San Mateo County Health's Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Division is seeking a trauma informed, culturally responsive, field-based experienced individual for the position of Mental Health Counselor I/II, Spanish Speaking Required, with the Adult Resource Management (ARM) Team. The ARM team is located at 2000 Alameda de Las Pulgas in San Mateo, CA. This position requires traveling throughout San Mateo County.
The ARM team provides critical, field-based, trauma informed and culturally responsive, intensive case management support to Clients with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) who are either at high risk of being hospitalized or re-hospitalized, being discharged from locked facilities, are at risk of homelessness and or are currently homeless. The referrals to the ARM team come from the Regional Clinics, PES, Hospitals, and other partner agencies. This position also provides intensive case management support to the Clients admitted to the contracted mental health beds at Safe Harbor Shelter and the Navigation Center. This position assists Clients with treatment support and engagement, transportation to appointments, applying for GA and to other needed resources that include employment and permanent housing, and to help them manage their symptoms and behaviors.
The ideal candidate will have experience providing field-based intensive case management for Clients with SMI and co-occurring conditions; working with adults who are homeless or potentially homeless, leaving jail, in shelters, in detox and substance use residential facilities, in social rehabilitation facilities, or in hospitals; interviewing and assessing clients' housing, financial and employment needs; assisting adult clients to stabilize in the community with housing and other services; assisting clients to develop treatment recovery; assisting clients in their addiction recovery; and an understanding and working knowledge of systems of care. Fluency in both English and Spanish is required
NOTE: The eligible list generated from this recruitment may be used to fill future extra-help, term, unclassified, and regular classified vacancies.
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Examples Of Duties
Duties may include but are not limited to the following:
- Conduct home and field visits;
- Develop and maintain ongoing collaboration with referring providers;
- Conduct thorough chart reviews and case consultations when receiving new referrals;
- Develop and maintain ongoing knowledge of community resources to meet Clients multiple needs;
- Utilize cultural humility principles to engage Clients from marginalized communities;
- Provide intensive case management including transportation support; assisting clients with housing readiness and referrals to various housing opportunities;
- Perform initial assessment noting behavioral symptoms which may indicate organic and/or mental disorders;
- Confirm or revise initial diagnosis in conference with professional staff;
- Determine and develop appropriate treatment plans for all clients on the caseload;
- Conduct individual, group and family counseling sessions for clients;
- Participate in developing individual and group treatment plans utilizing a variety of psychotherapeutic modalities;
- Make client referrals and plan discharge procedures;
- Establish and utilize knowledge of community resources;
- Assess progress of clients and propose modifications to rehabilitation plans in order to meet goals agreed upon by the clients/patients;
- Interview patient and relatives in order to gather case history data;
- Prepare and maintain psychosocial case histories for use in diagnostic evaluations and evaluations of patient progress;
- Consult frequently with professional team members;
- Provide outreach counseling and refer clients to appropriate mental health program service resources;
- Counsel individuals or groups regarding resources or services available for treatment and to help combat relapses;
- Participate with program staff in individual client and program conferences, in staff development and professional growth activities;
- Plan and present informational services to community target groups and organizations to explain mental health programs and services;
- Serve as lead or co-facilitator in group, individual or other treatment modality; and
- Perform related duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Education and Experience:
Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify is:
Mental Health Counselor I: One year of experience in a community mental health setting, performing crisis intervention or related counseling services or completion of 60 semester units from an accredited college or university with emphasis in one of the behavioral sciences.
Mental Health Counselor II: Two years of experience in a community mental health setting, performing individual or group therapeutic counseling services to clients and developing therapeutic assessment and treatment plans.
Knowledge of:
Mental health needs and problems of the general population; rehabilitative counseling techniques including role playing, behavioral modification and recreational therapy; social aspects of mental and emotional disturbances; basic techniques and dynamics of individual and group therapy; community resources available for treatment of clients; problems, needs, attitudes and behavior patterns of clients having basic emotional and/or social adjustment problems; and individual, couple, family and group counseling principles.
Skill/Ability to:
Apply the techniques used in individual and group therapy; develop and evaluate creative approaches to the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of mental disorders; obtain and record social, physical, educational and work histories; write clear, accurate and concise reports; interpret data; conduct group and individual counseling; establish and maintain the confidence and cooperation of clients including those of varied ethnic and social backgrounds; speak effectively before groups; exercise tact; and function as a team member.
Application/Examination
Open and Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, Confidential and Management extra-help/limited term, and SEIU or AFSCME represented extra help/limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.
A supplemental application form must be submitted in addition to our regular employment application form. Resume or CV will not be accepted as a substitute for the required employment application and supplemental questionnaire.
The examination process will consist of an application screening (pass/fail) based on the candidates' application and responses to the supplemental questions. Candidates who pass the application screening will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%). Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in San Mateo County, California and applicants must participate at their own expense.
IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org to apply. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before midnight on the final filing date.
~TENTATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE~
Final Filing Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 11:59 PM
Application Screening: May 1, 2024
Panel Interviews: May 13 and/or 14, 2024