Coaching and College Navigation Clinician

About the role

The Coaching & College Navigation Clinician provides person-centered, clinically informed coaching, college navigation, clinical case management, and skill-building services to young adults and adults with Autism referred by the Department of Developmental Services. Individuals may also have intellectual or developmental disabilities and/or mental health needs. Services are delivered in homes, community settings, college campuses, agency locations, and virtual environments.

The Clinician partners with individuals to identify strengths, needs, preferences, and self-directed goals; develop practical pathways toward goal attainment; and build skills related to executive functioning, emotional regulation, communication, relationships, independent living, community participation, wellness, employment, and higher education.

Using Positive Behavioral Supports, trauma-informed practice, motivational approaches, and other approved evidence-informed interventions, the Clinician provides individualized coaching, safety planning, curriculum-based services, and collaboration with DDS, families, natural supports, campus personnel, providers, and interdisciplinary team members. Services emphasize autonomy, informed choice, measurable progress, community inclusion, and reduced reliance on formal supports.

Essential Responsibilities

Engagement, Assessment, and Person-Centered Planning

• Establish trusting, person-centered, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and nonjudgmental relationships with individuals receiving services.
• Use individualized engagement strategies, including rapport building, preference exploration, Motivational Interviewing, and Stages of Change approaches, to support participation and reduce barriers to engagement.
• Complete required intake documentation and assessments within established program and funder timelines.
• Collaborate with each individual to develop meaningful, self-directed goals, measurable objectives, incremental action steps, milestones, and timelines.
• Use task analysis, collaborative problem solving, and regular progress reviews to support goal attainment and adjust strategies when needs or priorities change.

Coaching and Skill Development

• Provide individualized coaching in homes, community settings, college campuses, agency locations, and virtual environments across the Central West region of Massachusetts, including South Valley, North Central, and Worcester areas.
• Teach and reinforce executive-functioning skills, including organization, prioritization, time management, flexible thinking, problem solving, task initiation, planning, and use of individualized schedules or organizational tools.
• Support the development and practice of communication, self-advocacy, emotional-regulation, coping, interpersonal, relationship, community-navigation, and independent-living skills.
• Provide in-the-moment coaching to help individuals understand and navigate social expectations, relationship boundaries, online communication, community participation, academic environments, and workplace settings.
• Support individualized wellness strategies addressing areas such as sensory regulation, stress management, sleep, nutrition, physical activity, health routines, and self-care.
• Incorporate Positive Behavioral Supports, including Universal Supports, and other approved evidence-based or evidence-informed practices into assessment, coaching, and service planning.

College Navigation

• Assist students in identifying strengths, needs, and goals related to academic success, campus engagement, independent functioning, and social participation.
• Support students with class and assignment organization, study planning, homework completion, time management, note-taking, online learning, communication with instructors, and balancing academic, social, recreational, and wellness responsibilities.
• Help students identify and access campus resources, including disability and accessibility services, academic advising, tutoring, learning centers, counseling, career services, transportation, recreation, clubs, and student organizations.
• Coach students in navigating campus environments, residential expectations, personal-care routines, peer interactions, classroom behavior, friendships, and other social aspects of college life.

Clinical Coordination

• Collaborate with individuals and their chosen supports to develop, implement, practice, and update Safety Plans and Cope Ahead Plans.
• Provide clinical case management, consultation, referral, and care coordination when individuals experience mental health, engagement, wellness, or safety concerns.
• Coordinate with existing behavioral health and medical providers, within the limits of the role and appropriate authorizations, to promote continuity and alignment of supports.
• Participate in crisis assessment, consultation, response, and follow-up as assigned and consistent with agency procedures.
• Facilitate or co-facilitate therapeutic, skill-building, educational, and social curricula, including Friendship and Dating and the DBT-informed Skills System.
• Develop or deliver training in collaboration with team members to address identified clinical and service-learning needs.
• Support each individual in deciding whether and how family members, natural supports, providers, and other stakeholders will participate in services.
• Maintain confidentiality and obtain appropriate authorization before sharing information with family members, campus personnel, DDS, providers, or other parties.
• Facilitate person-centered conversations when differences arise concerning goals, priorities, supports, or service strategies.

Documentation, Outcomes, and Quality

• Maintain timely, accurate, confidential, and funder-compliant electronic records, including assessments, plans, contact logs, service notes, authorizations, progress updates, and other required documentation.
• Document each service interaction and the individual's progress toward goals, objectives, milestones, skill development, community participation, academic success, wellness, and other identified outcomes.
• Collect and report required program data and contribute to service evaluation, satisfaction measurement, fidelity review, and continuous quality-improvement activities.
• Participate in supervision, consultation, team meetings, training, communities of practice, and committees as assigned.
• Maintain required professional qualifications, training, and competency in autism-informed, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and evidence-informed practice.
• Perform other duties consistent with the position's purpose and service requirements.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in social work, psychology, counseling, or a related clinical field, required.
• Minimum of three years of experience supporting individuals with developmental disabilities, Autism, and mental health challenges, required.
• Working knowledge of Positive Behavioral Supports, trauma-informed practice, and person-centered planning, required.
• Experience with clinical case management, skill development, community-based services, and collaboration with families and interdisciplinary teams.
• Familiarity with academic and social systems in higher education, disability or accessibility services, and campus resources strongly preferred.
• Ability to use technology for documentation, virtual service delivery, communication, scheduling, and organizational supports.
• Valid driver's license, acceptable driving history, reliable transportation, and ability to travel throughout the assigned service area, required.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule based on the needs and availability of individuals receiving services.

Pay Range

$38.46 - $38.46

Benefits of Working for Open Sky Include

• Excellent Supervision (Individual and Group), Professional Development, and Training Opportunities
• Generous paid time off plan - you start with 29 days (almost 6 weeks!) in your first year, including 12 paid holidays. Increases to 32 days in your 2nd year, and the current maximum is 43 days (OVER 8 WEEKS!)
• We pay for your higher education! Ask about our Tuition Reimbursement Program, and reimbursement for a variety of Human Services certifications.
• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance with Prescription Plan
• 403b Retirement Plan with Employer Match
• Life Insurance (100% Employer-Paid)
• Eligible employer for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program
• And more!