Mental Health Senior Practitioner

GENERAL STATEMENT OF DUTIES

Position functions as a member of a clinical team which directs, coordinates and provides treatment to children, adults and families who may have mental health, intellectual/developmental and/or substance use disorders.  Positions include child and family therapists, and substance use and mental health counselors. 

 

DISTIGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS

An employee in this class provides clinical services to children and/or parents of children in foster care or those at risk of entering foster care including conducting comprehensive clinical assessments and treatment interventions (including individual, group and family therapy) in the clinical outpatient program, formulating diagnoses and initiating person-centered treatment plans.  The incumbent will produce detailed assessment reports and treatment update reports, provide crisis intervention for consumers and families and coordinate services and supports with a multi-disciplinary team including clinicians, social workers, attorneys, guardian ad item and judicial staff, Judges, law enforcement, foster parents and group home staff, etc. MH Sr Practitioner is distinguished from MH Practitioner due to increased independence, judgement and responsibility.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Independently conducts individualized comprehensive clinical assessments by interviewing the consumer and family.
• Independently directs and provides clinical services for assigned caseload to include, but not limited to, short-term and long-term individual, group and family therapies.
• Independently acts as coordinator of treatment for assigned caseload.  Develops, monitors, updates and evaluates treatment plans and consumer outcomes; has responsibility for authorization and utilization management; identifies, facilitates and utilizes system of care concepts across all aspects of treatment.
• Independently participates fully in the multidisciplinary treatment process and assumes shared accountability for all aspects of consumer care for assigned team caseload.
• Independently organizes, composes and submits documentation required for all aspects of consumer care by completing internal/external reports/records/summaries.
• Independently coordinates, develops, facilitates and participates in the provision of the full range of crisis intervention services for assigned caseload.
• Provides consultation and training for Child Protective Services professionals and foster parents. 
• Provides psychoeducation and parent skills training using an evidenced-based curriculum and facilitate therapeutic visits at the Parent Visitation Center. 
• Provides capacity evaluations for individuals involved with Adult Protective Services.  
• Provides substance use screening and assessment for Food and Nutrition Services applicants and Work First participants with a history of drug related legal charges.     

 

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS ANS ABILITIES

 

Knowledge

• Considerable background in essential areas of psychiatric, substance abuse, rehabilitation, vocational and child development treatment; familiarity with a variety of treatment models; and considerable knowledge of special clinical/rehabilitation/vocational interventions. 
• Thorough knowledge of the characteristics/needs of individuals/families of all ages/racial/ethnic/cultural, in order to complete assessments/evaluations/plans at intake and throughout the care coordination, treatment planning and service provision process.    
• Experience and practice of the System of Care Core Values and Guiding Principles in order to practice cultural competency and responsiveness and provide community-based consumer-driven/individualized and family-involved treatment planning and implementation.
• Considerable knowledge of confidentiality and client rights.
• Understanding of the organization’s technical and administrative systems including; quality improvement, utilization management, relative fiscal issues and appropriate use of resources in order to complete documentation, track data/outcomes/productivity and monitor costs/authorizations and utilization of resources.

Skills

• Advanced assessment, interviewing, diagnosis and treatment planning skills in order to complete assessments/ evaluations and plans at intake and throughout the case coordination process.   
• Advanced group facilitation skills in order to conduct treatment planning sessions, staff meetings, group supervision, and group/family sessions.
• Advanced oral and written communication skills.
• Advanced conflict resolution skills.
• Advanced ability to facilitate and complete bio/psycho/social/spiritual and rehabilitation/vocational assessments.
• Advanced ability to identify, prevent, intervene and stabilize crisis situations as needed.
• Advanced ability to coordinate/manage a caseload of MI/DD/SA consumers of all ages and their families.
• Advanced ability to consult and share professional expertise in a comprehensive manner across all agency/ community systems.
• Ability to treat or consult on more complex cases.

Supervisory Controls

• Work assignments generally originate from the supervisor based on specific intent of the position.
• Priorities and deadlines determined by team/program leader, based on individual needs and priorities of consumer caseload.
• Primary evaluator of work is team/program leader; input sought from clinical supervisor.
• Work is reviewed regularly in individual supervision.  Monitoring of treatment plans is reviewed at least bi-weekly or more frequently if necessary.
• Fiscal matters regarding client care and case, not resolvable, are referred to supervisor.

