organizational and data analysis skills.
• Must possess a driver's license since local and regional travel is required.

Work Environment
• This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
Physical Demands
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
• Regular full-time employee (40 hours/week)