Clinician - Law Enforcement Liaison

Sweetser has a brand-new position opening as a Clinical Law Enforcement Liaison! The Behavioral Health Liaison is a trained mental health professional embedded in the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department to address the mental health and behavioral health needs of the Lincoln County communities utilizing evidenced-based behavioral health interventions. The liaison will work with law enforcement to co-respond to mental health calls and provide crisis intervention, person centered follow-up, referrals, and connection to services. The liaison will have the capacity to facilitate community related groups and/or High Utilizer of Emergency Services (HUES) meetings.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Accompany first-responding officers to call-out situations, promoting an ethical, structured, healthy and helpful environment. Serve as behavioral health liaison to Law Enforcement Departments personnel.
• Provide follow-up services after police involvement and provide connections to community services and providers to address ongoing housing, food insecurities, insurance, employment, and mental health and substance use treatment needs.
• Provide individuals with case management support and advocacy until appropriate community resources are available.
• In appropriate circumstances, provide crisis intervention services including crisis assessment, disposition and short-term follow-up crisis counseling.
• Have a thorough knowledge of local resources and work to connect individuals identified by Law Enforcement Departments with needed social services and community supports.
• Develop and maintain a thorough knowledge of managed care and health insurance systems; provide other clinicians with managed care information and resources pertinent to the crises being managed.
• Establish strong working relationships with community providers.
• Deliver trainings and mentoring to the employees of the Law Enforcement Departments on the topics of mental health and substance use, stigma, Naloxone, harm reduction, suicide prevention, crisis intervention, and de-escalation strategies.
• Participate in cross training of police personnel.
• Provide the departments with Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) and Mental Health First Aid, as needed.

GENERAL EXPECTATIONS:

• Balance the duty to care with the dignity of risk.
  
• Demonstrates accountability for personal, professional, ethical and legal standards.
• Demonstrates support for the philosophy of the organization by adhering to standards, policies, procedures, and established practices.
• Demonstrates responsibility for own standards of practice by reporting for work on time and avoiding work-related injuries through the application of proper practice techniques and safety policies.
• Demonstrates at all times the commitment to providing the least intrusive service intervention that supports the clients’ needs/preferences in the least restrictive setting that supports client and staff safety.
• Communicates with all colleagues and peers in a respectful, professional, responsive manner that promotes teamwork and supports positive outcomes for clients.
• Uses listening skills, flexible collaboration and a consistent problem-solving focus in working to resolve differences with colleagues, peers and clients.
• Ascertains that relevant information is reported to program manager and/or the team in a timely manner.
• Maintains cooperative, collegial relationships that support mutual understanding and problem solving with other programs and departments, recognizing their mission and roles, and responding to their requests in a timely manner within the resource capabilities of the program and staff.
• Maintains current knowledge in present practice area, i.e., attendance at required hours of organization educational programs and utilizes clinical supervision as a learning experience.
• Assures quality in work performed to facilitate the delivery of quality services.
• Reports accidents and injuries in a timely fashion, demonstrates safe housekeeping practices, notifies supervisor of potential health and safety concerns immediately, participates in health and safety training as required, understands and follows all Sweetser health and safety policies.
• Ability to support and recognize the important role volunteers play. Sweetser employees work with, support, collaborate with volunteers, and promote opportunities for volunteer engagement

EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:

• Masters degree in Social Work or Counseling or higher in a social science or equivalent education and work experience.

CERTIFICATION, LICENSES, AND REGISTRATIONS REQUIRED:

• Valid state driver’s license.
• MHRT-CSP Eligible
• LCSW, LCPC, or LMFT (conditional accepted)