 
Guidelines

• Adherence to licensure, certification and accreditation requirements.
• Guilford Center Policy and Procedure Manual.
• Applicable Local, State and Federal standards.
• Client Confidentiality and Client Rights Laws.
• Employee Performance Agreements.
• Clinical Protocols and Best Practice Guideline/Standards

Complexity

• Operates with limited to no supervision and appropriate sign-off according to licensing accreditation or agency requirements.
• Agency or community planning & treatment with individuals/families are provided and coordinated independently.
• Interventions require immediate decisions that are clinically sound and reflective and appropriate to the consumer’s diagnosis and treatment plan.
• Provides clinical supervision to others.
• Provides guidance to other team/program members specific to area of expertise.  Expertise will be shared with team/program members in order to train, guide and teach others the methods, interventions and skills necessary to provide services to consumers and families.

Scope & Effect

• Provides treatment and other clinical services to a caseload of children, adults, and families of all ages who have MH, DD, SA disorder(s), thus having the potential to positively influence the quality of life for clients and their families.
• Collaborates with team/program members to assure effective treatment delivery within multidisciplinary model.
• Positively influence’s relationships with other System of Care providers on behalf of the client.
• Shares expertise with other team/program members.
• Provides clinical supervision to targeted employees and mentoring to designated employees to insure adequate level of service delivery.

Public Assistance

• Direct contact with consumers, families and professionals through service provision and collaboration within the System of Care surrounding the client.
• Provision of outreach/community services as directed by leader/treatment plan.
• May participate in planning with community or other agency teams (DSS/Health, etc.) on behalf of consumer.

Working Conditions

• Requires performing job duties in a normal office environment and/or in a variety of school, vocational, home locations.  Some transportation of clients may be necessary.
• Occasional interactions with aggressive, unpredictable behavior from consumers and/or families.
• Recurring focused accurate listening skills for prolonged periods of time.
• Mental concentration is required for accurate understanding & interpretation of consumer/family treatment/service needs.
• Requires mental and emotional capacity to maintain a pressured, flexible pace that is placed on the working environment by fiscal, productivity, documentation, accreditation standards as well as the service demands of a population of sometimes complex and high need/risk clients. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Master's degree from an accredited college or university in a related human services field with two years of professional MH/IDD/SU experience, and licensure in related discipline. 

License/Certification:

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, or Licensed Psychological Associate. 
• Valid NC Driver’s License prior to hire.

 

ADMINISTERING THE CLASS:

Child and Family Therapist Candidates:  Preference given to those with experience serving children and families involved with the child welfare and judicial systems, those familiar with the varied levels of care and residential settings, and those with trauma specific treatment credentials including Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), etc.

Substance Use Counselor Candidates: Must have documented education/training and supervised experience in providing substance use treatment to establish a professional scope of practice for the service.   Preference given to those with (or in the process of earning) substance use specific licensure/certification including Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist, Master Addiction Counselor, Certified Clinical Alcohol and Other Drug Social Worker, etc. Must have an understanding and familiarity with American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria, treatment levels of care, and support programs (AA/NA). 

Residency Requirement

Candidate must reside within a two-hour driving radius of Guilford County to be considered for employment.

Transcripts are required. Copy of transcript must be submitted with application for consideration. Official college transcripts required at time of hire.

Driving is Essential 

Driving is an essential requirement of this position whether driving a County owned or personal vehicle to conduct county business.   Motor Vehicle Reports may be verified for valid driver’s license and that the driving record is compatible with the county’s driving criteria. 

If a personal vehicle is operated for county business proper insurance is maintained as per Guilford County’s vehicle use policy. 

SPECIAL NOTE: This generic class description gives an overview of the job class, its essential job functions and recommended job requirements and is not intended to list every specific function of this class title.   However, for each individual position assigned to this class, there is available a completed job description with physical abilities checklist which can be reviewed before initiating a selection process.  They can provide additional detailed information on which to base various personnel actions and can assist management in making legal defensible personnel decisions.