THE POSITION
The City of Hayward is excited to announce its recruitment for the position of Family Counselor. Under general direction, the Family Counselor provides crisis intervention, counseling, and referral services to youth, families, and individuals and performs other related duties as required, such as school based, case management, and gang prevention/intervention services. This position is partially funded by Alameda County Probation Department, Delinquency Prevention Network, RFP 901499.
DEADLINE TO APPLY: Next Review is scheduled on January 4, 2021; Open Until Filled
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
This is a journey level professional classification and the incumbent performs the full range of counseling duties within the Youth and Family Services Bureau of the Hayward Police Department. Employees at this level receive occasional instruction as new or unusual situations arise. Positions in this classification differ from the higher level Counseling Supervisor in that the latter is responsible for providing direct supervision to professional and clerical staff.
Duties may include but are not limited to the following:
Provides crisis intervention services to youth, families, individuals, and couples including but not limited to crises involving incorrigible youth, dependent children under the court's custody, domestic violence, first time offenders, and the hospitalization of individuals dangerous to self and others.
Provides counseling to youth, families, couples, individuals and groups.
Maintains crisis intake log, case files and service statistics.
Provides referral information to the public, and other agencies.
Participates in division, department, community and school meetings.
Provides support service, consultation and training to patrol officers on juvenile and mental health topics.
Provides case management services to youth and their families.
Provides school based services to students and their families, including consultation and training for school administrators and teachers, implementation of school climate initiatives, and coordination of site-based student support services.
Provides gang prevention and intervention services to at risk and gang involved youth and their families.
Maintains formal and informal liaison with mental health professionals and service providers including courts, schools, private therapists, hospitals, probation and other agencies.
Provides emergency psychological evaluation and recommendations.
Responds to critical incidents and other in-field emergency situations.
Performs related work as necessary.
A complete job description and list of duties can be found at www.hayward-ca.gov.
JOB RELATED AND ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS
Knowledge of:
- The theory and principles of human development, particularly child development.
- The theory and principles of social aspects of mental and emotional adjustment, including normal and abnormal behavior.
- Principles, methods and current practices of crisis intervention and counseling, which includes interviewing techniques, assessment and treatment modalities.
- Principles, methods and current practices of social casework.
- The theory and principles of child abuse, elder abuse and domestic violence treatment.
- The theory, principles and current practices of gang prevention and intervention.
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V) system of diagnosis.
- Proficiency in the use of computer skills, including multiple software formats, email and storage of digital files.
- Community resources in the mental health and human services areas.
Ability to:
- Perform crisis intervention and counseling services.
- Establish effective and productive casework relationships with youth, families, and individuals.
- Establish cooperative working relationships with police officers in the handling of crisis calls.
- Establish cooperative working relationships with educators and school site personnel.
- Work independently, make sound decisions and set priorities under stressful conditions.
- Work collaboratively in the highly structured environment of a police department while maintaining accepted professional standards of clinical practice.
- Communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
- Maintain records, including statistics, and to prepare reports.
- Work varied shifts.
- Effectively manage time, meet deadlines and prioritize workload.
EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION
Any combination of experience and education equivalent to that which would likely provide the required knowledge and abilities would be qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge, skills and abilities would be:
Experience: One (1) year providing counseling or psychotherapy to youth, families, groups and individuals. Experience with probation involved or at-risk youth and experience with school based mental health services are highly desirable; experience working in school settings is highly desirable.
Education: Equivalent to a Master's Degree from an accredited college or university in Counseling, Clinical Psychology, Clinical Social Work or a closely related field or a Doctorate in Clinical or Counseling Psychology. (Note: Applicants with a related Master's Degree in progress are also encouraged to apply. Selected candidate will need to provide proof of graduate degree completion by the start date of employment.)
Licenses & Certificates: Possession of a valid License in Marriage and Family Therapy (L.M.F.T.), Licensed Clinical Social Work (L.C.S.W.), Licensed Professional Counselor (L.P.C), Licensed Clinical Psychologist or a closely related field is highly desirable.
Possession and maintenance of a valid Class C California Driver's License.
APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCEDURE
To apply for this posting, please create an account profile with Government Jobs by clicking on the following link https://www.governmentjobs.com/Home/ApplicationGuide as your CalOpps profile information will not transfer automatically to Government Jobs.
