County Caseworker 2 Lehigh County MHID

Allentown - USA

Monthly Salary: Not Disclosed

Posted on: 30+ days ago

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

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THE POSITION

The Office of Crisis Intervention provides vital support to all residents of Lehigh County who are experiencing a mental health emergency with the purpose of accessing treatment recovery and ultimately an improved quality of life.

Come join our team and help make a difference in the lives of others!

This is a professional Caseworker 2 position in the combined Information & Referral and Crisis Intervention Unit. The Crisis Intervention Unit is licensed for telephone walk-in and mobile services through OMHSAS. Regulations for licensing of these services require a crisis worker meet the necessary requirements to qualify as a mental health professional. Crisis workers who are not mental health professionals must be directly supervised by a mental health professional. Information & Referral duties include processing referrals to all DHS offices and providing information about DHS services and community resources.

Duties and responsibilities of the Crisis Counselor / Information & Referral Caseworker are as follows:

Obtain information from clients members of their families and others necessary for the identification of social economic emotional health or physical problems and for assisting clients in obtaining a wide variety of services on the basis of established policies regulations and statutes.

Pursue training opportunities to keep abreast of new treatment trends improving assessment and clinical skills and of changes or understanding or interpreting Mental Health Laws and Procedures. Possess knowledge of current social case management principles techniques and methods.

Recognize the symptoms of mental illness in order to provide thorough and clinical mental health assessments.

Screen triage and handle all requests for mental health and DHS services via telephone outreach or walk-in referrals. Outreach visits and on-site assessments will be the preferred method of assessment whenever possible.

Offer outreach and/or face-face assessments prior to considering involuntary treatment. Outreach contacts also must be made before referring any individual to the case management unit to process a 304 commitment.

Work cooperatively and professionally with consumers family members police hospital co-workers DHS personnel and all other agencies to assure that a consumer receives services in a prompt and effective manner.

Prioritize the need for services and be able to problem solve the situation after an assessment has been completed.

Recognize potential danger when dealing with a consumer/family in crisis on the telephone or in person and to utilize police as needed. Responsible for learning effective verbal de-escalation methods/techniques to calm a volatile situation or person.

Adhere to all confidentiality standards in the Mental Health Act HIPAA and protocol developed by the office of MH/MR/D&A and the Department of Human services.

Become familiar with all sections of the Mental Health Procedures Act. This includes all duties related to both voluntary (Section 201) and involuntary (section 302) evaluation procedures.

Accompany and support consumers/family members in crisis to assure accessing of needed services in a counselors own automobile or county vehicle. Must have a valid drivers license.

As a mandated reporter report any incidences of suspected child abuse to ChildLine and the Office of Children and Youth. To accurately complete CY47 form.

Fulfill duty to warn obligations as directed by the guidelines of the County of Lehigh.

Ensures appropriate linkages are established by accompanying clients to referral agencies and assisting with procedural intake requirements. Advocates on behalf of clients to ensure satisfactory and continued service delivery.

Read all on-going cases alerts of the work shift and to follow up with intended plan.

Always notify your co-workers supervisor and / or answering service of the pager number and/or cell phone number your intended location / destination and identified partner when leaving the Crisis Office. Telephone calls should only be forwarded to the answering service when absolutely necessary. Pages should be answered within ten minutes or less.

Assist in completing the day to day office operations on all shifts. This includes but is not limited to copying filing labeling records addition must be able to efficiently operate and care for office equipment such as copier pager FAX computer desk telephones cellular phones etc.

Carry all pertinent forms and equipment: telephone lists pagers cellular telephones etc.; in order to function efficiently while working in the field.

Act as a petitioner on 302 or 304 commitments when no alternative petitioner is available.

Assist in research of community resources and in the updating of community resource databases.

Responsibilities as a petitioner:

To attend mental health review hearings.

Make sure the necessary paperwork is completed by hospitals when submitting two-doctor 302s. Responsible for retrieving a completed Act 77 form after a 302 is completed from the hospital involved in the evaluation.

Respond to Police 302s where ever they may occur and assisting police officers with accurately completing the 302 forms.

Recordkeeping: It is the crisis counselors responsibility to be proficient at completing the following paperwork and computer functions:

Use CPR-WEB software system to enter identifying demographic information clinical notes billing and other pertinent information such as Interested Others Hospitalizations Addresses etc.

Use POSNET and/or EVS and to interpret information to determine Medical Assistance coverage.

Use KEA system to document Information Only contacts and to complete referrals to DHS offices.

Complete all paperwork for an involuntary commitment. This will include the Application for Involuntary Examination and Treatment under the Mental Health Providers Act of 1976 Section 302 Patient Rights Reporting Form and Explanation of Warrant.

Record all hours of work on personal Time Sheet at the start and end of each work shift

Use appropriate forms for time off and overtime in accordance with existing policy.

Maintain a log of all training attended and maintain certificates of attendance and credits.

