Crisis Specialist (Spvsing) (#434020)

Under direction, plans, supervises and participates in the work of a psychiatric crisis intervention unit; performs related duties as required.
 

This class serves as the first-line supervisor of a Mental Health Crisis Unit.   Incumbents serve as resource liaison to staff, clients and the community in the absence of administration and performs direct psychiatric crisis intervention work.  Depending upon job assignment, positions in this class may have responsibility of practicing certain professional skills/functions as permitted by California Law for Licensed Psychiatric Technicians and Licensed Vocational Nurses.  This class is distinguished from the Mental Health Program Manager by the latter’s responsibility to plan, organize and provide second-line supervision over a specialized mental health program.
 

Duties may include but are not limited to the following:
 
1.      Schedules, assigns, directs and evaluates the work of staff engaged in crisis intervention and support activities in accordance with laws, regulations and departmental policies; reviews charts and other documentation prepared by staff; trains and orients staff.
 
2.      Interviews clients, family members and/or other involved parties to evaluate client's psychiatric status and psycho-social needs and to determine suicidal or violence potential; gathers information needed to assess level of service needs and/or treatment eligibility; observes and reports clients behavior; may conduct on-site visits; opens cases and establishes case files.
 
3.      Those positions requiring a license give general and psychiatric nursing care; observes and records patient’s condition and behavior and responses to treatment; reports significant changes or any unusual occurrences to supervisors; takes and records patient's temperature, pulse, respiration, and blood pressure; administers medication under the supervision of a physician or registered nurse, orally, topically, hyopdermically, and intramuscularly.
 
4.      Counsels individuals/families toward the resolution of situational problems and immediate psychiatric crisis using a variety of counseling modalities; refers clients to available resources when appropriate; explains procedures, rights and responsibilities.


5.      Determines treatment plans; participates in the implementation of treatment plans; determines need for involuntary and voluntary psychiatric hospitalization; coordinates treatment plans with staff and other agencies, institutions, private practitioners and law enforcement personnel; may co-lead group counseling sessions.
 
6.      Prepares a variety of narrative and statistical reports, intake evaluation reports and forms to document service, demographic and financial information for client identification and billing purposes; documents case files and records recommended treatment plan, clients’ behavior, psychiatric and psycho-social needs.

Thorough knowledge of the principles and methods of interviewing; crisis intervention principles, techniques and practices; procedures, techniques and terminology of psychiatric and psycho-social assessment and treatment determinations; pharmacology of medications and psychothropic drugs, dynamics of human behavior; psychiatric and psycho-social treatment plan development practices.
 
Considerable knowledge of the laws, rules and regulations governing mental health and client's rights; department purposes, goals and policies; training and supervisory practices; community mental health, social service and medical resources.
 
Considerable knowledge of the fundamentals of general and psychiatric nursing and therapeutic procedures for working with the mentally disturbed while using the skills permitted under the Psychiatric Technician or Vocational Nurse licensure

Ability to train, guide and supervise the work of others engaged in technical level psychiatric work and support activities in order to coordinate service delivery to clients; establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, service providers, law enforcement personnel, other professionals and the general public; interpret and apply laws, rules and regulations governing the mental health services administration; exercise independent judgment and adopt appropriate courses of action under normal and stressful conditions; organize and prioritize work assignments; develop and implement treatment plans; maintain confidentiality of information; evaluate the effectiveness of staff in assessing and treating mental health clients; provide effective consultation and leadership in staff development and training; communicate effectively both verbally and in writing; recognize and respect limit of authority and responsibility.
 

Considerable mental health services experience which included screening, evaluating and counseling emotionally/mentally disturbed persons and supplemented by additional education and training in crisis intervention methods, principles, techniques and in supervision which demonstrates possession of and competency in requisite knowledge and abilities.  In addition, depending on job assignment, incumbents in this class must have performed the duties and had the responsibility of a Licensed Psychiatric Technician or Licensed Vocational Nurse.   Typical qualifying education and experience would be:
 
Two years of experience as a Crisis Specialist in Solano County or performing psychiatric crisis intervention, counseling and/or psychiatric nursing care or psychiatric technician in a public or private crisis intervention unit or psychiatric facility.

Possession of a valid license as a Psychiatric Technician or Vocational Nurse issued by the Board of Vocational Nurse and Psychiatric Technician Examiners or the State of California may be required depending on job assignment.
 
Possession of or ability to obtain a valid Class C California driver's license may be required.

Independent travel will be required.
 
Positions allocated to this class may require bilingual skills.
 
Selectees for employment must as a condition of employment sign a statement agreeing to comply with Section 11166 of the California Penal Code relating to child abuse reporting.