Behavioral Health Associate Counselor / Behavioral Health Technician, Grade 20 / 18

About the Position

WHO WE ARE
Montgomery County is located adjacent to Washington, D.C., and with over one million residents, is the most populous County in the State of Maryland. The County is also the most diverse County in the State and ranks among the top ten most diverse Counties in the nation. Montgomery County contains many major U.S. government offices, scientific research and learning centers, and business campuses.

The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for delivery of the County’s public health and human services that meets the needs of our community’s most vulnerable children, adults and seniors. The Department provides services through more than 120 programs at more than 20 locations. With over 2,000 employees, the Department of Health and Human Services is the largest County Department.

As a department, we believe the health and wellness of the county can only be achieved by ensuring that every resident has fair opportunities to reach their fullest potential. This means access to quality housing, transportation, education, employment, health care, human services, safe neighborhoods, and healthy food. HHS provides critical services for residents who face a variety of obstacles in achieving their full potential. HHS plays an essential role in building a healthy and strong community.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services is seeking qualified and dedicated Case Manager who is passionate about helping homeless individuals thrive in their mental health and addiction journey. If you are looking to make a meaningful impact while growing your professional skills then please apply for our Behavioral Health Associate Counselor/Behavioral Health Technician position, in the Access to Behavioral Health Services of Behavioral Health and Crisis Services. At Access to Behavioral Health, we believe in creating supportive and collaborative environment where both our clients and our staff feel empowered.

What You'll Be Doing

This position provides outreach, consultation and clinical case management for individuals experiencing behavioral health challenges, primarily those who are homeless and have justice system involvement. Work is conducted in a variety of settings including jail, hospital, homeless shelter, and community. (Position does not involve primarily substance abuse counseling.) Under clinical supervision, provides:

• Human service screening, triage, behavioral health screenings, brief interventions, crisis counseling and/or referral to services for clients.
• In office and in community sites, including jail, hospital, homeless shelter and client residences, screens and detailed interviewing of client and family/collateral contacts to obtain factual and sensitive information to determine and plan appropriate referral to mental health, co-occurring, other health / social services, community and family supports, etc.
• Using motivational interviewing principles, collaboratively engages clients with a mutually generated plan. Direct supportive services in support of client centred plan.
• Observes established policy and procedures to document casework including the use of an automated information systems record keeping and sharing of information, and attention to daily work activities.
• Assists with other activities as assigned, data collection/entry, transportation in support of client-centred plans, and collaborative service meetings. Observation of urine collection, assisting with transportation of other staff's clients and their belongings, etc. Performs related duties as required.
• Assist clients in filling out SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery (SOAR) claims and other benefit applications such as SNAP.

Minimum Qualifications

Behavioral Health Associate Counselor, Grade 20
Experience: None beyond that required to obtain, in the State of Maryland certification as Certified Supervised Counselor, Alcohol/Drug (CSC-AD); or, Certified Associate Counselor, Alcohol/Drug (CAC-AD).

Education: None beyond that required to obtain, in the State of Maryland, certification as Certified Supervised Counselor, Alcohol/Drug (CSC-AD); or, Certified Associate Counselor, Alcohol/Drug (CAC-AD).

Equivalency: None.

Or underfilled as a: Behavioral Health Technician, Grade 18
Experience: Some (one (1) year) experience providing basic crisis intervention or casework services in a public or private social service agency to clients having emotional, behavioral, mental health or substance abuse problems, or who are victims of abuse or sexual assault.

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Social Work, Counseling or a related field.

Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

Preferred Criteria, Interview Preferences

• At least six months full-time (or equivalent) experience providing clinical or case management services to at least one of the following: individuals experiencing mental illness and/or substance use disorders, homeless, or criminal offenders.
• Demonstrated ability to engage clients in a collaboratively developed person-centred service plan.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with a wide variety of partners in community settings, such as hospitals, jails, shelters, social service and treatment providers, etc.
• Demonstrated experience recording work in a computer system such as an electronic health record
• Demonstrated ability to work well in a multi-task and busy service setting as part of a professional team.
• Demonstrated ability to learn and navigate service delivery systems.
• Multilingual in Spanish Preferred.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position.

Montgomery County Government(MCG) is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should email OHR at Hiring@montgomerycountymd.gov. Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.

MCG also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference.

All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant's responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria or interview preference status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on the Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for an interview.

This will establish an Eligible List that may be used to fill both current and future vacancies.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law: Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code. Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.