COMMUNITY SERVICES SPECIALIST **Eastside OP

Pay rates for Union positions are set in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with SEIU Local 521. Each position has a total of six steps, Step 1 (entry level) through Step 6 (15 years of employment with the organization). Union staff are promoted from Step 1 to Step 2 upon their one-year anniversary. The current Step 1 rate for this position is $34.21 / hr, and the current Step 6 rate for this position is $37.77 / hr.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES :

• Provide mental health rehabilitation and case management services for a varying caseload, coupled with involvement of their families, which assist and support clients in all areas of daily living and facilitate integration into the community. Duties may include any or all of the following :

Facilitate one-on-one and groups through rehabilitation counseling processes that help develop and strengthen life, coping and independent living skills; develop curriculums.

• Work with clients' families and educate them on mental health rehabilitation processes and related issues to enable successful transitions.
• Engage clients for evaluation on an outpatient basis, if necessary, to engender trust by performing visits to private homes, locked hospital or jail facilities, community shelters, and medical facilities.
• Help prepare and assist clients and their families with client social integration into community life, housing, school, employment, and other life-sustaining and independent living skills.
• Provide medical follow-up assistance to clients in obtaining a primary care physician, coordinating care with medical doctors, and assisting with medical issues, schedules, appointments, and transportation.
• Coordinate care with outside mental health professionals and programs.
• Assist in budgeting and financial planning; address health and safety issues and how to respond to common emergencies.
• Facilitate client insurance benefits to expedite treatment and ensure timely payment to representative payees.
• Provide service to clients and clients' families in linkage with professional and community resources.
• Interface directly with clients and provide counseling, particularly during times of conflict and crisis intervention.
• Complete the clinical records and other documentation, processes, and procedures that enable clients to receive these services in accordance with Agency, payor and regulatory requirements, utilizing paper or computer technology.

Develop and implement individual service and treatment plans;

• Perform clinical and administrative admissions and discharge paperwork and procedures.

Assess clients for admission, benefit status, and clinical appropriateness for admittance; coordinate admittance details; communicate with referral sources to complete admittance papers; complete the Admission Summary;

• Enter and maintain up-to-date clinical documentation for each client file, including case notes for each client per Agency standards.
• Track due dates for all paperwork to ensure quality standards are met and accurate and timely billings can be issued.
• Perform general office work, including electronic and telephonic communications and processing of timecards.
• Attend and participate in staff, program, agency and community meetings and training.
• Provide transportation in personal or agency vehicles, including, but not limited to, the transport of clients and or program supplies, for agency business.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES :

• Provide appropriate consultation and back-up to support other staff in responding to client crises.
• May provide on-call floor coverage, as needed.
• Provide on-call coverage for non-standard work hours, as needed.
• Interface with staff, clients, and visitors, as conditions require and in an unobtrusive manner.
• Ensure compliance with applicable health and safety or other regulatory requirements.
• Ensure work area is clean and well kept.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED : (E = Essential; D = Desired)

• High School diploma, GED, or equivalent education plus five years' experience; OR Associate's degree plus three years' experience; OR Bachelor's degree plus two years' experience; OR Master's degree in a related field plus one year's experience, working in a human service setting; (E) and / or a mental health setting or with emotionally disturbed individuals. (D) (Appropriate volunteer and internship experience and personal experience in the mental health system will be considered.)
• Eligibility for MHRS certificate. (D)
• Demonstrated ability to :

Work independently and in a small team environment; (E)

• Engage and communicate effectively with others in both verbal and written English; (E)
• Monitor and support developmental growth and the recovery process; (E)
• Manage multiple tasks and demands; (E)
• Employ tact and diplomacy, exercise good judgment, and act calmly in emergency situations; (E)
• Work from a strengths-based, harm-reduction, social rehabilitation model; (E)
• Work effectively with persons of different value systems, ethnicity, cultural backgrounds, language capabilities and disabilities; (E)
• Work collaboratively with individuals identified as those with serious mental illness who meet the following criteria : histories of hospitalization, institutionalization, including with the criminal justice system, substance abuse, low engagement in medication treatment, and difficulty in participating in structured activities and living independently; (E)
• Work with populations identified as high risk and / or considered under-represented in the County Mental Health system with multiple barriers. (E)
• Exhibit exemplary customer service, compassion, and care in the execution of all duties and interactions. (E)
• Demonstrated ability to work with participants who :

May also have histories of assaultive behavior; (E)

• May have resided in long term care facilities for extended periods; (E)
• May have patterns of service that relied almost exclusively on emergency and institutional care; (E)
• May have cognitive difficulties and medical co-morbidities and are considered medically fragile; may also be developmentally disabled; (E)
• May have long-term patterns of homelessness and criminal justice involvement. (E)
• Knowledge of :

Clinical techniques for assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of people with psychological disorders and associated medications; problem resolution and conflict resolution techniques; (E)

• Community resources, including those required to meet the non-mental health needs of the target population; (E)
• Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) and Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). (D)
• Special Requirements : Must be able to meet and receive a criminal records clearance, as required by Title XXII, other licensing regulations and Momentum practices. (E)
• Proven proficiency in typing-minimum 40 net wpm; computer literacy, including Internet search and a basic proficiency level in Microsoft Office applications and Windows-based databases; (E) familiarity with UNIX-based databases. (D)
• A valid California Driver License, with access to a reliable vehicle or for driving a company vehicle, current proof of auto liability insurance, and a clean DMV record, with eligibility for a Class B license. (E)
• Physical requirements needed to perform the essential functions of this job, with or without accommodation :

Standing, walking, grasping, finger flexion, moving / lifting / carrying objects up to 40 lbs., bending, stooping, crouching, kneeling, withstanding repetitive motion, and reaching repeatedly are required constantly (over 2 / 3 of the workday); (E)

• Hearing and talking on telephone and in person is required occasionally (under 1 / 3 of workday); (E)
• Balancing, climbing and crawling may be required occasionally; (E)
• Physically able to assist clients and / or staff in the evacuation of program facilities in emergency situations. (E)

Salary : $34 - $38