Senior Psychiatric Social Worker

Salary: $8,026.00 - $10,961.00 Monthly
Location : 1270 Natividad Road, Salinas, CA
Job Type: Regular Full-Time
Job Number: 25/60B25/06MJ
Department: Health
Division: Behavioral Health
Opening Date: 06/02/2025


Position Description
Continuous
Exam # 25/60B25/06MJ
SUMMARY OF POSITION
Monterey County Health Department's Behavioral Health Bureau (MCBH) seeks experienced behavioral health professionals to fill several vacancies at the Senior Psychiatric Social Worker (Sr. PSW) level.
The Behavioral Health Bureau is a progressive agency that serves children, youth, adults, and their families with System of Care values of being community based, culturally relevant, client and family centered and using evidence-based practices to support clients in the wellness and recovery of their mental illness and substance use challenges. The Behavioral Health Bureau currently has Senior Psychiatric Social Worker vacancies in Access to Treatment (ACCESS), the Adult System of Care (ASOC), the Children's System of Care (CSOC), and the Quality Division in both Substance Use Disorder Services and Quality Improvement.
Access to Treatment clinics are entry points into services and provide an array of clinical services for individuals of all ages who are seeking to get connected to services for mental health and substance use issues that are impacting their ability to function in work, home, school, social and community settings. Services include screening, assessment, crisis intervention, individual and group therapy, linkage and referral to community resources as well as the Children and Adult Systems of Care.

Adult System of Care provides a wide range of comprehensive integrated care to adults/older adults (18+ years of age) with serious mental illness, co-occurring substance use, and other complex issues. The multidisciplinary teams work together to provide an array of services including but not limited to psychosocial rehabilitation, individual and group therapy, strength-based case management, crisis intervention, family support and community integration. Clinical teams are based out of the outpatient regional clinics in Marina, Salinas, Soledad, and King City.


Children's System of Care provides an array of clinical services from of birth to 25 years of age and their families. Clinical teams include Early Childhood Services, Transition Age Youth (TAY), Post Hospitalization Support, as well clinical teams that partner with the Child Welfare, Education and Juvenile Probation systems.

Community Crisis Services (Mobile Crisis) Team responds to calls for crisis support and provides brief crisis intervention, de-escalation, triage, risk / safety assessment, safety planning, referral and linkage to individuals and families experiencing behavioral health crisis in the community. This team seeks to provide support to stabilize the situation in the community to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and divert from emergency resources (hospital/jail) when appropriate while providing linkage to ongoing care as needed.
Adult Justice Involved Services Team works with justice involved adults (18+ years of age) some of whom are reentering society after a period of incarceration (jail/prison) and transitioning to community-based services to meet their mental health and substance use disorder treatment needs. Clients may be participating in one of the Collaborative Court or Diversion programs, CARE Act (Care Court) or referred to services through Post Release Community Supervision or the Cal AIM Justice Involved Behavioral Health Linkages Initiative.


Quality Division plays a central role in maintaining the highest standards of care within Monterey County Behavioral Health by implementing a comprehensive range of quality assurance and improvement activities that support the functionality, effectiveness, and compliance of specialty mental health and substance use services. Teams are responsible for conducting thorough program utilization reviews to assess service delivery quality, identify areas for improvement, and ensure adherence to regulatory standards. In addition to oversight and compliance, the Quality Division Teams develop and refine policies that align with federal and state guidelines. They also design and deliver targeted training sessions and provide ongoing support to Monterey County Behavioral Health staff and contracted partners, equipping them with the tools and knowledge needed to deliver exceptional, client-centered care.
Candidates hired into regular full-time positions for this classification at the Health Department may be eligible for a signing bonus up to $10,000. For more information regarding the Signing Bonus, please refer to Admin Procedures A.49.1 Employment Bonus
The Eligible List established by this recruitment process will be used to fill current and future vacancies, both regular and temporary, as they arise.

Examples of Duties

• Serves as subject matter resource to other professional staff by providing professional or specialized knowledge and recommending clinical solutions to complex client problems that are consistent with program goals
• Serves as subject matter resource to other mental health staff in relation to missions, policies and procedures of collaborating agencies
• Interviews clients and their relatives to collect and compile extensive social case histories for use in diagnosis and determination of treatment
• Refers clients to appropriate agencies in cases outside the scope of Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS); participates in collaborative treatment with representation of other agencies such as clergy, schools, welfare, health and law enforcement
• Performs intensive case management services with patients and their relatives; conducts individual and group therapy
• May assign, review and coordinate the work of staff, including monitoring for timely completion of clinical documentation within AVATAR system and conformance to specific directions and overall work standards
• Participates as a psychiatric team member with other treatment disciplines; participates in diagnostic and evaluative client conference for cooperative planning of treatment

To view the complete job description, please visit the Monterey County website: Senior Psychiatric Social Worker
THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE

Will have a proven track record demonstrating the following knowledge, skills and abilities:

Thorough Knowledge of:

• Principles, procedures, techniques, trends and literature of social work with particular reference to psychiatric social work
• Social aspects and characteristics of mental and emotional disturbances
• Principles of mental health education
• Scope and activities of public and private health and welfare agencies
• Current trends in metal health, public health, and public welfare
• State and Federal programs in the mental health field

Skill and Ability to:

