Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Specialist

Job Description

Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Specialist, WV DRC

15376-15N09070
Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo
Beni
Field Operations
Fixed term, Full-time
31-Dec-19
International Role - Yes
1-2 Years

PURPOSE OF POSITION:
Provide technical guidance for programming, clinical supervision, and capacity building of staff, guiding mental health and psychosocial support into the response. Ensure effective implementation and monitoring of psychological intervention of mental health and psychosocial support, in relation to all tasks related to support of field and office operations.

In order to perform this role effectively, the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support specialist must be able to promote and encourage a culture of compliance and ethics throughout the response. As applicable to the position, maintains a clear understanding of the Democratic Republic of Congo context, donor compliance, ethics standards and adheres to those standards. Conducts work with the highest level of integrity. Communicates World Vision’s Mission, Vision and Values to staff and to partners.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:
-Oversee the technical quality of programming and technical expertise of the staff, while keeping with established international best practice guidance and emerging evidence.
-Provide clinical supervision to staff offering mental health and psychosocial support services and create a peer supervisory network built on foundations of knowledge exchange.
-Support the development and implementation of group-based psychosocial programming.
-Facilitate clinical supervision to project psychologist as a group and individual levels when needs arise.
-Ensure proper planning and implementation of mental health and psychosocial support interventions in the project areas.
-Ensure all grant interventions are implemented within schedule, plans and budgets and regularly review project status.
-Conduct randomized fidelity checks for community workers/helpers.
-Ensure Community workers have adequate skills and knowledge to deliver psychosocial support interventions at the household level through weekly supervision sessions, and provide training throughout the supervision process when and as required with the project psychologists.
-Support structured MHPSS activities for groups of boys and girls of different age groups, with particular attention to survivors of SGBV, unaccompanied children and other children who present with signs of poor mental health and distress MHPSS service providers and agree referral pathways for children with severe mental disorders.
-Ensuring assistance is provided to children affected by the conflict in a dignified, respectful, equitable and inclusive manner that supports their resilience.
-Assisting children in acute distress and alleviating their stress, for instance ensuring that all staff / partners are trained on PFA and feel confident to use it.
-Provide materials for supervision sessions in liaison with the global MHPSS technical advisor.
-Ensure MHPSS project team compliance to all interventions as per WHO guidelines. The mainstreaming of inter-agency guidelines (e.g. IASC MHPSS guidelines) and standards (e.g. CPMS) across the different sectors of programme activities delivered by SC and its partners
-Ensure care and safety of clients is being up held and safety risks are adequately responded to and reported to the response director.
-Contribute to proposal writing, donor reports and internal World Vision reports as required.
-Coordinate and monitor high-quality MHPSS programming throughout the response, in collaboration with the MHPSS technical team, field staff, and program managers.
-Conduct regular field visits for programmatic support and technical capacity building.
-Develop or revise MHPSS training materials, monitoring and evaluation tools, and client documentation forms as needed in collaboration with Global MHPSS technical advisor.
-Support and coordinate the implementation of a research project aiming to establish evidence-based MHPSS programming, including training and supervision of staff as well as joint monitoring of the rollout of the intervention.
-Conduct regular file audits to ensure a high quality service is being provided in line with World Vision MHPSS protocols and relevant international guidelines.
-Monitor the strategy and mechanisms for the integration of mental health and psychosocial support across World Vision inter-sectoral programming and ensure close coordination between the MHPSS department and other departments/sectors.
-Promote ongoing integration of MHPSS at the community level within health facilities and other community-based services.
-Provide oversight for and ensure completion of client tracking and supervision forms in liaison with the project psychologists.
-Provide written feedback from weekly supervisions conducted.
-Maintain updated records of supervision to beused in Supervisor’s supervision in liaison with MHPSS technical Advisor.
-Monitor and report serious adverse events witnessed during supervision and escalate to the Response Director.
-Ensure compliance to World Vision, WHO ethics and donor guidelines and standards.
-Ensure monthly monitoring of project indicators and facilitate regular reflections on monitoring practice to make improvements.
-Ensure timely submission of quality reports (Situational Reports, Annual, Semi-annul and Monthly Management Reports) in line with World Vision grant reporting guidelines.
-Identify, document and disseminate promising practices on mental health research and psychosocial project
