SOCIAL SERVICES COUNSELOR - F/C - 67036914 APD/ DDDP CHATTAHOOCHEE, FL

Requisition No: 880070

Agency: Agency for Persons with Disabilities

Working Title: SOCIAL SERVICES COUNSELOR - F/C - 67036914 APD/ DDDP CHATTAHOOCHEE, FL

Pay Plan: Career Service

Position Number: 67036914

Salary: $1,323.20- $2,000.00 BIWEEKLY

Posting Closing Date: 08/04/2026

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AGENCY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

POSITION: Social Services Counselor Forensic- Career Service

POSITION NUMBER: 67036914

OPEN COMPETITIVE OPPORTUNITY

SALARY RANGE: $1,323.20- $2,000.00 BIWEEKLY

Working hours 8:00am-4:30pm

CANDIDATE POOL: Future vacancies may be filled from this advertisement for a period of up to six months.

The Agency seeks team members who demonstrate the qualities of being humble, hungry, and smart and lead others to embody the same. This entails lacking excessive ego, sharing credit, being self-motivated, and exercising good judgment and intuition regarding the subtleties of group dynamics.

This position with APD will serve staff and management across the Agency. Your work will impact the workplace culture, our community, and the population we serve as we continuously strive to achieve the Agency's mission.

Program Overview

The Developmental Disabilities Defendant Program operates on the campus of Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee and at Sunland in Marianna under the auspices of The State of Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD). The Developmental Disabilities Defendant Program (DDDP) is dedicated to empowering persons with developmental disabilities charged with a felony crime to:

1. Acquire the skills and support that will prepare them for success in their future environments.

2. Acquire the skills needed to become competent to stand trial.

Position Summary

This is a highly responsible clinical/administrative position that serves as a Support Coordinator and involves the coordination of resident support implementation within a specified treatment unit. Areas of responsibility include specific duties to be performed before, during and after support plan meeting, as well as maintaining appropriate documentation and records to ensure compliance with applicable state and facility rules, regulations, procedures, guidelines, and directives. The Support Coordinator maintains an ongoing, meaningful relationship with each resident and advocates for the resident at all times. The incumbent assigned to this position is the single point of accountability for overall services to the residents.

Support Plan - Preparation

• Informs residents, family members, significant others, and team members of meeting times and locations in writing in a timely manner. Ensure this notification is recorded in the medical record.
• Meets with each resident to be reviewed prior to the support plan meeting to prepare them for the meeting and to identify relevant issues/concerns that the resident would like to be addressed.
• Reviews prior evaluation reports, progress notes, and assessments of each resident to be reviewed and identifies issues/needs or inconsistencies that need to be addressed.

Support Plan Team Meeting - Facilitation

• Serves as chairperson of support plan meetings
• Facilitates the team process in reviewing the individual's progress since last review.
• Integrates input from the residents, team members, and others in developing support plans that are acceptable to all parties involved.
• Ensures active and respectful participation of the resident and serves as the resident's advocate in situations involving disagreement or conflict.

Coordination of Overall Services

• Ensures that all issues are documented on the support plan.
• Provides copies of updated plan to all team members or other service providers with action items that relate to services to be delivered by each member clearly highlighted
• Develops a system of ongoing monitoring and evaluation of service providers to ensure that services are delivered as prescribed by the support plan.
• Provides systematic feedback on service delivery to supervisors and providers regarding staff performance issues and/or corrective actions necessary to properly implement support plans.
• Completes all admission documentation, psychosocial assessments, summaries and reports (monthly, annually, daily) as required or directed by appropriate management staff.
• Assures that all service activities are incorporated in the residents' schedules.
• Identifies need for follow-up meetings or special staffing and schedules as necessary. Chairs interdisciplinary reviews on a quarterly or as-needed basis for identified residents on their respective caseloads.
• Coordinates the discharge process including but not limited to completion of placement referrals and coordinating outside contacts.

Resident Relationship/Advocacy

• Maintains ongoing, meaningful relationships with assigned residents and meets with each resident as needed at least monthly with progress note documentation.
• Ensures empowerment of residents within support plan process, through active encouragement, engagement, and involvement of resident.
• Advocates for residents at all times and strives to refocus treatment staff on residents as priority.
• Works closely with each resident's Personal Advocate to promote continuity of care.

Community Liaison

• Maintains ongoing communication with Residential Planning Coordinators and Court Liaisons and other Community Personnel and ensures that they are informed of support plan reviews of individual residents. Ensures this notification is documented in the medical record.
• Coordinates outside contacts for residents with family, friends, the legal system, and others. Provides case management guidance and counseling to residents and their families.
• Coordinates and ensures that all releases (including LOA) are appropriately scheduled, coordinated, and enacted. This includes all appropriate notification and documentation.

The Work You Will Do

DDDP is a forensic facility working with individuals with disabilities in a secure setting.  These individuals have been adjudicated by the courts as incompetent to proceed to trial and have significant behavioral and psychiatric issues.  DDDP provides rehabilitative, vocational, and daily living skills training to the individuals served which allows for a smooth transition back into a non-secure residential or community setting.

