Counselor

Purpose 

Family Legacy (FL) is a organization that exists to glorify God by equipping children in Zambia to live out their God-given potential. Since 2000, Legacy Missions Zambia (FLMZ) has been transforming the lives of vulnerable and orphaned children through three core programs: Camp Life, the Tree of Life Children’s Village, and the Legacy Academies.

The job of the Tree of Life (TOL) Counselor is to assesses the psychological, emotional, developmental, and social wellbeing of children, house mothers, and parents/guardians at the Tree of Life Children’s Village (TOL)/Brothers & Sisters Residence and provide clinical therapeutic interventions to address their specific psychosocial needs. It is the responsibility of the TOL Counselor to conduct psychosocial assessments, receive referrals, triage and prioritize clients’ needs, provide a variety of counseling interventions, perform administrative duties, and other therapeutic activities as directed. The TOL Counselor will ensure that all departmental, HWC, TOL, Legacy, and governmental policies and procedures are followed correctly to ensure that the department works in accordance with the law. 

Child Safeguarding 

Family Legacy Missions Zambia is committed to the highest standards of child safeguarding and the protection of vulnerable individuals. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of abuse, exploitation, or harm. Our recruitment processes reflect this commitment and include rigorous background checks, reference verification, and safeguarding-focused assessments. All successful candidates will be required to adhere to FLMZ’s Child Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, and safeguarding values to ensure that every child and young person in our care is safe, respected, and protected at all times.

Roles and Responsibilities: 

• Psychosocial Care Services:

• Provide daily clinical counseling therapy to all children, house mothers, and parents/guardians at TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence.
• Receive counseling referrals from other departments and communicate client’ needs and treatment plans effectively to other members of staff.
• Triage and prioritize clients’ needs to effectively manage assigned client caseload.
• Conduct informal and formal assessments of clients’ psychological, emotional, developmental, and social needs.
• Create individualized treatment plans to meet clients’ personal needs.
• Provides timely and appropriate assessment, treatment planning, therapeutic interventions, and follow-up to all clients.
• Use a variety of evidence-based counseling techniques & interventions to conduct individual and group therapy sessions (play-based interventions, therapeutic art activities, sand tray therapy, CBT, trauma-focused interventions, coping skills development, anger management techniques, etc.)
• Routinely monitor clients’ progress and adjust their treatment plans as needed.
• Receive intake and handover from LA counselors, social services staff, and medical staff for all new TOL admissions. 
• Work on department-specific TOL Care Plans (intake, ongoing progress, reforecasting, reintegration) for assigned clients.
• Prepare TOL children for reintegration (reintegration questionnaires, Google Sheet inputs, post-reintegration counseling follow-ups, handover to LA counselors, etc.)
• Conduct HIV disclosure processes with children who are HIV+ and their parents/guardians.
• Conduct therapeutic activities within individual TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence houses.
• Provide intensive counseling assessments and debriefings to children who have run away from TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence.
• Provide house mothers at TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence with counseling related to child concerns.
• Facilitate regular therapeutic support groups across TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence (HIV, sickle cell, sexual abuse, grief, trauma, etc.)
• Participate in counseling sessions with children and their parents/guardians on a variety of issues as needed.
• Conduct death and/or sick member disclosures with children and accompany them to funerals and hospital visits as needed.
• Acts as a resource for other departments and staff across the ministry in understanding the significance of developmental, psychological, emotional, and social related to children’s trauma, growth and development, coping, and wellbeing.
• Participates in trainings for staff across the ministry on a variety of topics related to psychosocial care including, but not limited to, trauma and coping, children’s development, psychosocial needs, treatment strategies, etc. 
• Promotes the continuous development of children to optimize their responses to traumatic experiences, to minimize psychological stress, and to increase understanding of and coping with trauma and illness.
• Assess, determine, and make referrals to other departments when special services or care are needed for clients, such as medical evaluation, social services, community services, or specialized psychological/psychiatric testing.
• Facilitate additional therapeutic activities and programming at TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence as directed.
• Ensure high quality care for clients by reviewing and researching concerns or complaints and recommending corrective action as needed.
• Implement trauma-informed programming across Tree of Life.
• Conduct clinical child life specialist interventions with medical patients across Tree of Life
• Conduct clinic and/or hospital visitation with Tree of Life children and parents/guardians as needed

• Communication

• Clearly and respectfully communicate with children, house mothers, parents/guardians, and staff across TOL/Brothers & Sisters Residence.
• Practice clear communication with coworkers, direct supervisor, other departments, management, and relevant stakeholders.
• Closely collaborate with other departments across Legacy to communicate about children’s psychosocial needs, goals, and treatment plans.
• Participate in multidisciplinary team treatment conferences when needed to review and plan for specific client cases.
• Receive and give clinical counseling handovers to/from LA Counselors and Medical Staff for assigned clients.
• Closely collaborate with LA counselors to provide continuity of care with clients.

• Record Keeping and Administrative Duties

• Complete appropriate mental health documentation, including but not limited to patient care plans, performance outcomes, progress reports, and daily activity tracking as required by HPCZ, the Zambian Counselling Council, the Psychological Association of Zambia, the HWC, and Legacy.
• Perform daily scheduling tasks to manage and maintain an independent caseload of clients.
• Document and submit daily individual counseling statistics to direct supervisor in a timely manner.
• Attend and participate in daily counseling department meetings. 
• Attend and participate in weekly departmental professional development activities (including trainings, case presentations, etc.)
• Perform record-keeping duties by maintaining clients’ counseling records in confidential files.
• Compile comprehensive counseling reports for the ministry as directed.
• Follow all departmental, HWC, and government policies and procedures as instructed.
• Comply with rules and regulations of the Zambian Counselling Council (ZCC) and Psychological Association of Zambia (PAZ).
• Maintain working knowledge of the legal issues pertaining to the counseling program so they are in-line with relevant government agencies and rights of all stakeholders.

Other Competencies/Skills:

• Demonstrates commitment to Legacy mission, vision, and values.
• Has a heart to work with vulnerable children and even when with challenges.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Strong oral and writing skills
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and privacy.
• Basic computer proficiency skills (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, & email).
• Ability to perform well with limited supervision.
• Ability to identify and address issues with creativity and effectiveness.
• Shares knowledge and experience.
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning and development and applying newly acquired skills.
• Consistently approaches work with energy and positive constructive attitude.
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills.
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
• Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.
• Solicits feedback from coworkers about the impact of his/her behavior.
• Relational and personable.
• Ability to work as a team and collaborate with others.
• Adheres to all deadlines.
• Must have no prior convictions of harm to a child. 

Academic and Professional Requirements:

• Have a minimum of Associate-level license in psychosocial or child counseling accredited by the Zambia Counselling Council (ZCC) or Psychological Association of Zambia (PAZ).
• Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology, psychosocial counseling, or closely associated field* (*Applicants with diploma-level qualification in psychological, child, and/or clinical counseling who are currently enrolled in an associated Bachelor’s Degree program will be considered) 
• Maintain current Zambian licensure as a counseling practitioner.
• Have at least 1 year of experience in a similar position