-Convene forums for sharing and learning while involving project stakeholders.
-Where opportunities arise, provide timely inputs and information for peer review journal publications.
-Support the professional, technical development of the MHPSS technical team.
-Conduct regular MHPSS trainings and capacity-building sessions for staff on topics including case management, psychological first aid, Problem Management Plus (PM+), Interpersonal Therapy for Groups (IPT-G), and evidence-based interventions.
-Refining Psychosocial Needs Assessment Protocols and Skills.
-Designing and implementing self-care and team building activities.
-Conduct competency assessments for community workers and psychologists and plan appropriate capacity support measures.
-Prepare all materials for training and team building sessions.
-Build capacity and skill acquisition of project psychologists, Community workers/Facilitators/Helpers in basic counselling skills and selected individual and group intervention.
-Capacity build project teams on ethical and quality research processes for mental health.
-Lead the capacity building initiatives for communities and partners to enable them effectively advocate for and implement project interventions.
-Where required, facilitate training of Ministry of Health TOTs.
-Facilitate Psychological First Aid during Ebola Disease outbreak Training to all World Vision staff and community facilitators.
-Facilitate training of Child and Adult Safe guarding to all MHPSS teams including community facilitators.
-Facilitate training and orientation of Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse to all MHPSS teams including community facilitators/ helpers.
-Identify project psychologist requiring additional support or training during supervision sessions and report to MHPSS technical advisor order to respond appropriately.
-Attend and participate in the Ebola psychosocial commission and MHPSS Working Group and support co-chairs as needed.
-Represent World Vision at relevant coordination meetings and promote interagency coordination and MHPSS guidelines.
-Liaise and collaborate with existing government structures and local authorities organizing MHPSS activities and advocating for collaboration on local MHPSS initiatives.
-Assist national partners in the development of the detailed mental health and psychosocial needs implementation plan in accordance with World Vision’s and donor requirements.
-Ensure close working collaboration with key Government line ministries and other like-minded Partners.
-Collaborate with the psychosocial commission to develop clinical and management supervision model for all community facilitators/helpers working in the Ebola response.
-Perform other duties as assigned.
-The duties and responsibilities listed in this document are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and not necessarily all inclusive.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:
-Mental Health professional with a Masters of Arts/Science or equivalent in Counseling Psychology or Clinical Psychology, Clinical social work.
-Clinical experience at community level, either in a research or clinical capacity.
-Minimum of 4 years working experience in mental health and psychosocial support, one of which has to be at a supervisory level.
-A minimum of 2 years working experience in fragile context or disease outbreak.
-Knowledge of public health, protection, human rights, international development, or other relevant field is an added advantage.
-Experience providing clinical supervision in individual and group settings and setting up supervisory models for large-scale MHPSS programs.
-Experience conducting MHPSS-related trainings and development of training materials.
-Strong organizational and supervisory skills.
-Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work within different cultural environments.
-Ability to work within a team structure or in isolation, flexible, and can cope with stressful workloads and working with limited resources.
-Ability to travel on short notice to project sites.
-Psychological/Clinical Association Practice License or Accreditation is an added advantage.

Preferred Skills, Knowledge and Experience:
-Must have a good understanding of how psychological interventions are delivered during disease outbreak in the shadow of conflict.
-Must show flexibility and openness to different psychological modalities.
-Must show support of task-shifting approaches in order to build capacity in community workers/helpers.
-Ability to take initiative, team player who is able to work with minimum supervision.
-Competent in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel, with competency in basic data analysis.
-Personal qualities as diplomacy, patient confidentiality, multi-cultural flexibility, stress management and a strong sense of integrity.
-To be receptive, sensitive and an excellent listener.
-Outstanding communication and presentation skills with the ability to articulate an idea clearly and concisely in public, with good understanding of at stakes.
-Strong planning, organizational skills, and good ability to make proactive suggestions.
-Able to manage priorities, take initiatives and work without constant supervision.
-Ability to work under pressure and handle stressful situation.
-Must have excellent oral and written communications in French and English and relationship skills.

Work Environment/Travel:
-The position requires ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally up to 30% of the time.
-Ability to work in conflict and disease outbreak settings.
-Work experience in humanitarian emergencies or protracted-conflict settings.
-Ability to work flexibly and cope with stressful workloads and limited resources.