Senior Mental Health Client Specialist II is the super journey level classification in the professional Mental Health/Substance Use Disorder series. Incumbents are licensed clinicians whose primary focus is providing crisis intervention services, with mobile emergency response or law enforcement/emergency medical co-response, walk-in crisis and/or street medicine or outreach. This includes programs such as the Access Program which provides assessment and crisis intervention to individuals presenting as a walk-in for crisis services and requests for treatment. This classification differs from the Senior Mental Health Client Specialist I in the requirements for specific experience providing crisis intervention services. This classification differs from the Mental Health Supervising Client Specialist tasks in that the latter manages and directs a program area and supervises professional employees.

Tasks

• Interview clients and makes a psycho-social assessment and evaluation of problems;
• Conduct individual, group and family psychotherapy using accepted diagnostic and assessment procedures;
• Prepare case histories and diagnostic service plans;
• Identify special needs of clients and serve as a coordinator to oversee the implementation of individual service plans in accordance with client's coordination plan;
• Participate in case conferences and meetings of team members to review treatment/service plans including Child and Family Team Meetings;
• Act as a resource to other Agency staff members regarding service plans, diagnostic and assessment methods;
• Assess and make a recommendation for children needing placement in a Short-Term Residential Therapeutic (STRTP);
• Participate in the training of internal or contract facility staff in therapeutic treatment techniques and psychiatric evaluation and serve as a resource in a specific discipline such as psycho-social rehabilitation, benefits advocacy, supported housing, vocational rehabilitation, children's services, older adults, and services to those incarcerated or institutionalized;
• Work with other agencies to educate them in various aspects of mental illness and/or substance abuse to participate in the collaborative care of shared clients to identify, promote and develop needed health care services;
• Initiate and maintain a variety of records, reports, case notes, correspondence, forms, etc. for assigned client case load; participate in and/or lead staff conferences/workshops in client evaluation and plan development;
• Participate in planning for and evaluating new and/or improved mental health and/or substance abuse services in relation to Agency needs and priorities;
• May supervise, oversee, and instruct student interns participating in an approved program, assigning, coordinating, and reviewing their work;
• May act as a case management or assessment team leader;
• Develop and implement appropriate plans for assigned clients;
• Plan, coordinate and participate in special programs/projects as assigned;
• Input and access data using a computer and the County Electronic Health Record.
• Respond to crisis calls in the community to conduct clinical assessments, risk of harm and determination of the appropriate level of care and referrals;
• Assess for and initiate of a 5150 and 5585 holds for adults and children, in the office, the community, crisis stabilization programs, or the emergency department, and lifting of holds when clinically indicated following an assessment;
• Provide emergency assessments with law enforcement or emergency medical services as a co-responder for individuals in crisis or see walk-in patients who are in crisis through the Access or Mobile Emergency Response Team (MERT) Program or other similar programs.

Standards

Thorough knowledge of:

• Psychological and social aspects and characteristics of emotional disturbances and mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
• Principles and methods of counseling and the accepted techniques for assessing psycho-social behavior.

Working knowledge of:

• Human behavior and development.
• Appropriate and available community resources.
• Problems, needs and attitudes of individuals with emotional and social disturbance.
• Pertinent laws and regulations regarding health and social service programs.
• Laws and regulations as they pertain to clients' legal rights.

Some knowledge of:

• Pharmacology of medications and psychotropic drug treatment.
• Current diagnostic and statistical manual of the American Psychiatric Association.
• Welfare and institution codes 5150 and 5585.
• Crisis intervention models.

Ability To

• Assess and diagnose all types of client behavioral, substance use and emotional actions/problems, and develop and implement effective and appropriate treatment plans.
• Conduct effective and appropriate individual and group psychotherapy on an on-going basis.
• Train others at various levels of expertise in the concepts and theories of the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
• Prepare a variety of administrative and professional reports.
• Lead and participate in a treatment team, including effectively coordinating and directing the work of others.
• Establish and maintain a variety of case notes, client records and other required documentation.
• Communicate effectively in both oral and written form, expressing complex and technical terminology and concepts in an understandable manner.
• Learn Agency's policies and procedures relative to client support and treatment programs.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the performance of required duties.
• Learn to input and access data utilizing a computer.
• Distinguish speech and non-speech sounds in noisy environments.
• Intervene and diffuse situations involving individuals in crisis who are presenting a danger to themselves or others due to a grave disability.
• Stand and walk for extended periods of time may be required for some positions.
• Work in field-based settings.
• Be designated to perform 5150 and/or 5585 assessments and holds, including lifting holds when indicated following a comprehensive risk assessment in a variety of settings including in the community, in the office, or as a co-responder with law enforcement or emergency medical services.
• Interact with individuals in crisis and utilize evidence-based crisis de-escalation techniques to stabilize the individual and connect them with services, including hospitalization or admission to a crisis program in the community.
• See new patients who are not connected with services and presenting as a walk-in to the Access Team or similar programs.
• Perform suicide risk assessments and utilize that information to develop a comprehensive safety plan for the individual.