Acute Care Coordinator- MHC

Multnomah County•Portland, OR

6d•$40 - $49•Remote

About The Position

THIS WORK MATTERS! We are seeking licensed professionals (LPC, LCSW, Ph.D., LMFT, etc.) and QMHPs to fill a critical lifeline in our community’s crisis management system. This role is vital to maintaining uninterrupted, trauma-informed care; we are inviting professionals who feel called to anchor our overnight shifts, ensuring that life-saving support remains a 24/7 reality for those who need it most. This recruitment will be used to fill multiple On- Call positions with routine telework; work hours are flexible, this is a 24/7 program with multiple opportunities to pick up different hours throughout each week. Must dedicate 30 hours minimum a month. Currently, all employees must reside in Oregon or Washington; the county cannot support ongoing telework from other states. The Multnomah County Behavioral Health Call Center operates 24/7, and provides a continuous crisis operation that constitutes the hub of mental health services for all residents of Multnomah County and Washington County. The vast majority of services are provided via telephone with approximately 75,000 calls received per year. The Call Center is staffed by Masters-level, QMHP, or licensed clinicians called Acute Care Coordinators (ACCs) as well as Case Managers (CMs Sr.) who provide additional support for lower acuity calls. All ACCs and CMs Sr. answer and triage the following distinct telephone lines that ring into the Call Center, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year including: 1) Multnomah County Crisis Line 2) 911 transfer line 3) EASA Referral Line 4) Emergency Line (major event communication, e.g. terrorist attack, major earthquake, etc.) 5) Washington County Crisis Line 6) Mental Health Referral Line 7) Clackamas County Crisis and Support Line 8) The CATC/Respite referral line 9) 988 transfer line 10) Latine Mental Health Line The content of calls on these lines spans the gamut of mental health-related requests, from the very routine request for information and referral to a mental health provider, to the emergent, high-risk request for help from an acutely suicidal caller. ACCs provide immediate clinical triage and crisis intervention services, which may include immediate connection with medical or police emergency services, with the community mobile crisis team, and/or a referral to the Urgent Walk-in Clinic (UWIC) or Hawthorn Walk-In Center (Hawthorn), or Clackamas County Mental Health Center (MHC). ACCs also provide care coordination services with various community partners, such as: mental health agencies contracted with the Oregon Health Plan for Mental Health Services; hospital emergency departments; mobile outreach (Project Respond, Washington County crisis team) Urgent Walk-In Clinic; Hawthorn Walk In Center; Clackamas County Mental Health Clinic; 988; 911; Portland Police Department; Multnomah County Health Department; Department of Community Justice; and others. Finally, the Call Center performs a number of other duties, some routine and recurring, others assigned, as needed. Examples of routine duties are ICP (Involuntary Commitment Program) functions such as processing NMI (Notice of Mental Illness) transfers, authorizing and processing Flex Fund vouchers for temporary housing or transportation, processing EASA referrals, and providing assistance to other internal work units. The purpose of the ACC position is to provide crisis intervention on the Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas County Crisis Lines, care coordination across the mental health system for callers, as needed, provide information/referral to community mental health providers; and provide consultation to providers at all levels of acuity in the mental health system.

Requirements

Education/Training: Master's degree from an accredited college or university in the mental health field with major coursework in social science, or a related field demonstrating the capacity for the required knowledge and skills to meet provider Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP-C or QMHP-R ) credentialing requirements as required by Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs) and the Mental Health & Addiction Certification Board of Oregon (MHACBO) - more information can be found at MHACBO website.
Master's degree in psychology
Master's degree in social work
Master's degree in a behavioral science field
Attach QMHP-C or QMHP-R certificate / Licensed Board of Oregon (LPC, LCSW, PHD, LMFT, etc)
If you do not currently have a QMHP-R certificate please state your ability to acquire it within 30 days of hire in your cover letter or resume
Other: This position requires a background investigation, which may include being fingerprinted. (Background check must be initiated before your start date)

Nice To Haves

Ability to upload documentation in an electronic database
Computer and phone technology, managing multiple computer screens and programs simultaneously
Ability to concurrently document call content
Phone crisis intervention, including risk assessment of clients who may be involved in potentially life threatening situations
Understand cultural, racial and ethnic factors, including: systemic advantage or disadvantage; acculturation, intergenerational immigrant family challenges, effects of trauma during immigration, war, separation from family and/or primary supports, detention, refugee camps, etc.; generational trauma; and any factors related to non-dominant culture affecting mental health and treatment
Ability to apply an equity, intersectional and anti-racist lens
Ability to provide information/referrals to community mental health providers
Advanced skills in managing sensitive information and ability to support the community
Knowledge of cultures, customs and social experiences of communities experiencing marginalization and barriers to opportunity
Ability to exercise good judgment, diplomacy, and tact in dealing with sensitive, complex, confidential information and situations, in addition to acting professionally, and empathically, with individuals, internal/external partners and communities

Responsibilities

Crisis Intervention Phone crisis intervention including risk assessment of clients who may be involved in potentially life threatening situations
Facilitate access to emergency and crisis services for clients as needed, including coordination with 911, mobile outreach, and Multnomah County UWIC/Washington County Hawthorn/Clackamas MHC
Provide solution focused interventions to assist clients. This covers a spectrum of mental health needs such as helping a client stabilize while experiencing panic, depression, agitation, delusional thinking, or any other mental health symptoms a client may deem as needing crisis line support
These functions require the extensive use of computer and phone technology, managing multiple computer screens and programs simultaneously, making rapid clinical decisions, adhering to complex policies and procedures, while attending to a caller on the phone\ touch-typing without looking at one's fingers, and concurrent documentation
Case Management and Care Coordination Provide short-term case coordination and follow up for callers with urgent and/or complex needs, including those with specialized health-care needs to ensure that needs are appropriately and adequately addressed by service providers
Service providers may include community corrections agencies, police, drug and alcohol treatment providers, other mental health providers, hospital emergency departments, and residential facilities
Document all member/provider/community contacts and clinical reviews, including symptoms, interventions, goals and plan for next review
Documentation may also include uploading crisis alerts received by community providers, upload police reports and provide special requested outreach to clients; documentation is done in an electronic database
Assist other clinicians as needed in terms of immediate crisis support such as calling 911 for another clinician while the clinician remains on the phone with the client
Provide information and directive support to fellow clinicians as needed regarding resources for clients and clarification of policies and procedures