MFLC Assignment Ready Counselor (Florida Panhandle)

Magellan Health • Pensacola, FL

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Assignment Ready Counselor (ARC) provides short-term, surge, on-demand, summer-camp, and backfill coverage for the Military and Family Life Counseling (MFLC) program. Counselors provide the breadth of adult or Child and Youth Behavioral (CYB) services to military service members and their families at military installations, with minimal guidance and oversight. The Summer ARC role covers assignments from May 15 through September 15. Candidates must be local to the Florida Panhandle; this is a part-time, intermittent position.

Services include non-medical, short-term, solution-focused counseling; assessment; brief counseling and consultation; action planning; referral and linkage to resources; and follow-up as indicated. Counselors may provide training and health and wellness presentations, consult with parents and staff at childcare centers and schools, participate in health fairs and installation activities, and consult with installation command on behavioral health issues affecting military personnel and their families. CYB counselors may work in DoDEA or community schools, youth programs, and summer camps; school assignments require experience working in a school setting. Adult counselors may support military community and readiness centers as well as on-demand and surge assignments.

Counselors coordinate with installation and military-branch Points of Contact (POCs) to ensure services meet installation needs and remain within program scope. They maintain confidentiality and anonymity, enter activity data daily through a smartphone or web application, establish community-resource relationships and appropriate linkages, and participate in supervision and assigned program activities. The listed duties are representative and not exhaustive; additional duties consistent with the role may be assigned.

Requirements

• Master’s degree from an accredited graduate program in a mental-health-related field or social work.
• Current independent-level licensure as a mental health counselor, therapist, or social worker, meeting applicable state, Commonwealth, or customer-specific requirements.
• Must be local to the Florida Panhandle region.
• Ability to prove U.S. citizenship and fluency in English.
• Advanced knowledge of brief therapy and solution-focused counseling methods.
• Willingness to accept assignments of undefined duration on short notice, including weekends, and to cover full-time assignments ranging from a weekend to two weeks.
• Ability to quickly build rapport with service personnel, family members, students, parents, and coworkers; adapt to new locations and site rules; and work effectively with minimal instruction.
• Ability to quickly engage and communicate with military members, spouses, or children and respond to emergent situations in varied locations on military installations or in school settings.
• Ability to traverse short and long distances, including outdoor and uneven terrain such as inclines, stairs, and grass, and to work outdoors in weather and other military-base conditions.
• Ability to comply with site-specific requirements; some assignments may require current immunizations or vaccinations and proof of receipt.
• For CYB roles, must meet Magellan MFLC CYB experience criteria for working with children and youth and have a specialty in child and adolescent development or psychology.
• For ARC coverage of a school position, CYB counselors must have experience working in a school setting.
• Ability to follow DoD protocols for duty-to-warn and restricted-reporting situations and to maintain confidentiality and anonymity.
• A valid in-state driver’s license is listed among the required credentials.

Nice To Haves

• Prior military service, being a military family member, or strong familiarity with military culture is desired.

Responsibilities

• Provide adult or Child and Youth Behavioral counseling services to military service members and their families at military installations.
• Provide short-term, non-medical, solution-focused counseling, including assessment, brief counseling, consultation, action planning, referrals, resource linkage, and follow-up as indicated.
• Provide coverage for short-term, surge, on-demand, summer-camp, and backfill assignments, including coverage for counselors who are absent.
• For CYB assignments, support childcare center, DoDEA and community-school, youth-program, and summer-camp staff and personnel, and provide parent training and guidance.
• Provide training and health and wellness presentations, and participate in health fairs and other installation activities.
• Consult with parents, childcare-center and school personnel, and installation command regarding behavioral health issues affecting military personnel and their families.
• Coordinate with installation and military-branch POCs to provide services that meet installation needs and remain within program scope; develop and maintain effective working relationships with POCs.
• Establish relationships with community resources and provide appropriate referrals and linkages.
• Enter counselor activity data daily using a smartphone or web application while maintaining the confidentiality and anonymity of service members and family members.
• Manage duty-to-warn and restricted-reporting situations according to DoD protocol and consult with the Regional Supervisor or Regional Director.
• Communicate with Regional Supervisors and participate in individual and group supervision, sharing trends and issues from assigned installations and facilities.
• Respond to critical incidents and special requests as directed by the POC and approved by the OSD program manager.
• Create an approachable, confidential program presence on installations and, for CYB counselors, in child and youth settings; follow line-of-sight protocol when working with children.
• Participate, with minimal notice, in in-services, training, Quality Improvement committees, and other assigned contract activities.

Benefits

• Pay rate and health and welfare allowance are specified in the applicable wage determination agreement for this Service Contract Act-covered position.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time