Military & Family Life Counselor - Child Development Center

Magellan Health • Campbell, CA

7d

About The Position

The Military & Family Life Counselor – Child Development Center provides Child and Youth Behavioral (CYB) counseling services to children of military service members and their families at military installations. The role may also serve civilian expeditionary work force members and their families when activated. Assignments may include child development centers, youth programs, summer camps, and other on-demand locations.

The counselor provides non-medical, short-term, solution-focused counseling, including assessment, brief counseling, consultation, action planning, referrals and follow-up. The position also supports child development center and youth-program staff, offers parent guidance, and delivers training and health and wellness presentations. The counselor works with installation Points of Contact and community resources to ensure services meet local needs and to establish appropriate resource linkages.

The role requires visibility at assigned locations, daily entry of activity data through a smartphone or web application, and protection of service-member and family-member confidentiality and anonymity. When working with children, the counselor must follow line-of-sight protocol, ensuring another responsible adult can see the counselor and child at all times. The counselor also follows Department of Defense protocols for duty-to-warn and restricted-reporting situations, consults with regional supervisors, responds to critical incidents and approved special requests, and participates in supervision, training, quality-improvement work, studies, pilot programs and other assigned contract activities. The counselor may need to flex their schedule to respond to urgent requests.

The position requires a master’s degree in a mental-health-related field, an unrestricted independent counseling license, and less than two years of post-licensure clinical experience. Candidates must meet Magellan’s MFLC CYB criteria for experience with children and youth and specialization in child and adolescent development or psychology. School-assigned counselors must have previous work experience in a school setting. The role requires the ability to work across military installations and, where applicable, school settings, including indoor and outdoor areas and varied terrain.

Requirements

• Master’s degree from an accredited graduate program in a mental-health-related field.
• Valid, unrestricted independent counseling license from a state, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory or commonwealth, granting authority to provide counseling as an independent practitioner.
• Less than two years of post-licensure clinical experience.
• Intermediate-level competency with technology and software, including Microsoft Suite, internet navigation, smartphones/tablets and applications, and video-conferencing platforms.
• Ability to engage and communicate with military members or children and respond quickly to emergent situations at military installations or in school settings.
• Ability to traverse short or long distances on a base, reach indoor and outdoor locations, maneuver through rugged or uneven terrain such as steep inclines, stairs and grass, and work in outdoor weather and other military-base conditions.
• Ability to meet site-specific requirements for designated locations; some assignments may require current immunizations or vaccinations and proof of receipt.
• Ability to prove U.S. citizenship and fluency in English.
• Understanding, sensitivity and empathy for children, service members and their families.
• Ability to develop trusting, helping relationships and work effectively with people from diverse racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Pass a Child National Agency Check and Inquiries (CNACI) clearance, Installation Records Check (IRC), criminal history background check and FBI fingerprint check.
• Possess a valid U.S. state vehicle operator’s license unless specifically waived by the FEDSIM COR.
• May be required to pass tests for and obtain a U.S. military vehicle operator’s permit for commercial sedans and similar vehicles for use at temporary-duty locations, if required.
• Meet Magellan MFLC CYB criteria for experience with children and youth and specialty in child and adolescent development or psychology.
• School-assigned counselors must have previous work experience in a school setting.
• Hold current licensure that meets applicable state, commonwealth or customer-specific requirements.
• Be an independently licensed behavioral-health clinician.

Responsibilities

• Provide non-medical, short-term, solution-focused counseling to eligible children and youth of service members at assigned primary and secondary locations.
• Conduct assessments, brief counseling, consultations, action planning, referrals and follow-up as indicated.
• Support staff and personnel at child development centers, youth programs and assigned summer camps.
• Provide parent support, training and guidance.
• Deliver training and health and wellness presentations, and participate in health fairs and other installation activities focused on children and youth.
• Enter counselor activity data daily through a smartphone or web application while maintaining confidentiality and anonymity.
• Establish and maintain working relationships with community resources serving children and youth, and provide appropriate linkages.
• Remain visible at assigned locations so MFLC services are accessible.
• Follow line-of-sight protocol when working with children.
• Partner with installation Points of Contact to provide services that address installation or facility needs and maintain professional working relationships with them.
• 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 information about installation and facility trends and issues.
• Respond to critical incidents and special requests as directed by the Point of Contact and approved by the OSD program manager.
• Flex the work schedule to respond to urgent requests as needed or at the request of regional leadership.
• Participate in in-services, training, Quality Improvement committees, initiatives, studies, pilot programs and other assigned contract activities.
• Complete required activity documentation, participate in pilot-program certification and training, integrate pilot activities into non-medical counseling work, and use applicable technology for required activities.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Comply with applicable security responsibilities, controls, legal, regulatory, contractual and internal policy requirements.

Benefits

• May be eligible for short-term incentives.
• Comprehensive benefits package.
• Health, life, voluntary and other benefits and perks supporting physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level