PSYCHIATRIC SOCIAL WORKER I/DMH INTERN

Position/Program Information

EXAM NUMBER:

b9034N

TYPE OF RECRUITMENT:
OPEN COMPETITIVE JOB OPPORTUNITY

FILING START DATE:
April 11, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. (Pacific Time).

This examination will remain open until the needs of the service are met. Applications filing may be suspend at any time with or without advance notice.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS BEING REPOSTED TO REOPEN THE FILING PERIOD, ADD SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS, AND REMOVE THE COVID-19 LANGUAGE.

DEFINITION:
Performs professional social work services in connection with the treatment of clients in need of mental health services.

CLASSIFICATION STANDARDS:
Positions allocable to this class are assigned to psychiatric hospital wards, outpatient mental health clinics, and specialized mental health treatment programs. Under the closesupervision of a higher level psychiatric social workerposition, a supervisory mental health position, or a psychiatrist, positions in this class perform psychotherapy and clinical case management with clients, families, and significant others to help resolve or find solutions to mental health related problems. Incumbents of these positions receive technical guidance and consultation to increase their skills in developing culturally and age appropriate psychosocial and emotional assessments, in formulating differential diagnosesand effective treatment plans, in applying the appropriate psychotherapeutic methods, and in implementing Client Care Coordination Plans (CCCP) to provide appropriate intervention for a wide range of mental health related problems. Duties and responsibilities require the application of professional skills and knowledge pertaining to the principles, practices, and theory of psychiatric social work. The Psychiatric Social Worker I is distinguished from Psychiatric Social Worker II in that the latter performs at the full professional level and may provide technical direction and guidance to the Psychiatric Social Worker I.

Essential Job Functions

Interviews individuals, their familiesand/or significant others to obtain a family, social, employment, medical, substance abuse, and mental health treatment history.
Assesses client's functioning in his/her environmental setting.

Develops a tentative CCCPdesigned to resolve or cope with the mental or emotional problem, which may include individual, group, family or marital counseling, case management, and/or referral to another treatment source such as a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a vocational or rehabilitation counselor, or another agency.

Plans and conducts the client's therapy program under the guidance of supervisory staff by considering the client'streatment goal and by determining the priorities of the programs to be dealt with and the length and modality of therapy.

Provides psychotherapy to individuals, groups, families, and significant others.

Provides case management services to secure resources for clients, families, and significant others in order to achieve treatment goals.

Serves as a member of a mental health emergency intervention team and/or joint law enforcement/mental health emergency intervention team by evaluatingthe behavior of persons to determine if they are, as a result of a mental disorder, dangerous to themselves, others, or gravely disabled.

Requests LPS-authorized persons to complete an application forimmediate 72-hour detention at a hospital facility.

Interviews persons seeking psychiatric assistance on an emergency basis and utilizes crisis intervention techniques to prevent hospitalization and to aid the person in dealing with the emotional crisis.

Assists clients, families, and significant others by discussing their reactions and attitudes concerning mental health problems and co-occurring substance abuse disorders; explains need for treatment; and encourages all concerned parties to work together cooperatively to resolve the problem and minimize the stresses that impact social functioning.

Works with families and significant others toward gaining their acceptance of and participation in treatment recommendations.

Participates in multi-disciplinary team conferences to discuss and evaluate the nature of the client's problem, to evaluate the client's progress, and to develop a CCCP.

Participate in research to increase knowledge of mental health problems and to improve therapeutic treatment methods, as needed.

Requirements

SELECTION REQUIREMENTS:

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:

A Master's degree* from an accredited** School of Social Work and must be an intern within the Department of Mental Health.

LICENSE:
A valid and active Associate Clinical Social Worker registrationissued by the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Board of Behavioral Sciences.
Master of Social Work graduates must become registered as an Associate Clinical Social Worker with the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Board of Behavioral Sciences within sixty (60) days from commencement of employment with the County of Los Angeles. Active and valid Associate Clinical Social Worker registration must be maintained continuously until successful completion of the examination process for licensure as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Registered Associate Clinical Social Workers must obtain licensure within six (6) years from the original date of registration with the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Board of Behavioral Sciences. Failure to obtain licensure within the aforementioned timeframes may result in termination.

A valid California Class C Driver License or the ability to utilize an alternative method of transportation when needed to carry out job-related essential functions.
PHYSICAL CLASS:

2 - Light: This class includes administrative and clerical positions requiring light physical effort that may include occasional light lifting to a 10 pound limit and some bending, stooping, or squatting. Considerable ambulation may be involved.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT INFORMATION:

*Withhold Information: Applicants who expect to receive their Master's degree within six (6) months of filing an application may compete in the examination, and if successful, will be withheld from certification for employment until original documentation of successful completion of the required education is received. Applicants must attach proof (original or photocopy of an original) of their college transcripts or degree indicating the field of study from an accredited college or university, or a letter with the Registrar's signature on school letterhead with school seal indicating a planned graduation date within 6 months to their application at the time of filing or within seven (7) calendar days of filing .

Transcript: **In order to receive credit for any college or university course, or any type of college or university degree such as Master's degree or higher, you must include a legible copy of the official diploma, or official transcripts from the accredited institution which shows the area of specialization with your application at the time of filing or within 7 calendar days of filing.

• Foreign degrees must be evaluated for equivalency to United States accredited institutions standards by an academic credential evaluation agency recognized by The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services or the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE). See Employment Information under Accreditation Information.