• Gather, analyze, evaluate and draw logical conclusions from data
• Think creatively and develop new procedures, methods or approaches to completing assignments
• Work cooperatively with a variety of others including representatives of other agencies
• Communicate orally with mentally ill or emotionally disturbed individuals to gather social histories and to effectively counsel patients and to persuade others to accept a course of action or to get agencies to jointly resolve issues
• Write clearly and concisely in order to prepare records and reports
• Exhibits sympathy and tact when dealing with mentally disturbed patients and family members
• Work independently and complete assignments based on overall goals, objectives and board policies
• Develop and maintain cooperative work relationships with those contacted in the course of work
• Plan, organize, assign and review the work of others

Desirable Qualifications:
• Ability to speak, read and write in English and Spanish

Examples of Experience/Education/Training
The skills necessary may be acquired through various types of education, training, and/or experience, typically:
Experience:

Approximately three years of experience performing duties equivalent to Psychiatric Social Worker II in Monterey County

OR

Approximately three years of experience providing treatment, counseling or case management services to clients in a mental health setting.
REQUIRED CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• Possess and maintain a valid California Class C driver's license or the ability to provide suitable transportation that is approved by the appointing authority.
• Be available to work a flexible schedule, including evenings, weekends, holidays, and during times of disaster and/or emergency, travel out of County to attend meetings.
• Successfully complete a background check to include fingerprinting.
• Pursuant to Section 5751 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, possession of any one of the following:
  1. Licensed Clinical Social Worker: to be a graduate of an accredited graduate school of social work and be licensed as a clinical social worker in the State of California
  2. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist: to be a graduate of an approved graduate school of marriage and family therapy and to be licensed as a marriage and family therapist in the State of California.
  3. Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor: To be a graduate of an approved graduate school of professional clinical counseling and to be licensed as a professional clinical counselor in the State of California

BENEFITS:
The County of Monterey offers an excellent benefits package. Please visit our website to view the This information is not legally binding, nor does it serve as a contract. The benefits listed in the Monterey County Personnel Policies and Practices Resolution or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) prevail over this listing.
NOTES:
As a condition of employment, prospective employees may be required to submit to a background review which may include a review of information concerning present and/or prior employment, driving record, and record of any criminal convictions. Employment is contingent upon acceptable documentation verifying identity and authorization for employment in the U.S.; a list of acceptable documents is available on the USCIS Form I-9. If you are hired into this classification in a temporary position, your rate of pay will be hourly, and you will not be eligible for the benefits listed in the summary.

Additional Information
APPLICATION & SELECTION PROCEDURES Apply on-line at
or Hard copy applications may be obtained from and submitted during normal business hours,
Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM by contacting:
Monterey County Health Department
Attn: Human Resources Division
1270 Natividad Road
Salinas, CA 93906.
Phone: View phone number on click.appcast.io Fax: View phone number on click.appcast.io

The selection process is tentative, and applicants will be notified if changes are made. To assess applicants' possession of required qualifications, the examination process may include an oral examination, pre-examination exercises, performance examination, and/or written examination. The competitive examination process includes submittal of required application materials. A complete application package will include:

• A completed County of Monterey Employment Application
• Responses to the Supplemental Questions

Applicants who fail to provide all required materials by the final filing deadline will not be considered. Resumes, cover letters, letters of interest, and other correspondence will not be accepted as a substitute for required application materials. All required application materials will be competitively evaluated. Those applicants that are determined to be the most appropriately qualified will be invited to participate further in the selection process.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION:
Monterey County is a drug-free workplace and an equal opportunity employer. The County seeks candidates who can make contributions in an environment of cultural and ethnic diversity. Monterey County is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation, contact Maira Jimenez, Human Resources Analyst, at View phone number on click.appcast.io or
01


Please answer the following questions. Completion of the following supplemental questions is REQUIRED and is an integral part of the evaluation process. Your responses to the questions will be reviewed and scored in a Qualifications Appraisal evaluation process based on pre-determined rating criteria. Your answers should be as complete as possible, as this information will be critical in the competitive assessment to identify those candidates to be invited to continue in the examination process. A response of "see resume" or "see application" will deem your responses to the supplemental questions as incomplete. Note: All application materials submitted will be reviewed along with your supplemental questions and County of Monterey application.

• I have read and understand these instructions.

02


This position requires possession of a licensure as a Clinical Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist, or Professional Clinical Counselor by the California State Board of Behavioral Science Examiners (BBS), pursuant to Section 5751 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Please indicate which of the following California Licensure you possess:

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
• Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC)
• I do not possess any of the licenses and/or certificates listed above.

03


Please provide the license number and expiration date of the indicated license/certificate above.
04


English/Spanish bilingual skills are desirable for this position, but not required as a condition of employment. Are you able to read, speak and write effectively in English and Spanish? (Select One)

• Yes
• No

05


Please describe your experience, education and/or training that demonstrates your knowledge, skill, and ability to provide treatment to individuals of all ages (adults, children, and youth) with mental health and substance use challenges ranging from serious mental illness and serious addiction issues to dysfunctional behavior patterns. Please include any experience working with trauma and the system involved (i.e., child welfare and justice) populations.
06


Please describe your experience, education and/or training that demonstrates your knowledge, skill, and ability to train, evaluate, and assign work to staff as a lead worker.
Required Question