Crisis Response Team Behavioral Health Counselor - 140524

The mission of the Student Health & Well-Being (SHW) cluster is to promote a culture of health and well-being for the student community, deliver equitable high quality innovative services, incorporate inclusive approaches, and celebrate diversity, with the goal of adoption and maintenance of healthy behaviors contributing to the academic success and personal development of all students.

The UC San Diego SHW cluster, which reports through UC San Diego Health System, plays a leadership role in creating a strong and active wellness culture that enables all students to flourish in body, mind and spirit. This includes promotion and the transformation of existing departments, under the oversight of the Executive Director, into a cohesive, trans-disciplinary source of integrated wellness services. The SHW cluster includes the departments of Student Health Services (SHS); Health Promotion Services (HPS); Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS); Assessment and Analytics (SHAA), Strategic Planning, Innovation and Research (SPIR); and SHW Administration (ADM).

CAPS delivers campus-based mental health services to registered UC San Diego undergraduate, graduate, and professional school students. CAPS' multicultural, multidisciplinary, and student-centered staff strives to deliver trauma informed, culturally proficient counseling and psychiatric services, psycho-educational preventive outreach and early intervention programming, consultation, research, and training opportunities. CAPS is accredited by the International Accreditation of Counseling Services (IACS) and the Post-doctoral Resident Training Program is affiliated with the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Center (APPIC). CAPS is fully committed to self-examination, peer review, and quality improvement through the utilization of metrics, data, clinical outcomes, client experience measurements and feedback.

The Triton CORE (Compassionate Response) Team Behavioral Health Counselor will support UC San Diego Chancellor's commitment to re-envisioning campus safety and policing towards a welcoming service-oriented, and community-centric university campus. The incumbent will promote a campus culture emphasizing fair, collaborative, and trusting community relationships, and respectful and humane methods to campus safety. Incumbent must be a skilled mental health professional who is multi-culturally proficient/affirming and possesses specific training, skills and demonstrated experience in providing behavioral health services and oversight of behavioral health programs. The incumbent will assist the CORE manager to achieve organizational objectives. The health professionals will be co-located, rotating within the UC San Diego Police Department, prioritizing the well-being of the entire campus community. This incumbent will respond to crisis situations and deliver onsite, immediate and personalized mental health interventions within a framework of inclusion excellence, social justice, and the aspiration to eliminate health care disparities.

Incumbent must be experienced in reducing barriers to mental health care in a multicultural environment, to provide critical behavioral health services to a diverse campus community.

Under the general supervision of the Triton CORE Manager, CAPS Director or designee, the incumbent performs specialized mental health care to support the campus community, and students in particular, to enhance their educational experience and reduce the impact of mental conditions and personal distress on their well-being through appropriate assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning and referrals to campus and community resources. The incumbent will develop interventions, treatment plans, bridge care, monitor progress, and assure effective coordination of care between providers at CAPS, other campus resources, and mental health providers in the surrounding community. The services provided will include triage, crisis intervention and focused, brief psychotherapy, as well as coordination of care and specialized case management for high-risk students discharged from the hospital. Treatment plans may result in off-campus referrals to intensive outpatient and inpatient programs and specialized and/or long term psychotherapy. When appropriate, the incumbent will also work with University administrators, Student Affairs and Academic Departments for effective collaboration and timely coordination of care, including medical leave of absence and readmission.

Because historical data support the fact that some calls requiring response to mental health crisis can be volatile and appear dangerous, it is envisioned that attending to such calls will be a co-response of compassionate police personnel and crisis response personnel. The Triton CORE Team will serve as first responders in wellness checks, behavioral health crisis triage, and mental health emergencies within the campus community, reducing the role of armed officers in non-criminal calls. In coordination with the CAPS Director and leadership team, the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, UC San Diego Health Emergency Department and Inpatient Psychiatric Care, Neuro-Behavioral Medical Unit, the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry College Mental Health Program, and the UC San Diego Police Department Chief, incumbent assists the CORE manager in the daily operations and outcomes of a mobile compassionate crisis response for the UC San Diego campus and community. This includes collaboration and support in work flow design and training from dispatch response to disposition, marketing strategies to ensure the campus community is able to access and utilize the services, and collaborative partnerships with relevant campus departments and local mental health resources and hospitals, stabilization and transitional units, and designated providers for ongoing care to deliver optimal level of services and safety for UC San Diego community members in crisis.