Official Transcript is defined as a transcript that bears the college seal and states "official and/or copy" issued by the school's Registrar Office. A printout of the transcript from the school's website is NOT considered official and; therefore, will NOT be accepted and may result in your application being incomplete or rejected.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

Experience, during Master's degree in Social Work, in individual, group, or family psychotherapy assessment in a local government mental health agency or psychiatric hospital within the last two years.

Additional Information

EXAMINATION CONTENT

An evaluation of education, training, experience and desirable qualifications based upon application information weighted 100%. Additional credit will be given for desirable qualifications.

Candidates must achieve a passing score of 70% or higher in order to be placed on the eligible register.

Notice of non-acceptance and final results will be sent via email.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

The names of candidates receiving a passing grade in the examination will be placed on the eligible register in the order of their score group for a period of twelve (12) months following the date of promulgation.

Applications will be processed on as as-received basis and promulgated to the eligible register accordingly.

Retake: No person may compete for this examination more than once in a twelve (12) month period.

SPECIAL INFORMATION
Past and present mental health clients, parents, and family members are encouraged to apply.

FAIR CHANCE EMPLOYER
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except for a very limited number of positions, you will not be asked to provide information about a conviction history unless you receive a contingent offer of employment . The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and consider potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about a conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed.

VACANCY INFORMATION
The eligible register for this examination will be used to fill vacancies throughout the Department of Mental Health.

AVAILABLE SHIFT
Appointees may be required to work any shift, including evenings, nights, weekends or holidays.

APPLICATION AND FILING INFORMATION
Applicants are required to complete and submit an online Los Angeles County Employment Application AND Supplemental Questionnaire in order to be considered for this examination. Paper applications, resumes, or any unsolicited documents will not be accepted in lieu of completing the online application and Supplemental Questionnaire. We must receive your application before 5:00 pm, PT, on the last day of filing. Application filing may be suspended at any time without advance notice.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING ONLINE
Apply online by clicking on the "Apply" tab for this posting. You can also track the status of your application using this website.

Applications must complete and submit their online applications and upload required documents (e.g. license, transcripts, resume, etc.,) as attachment(s) during application submission or send by email to exams@dmh.lacounty.gov within seven (7) calendar days from date of application submission. Please be sure to reference your full name and examination title on the subject line of your email.

The acceptance of your application will depend on whether you have clearly shown that you meet the Selection Requirements. Your online application must show complete license, education and work experience information necessary to evaluate your qualifications. License information section must show title of license, license number, original date of issue, and expiration date. Education information section must include name and address of school attended, complete dates attended, name of course/s taken, number of units earned, and degree/s earned. Work experience section must include job title, employer name and address, name of work area/facility, actual payroll title held and not the working and/or functional titles, from/to dates of employment including month, day and year, total number of months, total number of hours worked per week - not a range of hours (full or part-time), and complete and detailed description of related job duties. If range of hours is provided, experience will be prorated based on the lowest number of hours worked per week. LIST separately each job experience to be evaluated. All information supplied by applicants is subject to verification. We may reject your application at any time during the examination or selection process.

IMPORTANT NOTES
• Please note that ALL information included in the application materials is subject to VERIFICATION at any point during the examination and hiring process, including after an appointment has been made.
• FALSIFICATION of any information may result in DISQUALIFICATION or RESCISSION OF APPOINTMENT.
• Utilizing VERBIAGE from Class Specification and/or Selection Requirements serving as your description of duties WILL NOT be sufficient to meet the requirements. Doing so may result in an INCOMPLETE APPLICATION and you may be DISQUALIFIED.

Plan to submit your online application well in advance before the deadline as you may be required to verify your email address. This only needs to be done once per email address, and if you already have a job seeker account on govermmentjobs.com/careers/lacounty,gov you can verify at any time by logging in and following the prompts. This is to enhance the security of your online application and to ensure you do not enter an incorrect email address.

For the time being, all notifications, including results letters and notices of non-acceptance, will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application. It is important that you provide a valid email address. Please add hsacks@dmh.lacounty.gov as well as noreply@governmentjobs.com and info@governmentjob.com to your email address and list of approved senders to prevent email notification from being filtered as span/junk/clutter mail.

Applicants have the ability to opt out of emails from LA County. If you unsubscribe, you will not receive any email notification for any examination for which you apply with Los Angeles County. Regardless of whether you choose to unsubscribe, you can always check for notifications by logging into governmentjobs.com and viewing your profile inbox, which saves a copy of all emailed notices.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER LANGUAGE
Please include your Social Security Number for record control purposes. Federal law requires that all employed persons have a Social Security Number.

COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AT LIBRARIES
For candidates who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, applications can be completed on computers at public libraries throughout Los Angeles County.

NO SHARING USER ID AND PASSWORD
All applicants must file their applications online using their own user ID and password. Using a family member or friend's user ID and password may erase a candidate's original application record.

DEPARTMENT CONTACT
Department Contact Name: Heleodora "Lola" Sacks, Exam Analyst
Department Contact Phone: (323) 705-4072 or (213) 972-7034
Department Contact Email: exams@dmh.lacounty.gov

ADA Coordinator Phone: (323) 705-4072
Teletype Phone: (800) 735-2922
California Relay Services Phone: (800) 735-2922

For detailed information, please click here

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• Los Angeles County

• (800) 970-5478

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