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Knowledge of rehabilitation or mental health treatment techniques.
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of social work, education, or counseling.
• Knowledge of methods of compiling, organizing, and analyzing data.
• Ability to administer or participate in major mental health service programs and functions.
• Ability to conduct on-site evaluations of facilities and programs.
• Ability to interpret and coordinate the implementation of mental health service programs, goals, and administrative procedures.
• Ability to maintain liaison with other agencies.
• Ability to plan, organize, and coordinate work assignments.
• Ability to communicate effectively.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others.

Minimum Qualifications

• Four years of professional experience in providing social work, health education, nursing or counseling services; or a bachelors degree from an accredited college or university in social work, psychology, education or nursing, and one year of professional experience may substitute for the required experience.
• Certification in the agency-approved crisis prevention and intervention program
• Maintain confidentiality of employees and/or resident information.
• A valid driver's license.

The Benefits of Working for the State of Florida

Working for the State of Florida is more than a paycheck. The State's total compensation package for eligible employees features a highly competitive set of employee benefits, including:

• Annual and Sick Leave benefits.
• Nine paid holidays and one Personal Holiday each year.
• State Group Insurance coverage options, including health, life, dental, vision, and other supplemental insurance options.
• Retirement plan options, including employer contributions (For more information, please click www.myfrs.com).
• Flexible Spending Accounts.
• Tuition waivers.
• And more! For a more complete list of benefits, visit www.mybenefits.myflorida.com.
• Paid Maternity and Parental Leave.
• https://compcalculator.myflorida.com/

Recruiting Contact:

Jodi NeSmith

Recruitment Manager- Developmental Disabilities Defendant Program & Pathways

Agency for Persons with Disabilities

Telephone: (850) 793-7075

Email: jodi.nesmith@apdcares.org

Profile Completion

Applicants must complete all fields in the Candidate Profile, including their work history within the month and year, to qualify for this position.

Responses to Qualifying Questions must be verifiable in the Candidate Profile, and "see resume" will not be considered an acceptable response.

Resumes and other documentation can be attached to provide additional information, but this will not replace the required completed Candidate Profile.

Retiree Notice

If you are a retiree of the Florida Retirement System (FRS), please check with the FRS on how your current benefits will be affected if you are re-employed with the State of Florida. Your current retirement benefits may be suspended or voided, and you will be required to repay all benefits received depending upon the date of your retirement.

Direct Deposit Program

As a condition of employment, a person appointed to a position in the State Personnel System is required to participate in the Direct Deposit Program. Rather than receiving a paper paycheck, your funds will be deposited directly into your account at your financial institution. This will be accomplished by Electronic Funds Transfer. Banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions are eligible to accept such deposits. Retirement funds are also required to be in the Direct Deposit Program.

Background Screening Requirement

It is the policy of the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities that applicants for employment undergo Level 2 employment screening in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 435, Florida Statutes, as a condition of employment or being permitted to serve as a volunteer.

No applicant for a designated position will be employed or permitted to volunteer until the Level 2 screening results are received, reviewed, and approved by the Agency.

Level 2 background screening shall include, but not be limited to, fingerprinting for Statewide criminal and juvenile records checks through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Federal criminal records checks through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and may include local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies.

Pursuant to S. 110.1127(1), Florida Statutes, this position requires a background investigation, including fingerprinting.

APD only hires U.S. citizens, and those lawfully authorized to work in the U.S. APD participates in the U.S. government's employment eligibility verification program (E-verify). E-verify is a program that electronically confirms an employee's eligibility to work in the U.S. after completing the employment eligibility verification form (I-9).

All applicants should complete the online application process. If assistance is needed to apply for this position, please call the people first service center at 1-877-562-7287.

Responses to the qualifying questions are required to be considered for this position. Answers to the qualifying questions must be verifiable based on your submitted application.

Candidates requiring a reasonable accommodation, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, must notify the agency hiring authority and/or People First Service Center (1-866-663-4735). Notification to the hiring authority must be made in advance to allow sufficient time to provide the accommodation.

The State of Florida supports a Drug-Free workplace. All employees are subject to reasonable suspicion drug testing in accordance with Section 112.0455, F.S., Drug-Free Workplace Act.

VETERANS' PREFERENCE. Pursuant to Chapter 295, Florida Statutes, candidates eligible for Veterans' Preference will receive preference in employment for Career Service vacancies and are encouraged to apply. Certain service members may be eligible to receive waivers for postsecondary educational requirements. Candidates claiming Veterans' Preference must attach supporting documentation with each submission that includes character of service (for example, DD Form 214 Member Copy #4) along with any other documentation as required by Rule 55A-7, Florida Administrative Code. Veterans' Preference documentation requirements are available by clicking here. All documentation is due by the close of the vacancy announcement.