Supervision/Training: Additional responsibilities include the following:

Meet with the Assistant Director of the Crisis Unit on a regular basis or as needed to review the on-going and/or problematic cases or other related job functions. The Assistant Director may request individual conferences to discuss cases or procedural problems.

Attend monthly staff meetings and additional meetings or training that may be scheduled.

Attend MH/ID/D&A staff meetings as scheduled by the Administrator.

Attend any in-service training as given by the DHS or County of Lehigh.

Attend outside training as approved by the Deputy Mental Health Administrator or his/her designee.

Any other duties as assigned by the employees immediate supervisor Administrator and/or his/her designee including the following:

Screen triage and handle all requests for mental health services via telephone outreach or walk-in referrals.

Recognize potential danger when dealing with a consumer/family in crisis on the telephone or in person and utilize police as needed. Responsible for learning effective verbal de-escalation methods/techniques to calm a volatile situation or person.

Accompany and support consumers/family members in crisis to assure accessing of needed services in a counselors own automobile or county vehicle. Must have a valid drivers license.

As a mandated reporter report any incidences of suspected child abuse to ChildLine and the Office of Children and Youth. Fulfill duty to warn obligations as directed by the guidelines of the County of Lehigh.

Ensure appropriate linkages are established by accompanying clients to referral agencies and assisting with procedural intake requirements. Advocate on behalf of clients to ensure satisfactory and continued service delivery.

Assist in completing the day-to-day office operations on all shifts. This includes but is not limited to copying filing labeling records addition must be able to efficiently operate and care for office equipment such as copier pager FAX computer desk telephones cellular phones etc.

Perform necessary record keeping.

Work Schedule and Additional Information:

Full time employment 8:00 am thru 4:00 pm Monday-Friday with a 30 minute lunch.

Work hours and shifts will vary depending on the needs of the agency. This position may involve rotating shifts.

Telework: You will not have the option to telework in this position.

You will receive further communication regarding this position via email. Check your email including spam/junk folders for these notices.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE TRAINING & ELIGIBILITY

QUALIFICATIONS
Minimum Experience and Training Requirements:

Six months of experience as a County Caseworker 1; or

Successful completion of the County Social Casework Intern program; or

A bachelors degree with a social welfare major; or

A bachelors degree which includes or is supplemented by 12 college credits in sociology social welfare psychology gerontology criminal justice or other related social sciences and one year of professional social casework experience in a public or private social service agency; or

Any equivalent combination of experience and training which includes 12 college credits in sociology social welfare psychology gerontology criminal justice or other related social sciences.

Applicants will be considered to have met the educational requirements once they are within two months of graduating with a qualifying degree/credits.

Other Requirements:

PA residency requirement is currently waived for this title.

You must be able to perform essential job functions.

Legal Requirements:

You must pass a background investigation.

This position falls under the provisions of the Child Protective Services Law.

o Under the Law a conditional offer of employment will require submission and approval of satisfactory criminal history reports including but not limited to PA State Police clearance PA Child Abuse history clearance and FBI Fingerprint clearance.

How to Apply:

Resumes cover letters and similar documents will not be reviewed and the information contained therein will not be considered for the purposes of determining your eligibility for the position. Information to support your eligibility for the position must be provided on the application (i.e. relevant detailed experience/education).

If you are claiming education in your answers to the supplemental application questions you must attach a copy of your college transcripts for your claim to be accepted toward meeting the minimum requirements. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable.

Your application must be submitted by the posting closing date. Late applications and other required materials will not be accepted.

Failure to comply with the above application requirements may eliminate you from consideration for this position.

Veterans:

Pennsylvania law (51 Pa. C.S. 7103) provides employment preference for qualified veterans for appointment to many state and local government jobs. To learn more about employment preferences for veterans go to and click on Veterans.

Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS):

711 (hearing and speech disabilities or other individuals).

If you are contacted for an interview and need accommodations due to a disability please discuss your request for accommodations with the interviewer in advance of your interview date.

The Commonwealth is an equal employment opportunity employer and is committed to a diverse workforce. The Commonwealth values inclusion as we seek to recruit develop and retain the most qualified people to serve the citizens of Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth does not discriminate on the basis of race color religious creed ancestry union membership age gender sexual orientation gender identity or expression national origin AIDS or HIV status disability or any other categories protected by applicable federal or state law. All diverse candidates are encouraged to apply.

EXAMINATION INFORMATION

Completing the application including all supplemental questions serves as your exam for this position. No additional exam is required at a test center (also referred to as a written exam).

Your score is based on the detailed information you provide on your application and in response to the supplemental questions.

Your score is valid for this specific posting only.

You must provide complete and accurate information or:

o your score may be lower than deserved.

o you may be disqualified.

You may only apply/test once for this posting.

Go to Click on Search jobsThen the applicant can search by job title or filter by choosing Lehigh County and finding the correct job.THE POSITIONThe Office of Crisis Intervention provides vital support to all residents of Lehigh County who are experiencing a mental health emergency with the purpose ...