Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Mental Health And Substance Abuse Treatment Services Provider

An employee in this class independently performs duties and related tasks to ensure the provision of mental health and substance abuse treatment services to the citizens of Alexander County. An employee in this class independently performs a variety of functions to assist individuals, families, community leaders, health related groups, and groups at risk with behavioral health needs. This position will serve as the initial point of contact including screening, triage, and referral for Alexander County citizens who experience issues related to mental illness, substance abuse, and/or developmental disabilities. Work assignments are performed in accordance with established procedures and under the regular supervision of the Director of Nursing.

Responsibilities include:

• Assess individual's needs, determine urgency, and link individuals in a timely manner to an array of services from psychiatric resources.
• Provides assessment, treatment, short term therapy, and care coordination for outpatient clients.
• Communicates with patients both face to face and by telephone from a culturally diverse, high-risk population.
• Works with a variety of professionals and paraprofessionals related to mental health and departmental staff, hospital and clinic staff, as well as social services staff, and other community groups.
• Provides consultation, education, and information to families regarding individual situations, treatments, and community resources.
• Provides short-term individual therapy and assist with linkage to community resources as necessary.
• Evaluates and provides direct client assessment which may include triage, screening, assessments, diagnosis, linkage to services/resources, documentation, and psychotherapy.
• Provides assessments including risk and diagnostic assessments as well as crisis intervention tools.
• Recognizes the legal consequences, loss of patients' confidence, and failure to properly refer patients.
• This position may require emergencies and/or events after regular working hours, or timeframes that are not normally worked by Health Department employees.
• This position has been identified to have responsibilities in the Preparedness Plan for the Health Department. In the case of an event within the county the employee is required to work at a specified location in-house or off-site as identified in various Health Department Emergency Response Plans (ex. Preparedness, Pan Flu, etc.).
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities include:

• Ability to maintain confidentiality between patients, patients and staff, and patient records.
• Considerable knowledge of clinical social work principles, techniques, and practices; the application to individual casework, group work, and community problems.
• Knowledge of the psychosocial, socioeconomic, and behavioral problems as well as the treatment.
• Skill in charting detail, assessment, and treatment. Must be able to accurately assess, document, and communicate educational information.
• Ability to monitor and remain current with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), laws, and regulations regarding mental health.
• Knowledge of governmental, private organizations, and community resources.
• Knowledge of assessment, diagnostic risk assessments, brief therapeutic, and crisis interventions.
• Knowledge of laws, regulations, and policies which govern the program.
• Skill in establishing rapport with a client and applying techniques of assessing psychosocial, behavioral, and psychological aspects of a client's problem.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with members of a case load and their families, and with civic, medical, social, and religious organizations.
• Ability to train/instruct students or interns.
• Ability to express ideas clearly and concisely to plan and execute work.
• Ability to work independently without constant supervision in all areas of job duties.
• Considerable knowledge of office practices and techniques including use of computers for word processing, spreadsheet functions, data retention and retrieval, and other office practices (Microsoft, EMR, etc.).
• Knowledge and ability to use correct grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and perform basic math skills.

Required minimum education/experience includes:

• Master's degree from an accredited school of psychology, counseling, or social work.
• Licensed to practice as a Clinical Social Worker by the North Carolina Social Work Certification and License Board.
• Additional training/experience that is required according to the standards of the professional board regulating the employee's professional license.
• Possess a valid NC driver's license.