Triton CORE Team provides rapid response and in-the field assessments, crisis management, transport, and referral, using trauma and culturally responsive practices and interventions at all levels of care. Types of calls may include wellness check, 5150 evaluations, telehealth and on-site in-person crisis interventions, de-escalation, consultation to campus staff, faculty, and administration regarding mental health concerns, and communication related to mental health and well-being. CORE is designed and operated in alignment with a continuum of care services principles and practices meeting the highest standards under UC San Diego Health.

May function as a program manager or administrator of a psychiatric department or clinic. May lead in planning and coordinating the work of a multidisciplinary treatment staff. Assists with long-term planning; revises / implements new procedures; conducts training for professional and paraprofessional staff members; and provides psychotherapeutic treatment with emphasis on the most severely disturbed and high risk cases.

• A valid California license as a mental health provider (Psychologist, LMFT, LCSW or LPCC) in good standing. Out of state licensed within 180 days.

• Obtain Lantermin-Petris-Short (LPS) Act designation to submit applications for 5150 holds.

• Current State of California Driver License required.

• Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification by the start date.

• Advanced skill providing individual, group and family cognitive behavioral therapy. Strong skills in providing individual and group behavioral therapy, behavioral analysis and / or educational interventions.

• Advanced knowledge of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Experience with rapid screening and assessment and diagnosis towards development of appropriate interventions and level of care while working under pressure

• In-depth knowledge of applicable laws and ethical standards associated with profession. Strong knowledge of applicable laws and ethical standards associated with profession. Advanced knowledge of legal and ethical issues related to patients' rights. Demonstrated advanced knowledge of and responsibility for upholding laws governing the practice of mental health and behavioral health care in the State of California.

• Advanced verbal and written communication. Demonstrated active listening, persuasion and counseling skills. Highly effective verbal and written communication. Demonstrated active listening, persuasion and counseling skills. Ability to relate warmly, humanely, compassionately, and empathetically to others.

• Strong knowledge of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Demonstrated experience providing clinical interventions for the wide range of presenting issues with varying degrees of acuity, severity, and complexity, assessing and managing risk and disposition through case management and efficient follow up

• Demonstrated ability to carry out effective, trauma informed, and culturally responsive field work with the campus police and security officers.

• Demonstrated skill in effectively managing mental health emergencies.

• Advanced skills in collaborating with heath care providers in a multi-disciplinary setting. Ability to work in a highly collaborative manner with diverse client group. Sustained knowledge and experience working with culturally diverse university populations, including ability and expertise with traditionally underserved and marginalized groups. Proven ability to work effectively in teams and interact easily, collaboratively, and productively with colleagues, supervisors, and members of the campus community, maintaining a positive and cooperative work environment and relationships.

• Knowledge of business software, specialized applications and EHR systems used in behavioral health clinics / clinical departments. Working knowledge of electronic medical/mental health records systems.

• Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion to foster the best possible working and learning environment.

• Demonstrated ability to actively foster a positive, welcoming climate, and value, include and support all in the UC San Diego community.

• Proven ability to develop and implement culturally proficient, responsive, and effective outreach programs and provide consultation, mental health promotion, and preventative psycho-educational outreach services.

• Demonstrated commitment and ability to acknowledge, advocate and support the efforts to dismantle structural racism and divisive biases based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and political beliefs.

• Proven ability and experience coordinating care with community mental health resources.

• Ability to at all times adhere to UCSD Health Medical Center (C.A.R.I.N.G.) Standards of Performance, and demonstrate the characteristics of professionalism in attire, attitude, conversation, behavior and attentiveness to others. All staff members are required to uphold the UCSD Principles of Community and to promote a positive and collaborative team environment.

• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of state and federal health care privacy laws, Title IX, VAWA, ADA, Title II, HIPAA and FERPA, as well as professional ethics or regulations that govern the work.

• Must complete all required training assigned by UCOP, UCSD, CAPS and SHW on a timely basis.

• Specific training and/or experience working with problems particularly prevalent in college-age population, and in interdisciplinary setting focusing on student wellness.

• Bilingual ability to provide mental health care and support to students and families.

• Must work evenings, weekends, holidays, and as needed, for after-hours emergency coverage.

• Must carry department-issued cell phone during scheduled shifts.

• CA Driver's License required for use of university vehicles to respond to wellness checks, and transports to Crisis Stabilization Units and Emergency Department.

Job offer is contingent upon satisfactory clearance based on Background Check results and pre-employment physical.

Pre-employment credential verification, and reappointment every three years thereafter.