Company Conformance Statements
In the performance of their respective tasks and duties all employees are expected to conform to the following: Perform quality work within deadlines with or without direct supervision.
- Interact professionally with other employees, agencies, and clients.
- Work effectively as a team contributor on all assignments.
- Work independently while understanding the necessity for communicating and coordinating work efforts with other employees and organizations.
Position Summary
CONTACT Care Line is East Tennessee’s first crisis hotline. CONTACT’s Crisis program provides text-based and telephone-based crisis/suicide intervention services to visitors of the 988 Lifeline. The primary goals of the Crisis Counselor are to assess the risk of suicide, provide emotional support, and collaborate with the person in crisis toward a plan for safety. The CONTACT staff works as a close team, building warm relationships and growing together through shared experiences. Each day brings new challenges and new opportunities to change lives.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
- Answer 988 chat/text and telephone interactions
- Assess and reduce the risk of suicide following established policy, protocol, and procedure
- Provide emotional support using active listening and de-escalation techniques
- Provide referrals to community resources when appropriate
- Accurately document all interactions in accordance with established procedure
- Seeking and following consultation and guidance from supervisors
- Promptly respond to visitors' messages with reflective responses that move the conversation forward
- Complete required continued education trainings
- Maintain required quality scores
- Mentoring may be requested in the future
Experience, Skills, Licenses/Certifications
- 18 years of age or older
- Not a current (or within past 3 years) client of any CONTACT Care Line’s crisis programs
- Open, thoughtful, and prompt two-way communication
- Proficiency with web applications, navigating websites, and troubleshooting technical issues
- Empathic listening skills
- Calm, logical reasoning in stressful situations
- Ability to respond quickly in high risk/imminent risk situations
- Resourceful problem-solving skills
- Experience in crisis work strongly preferred; mental health and counseling preferred.
- Bachelor degree preferred
Salary
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The hourly rate is $18-$20 during probation (the first 90 days of employment). After probation, the hourly rate can go up to $22 per hour depending on review.