Qualified Mental Health Professional

IO Management Company LLC • Eugene, OR

18h • $50 - $55

About The Position

The Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP) – Law Enforcement Co-Responder provides field-based behavioral health assessment, crisis intervention, stabilization, and coordinated care in partnership with law enforcement agencies throughout Eugene and Lane County, Oregon. The role responds to behavioral health crises involving mental health symptoms, substance use, suicidal ideation, homelessness, or repeated emergency-system involvement. It provides screenings, risk evaluations, de-escalation, safety planning, brief interventions, and clinically appropriate referrals while supporting alternatives to arrest and unnecessary emergency department use.

The QMHP coordinates care with Ideal Option’s Lane County Deflection Program, Downtown Navigation Team, Fire/EMS Navigator Team, and community partners. The position helps connect people to treatment, withdrawal management, crisis stabilization, housing, peer support, and recovery resources, and participates in multidisciplinary case conferences and follow-up coordination.

The role also maintains accurate and timely clinical and program records, tracks service activity and outcomes, participates in quality improvement and reporting, and protects confidential information in compliance with applicable laws and agreements. The QMHP works within professional scope, seeks clinical consultation as needed, and uses trauma-informed, culturally responsive, person-centered, and recovery-oriented practices.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in psychology, social work, counseling, behavioral health, or a closely related field, together with the education, experience, and competencies required to qualify as a QMHP under applicable Oregon rules and employer program requirements.
• Demonstrated experience providing behavioral health services, assessments, or crisis intervention appropriate to the candidate’s QMHP qualification pathway.
• Experience working with individuals experiencing mental health disorders, substance use disorders, or co-occurring conditions.
• Ability to provide field-based behavioral health services and coordinate with multidisciplinary professionals.
• Experience completing professional behavioral health documentation and maintaining confidential client records.
• Meet applicable Oregon QMHP qualification standards and complete required qualification verification or credentialing before independently performing duties requiring QMHP status.
• Current driver’s license and ability to meet Ideal Option’s driving and insurability requirements when operating a vehicle for work.
• Current CPR and First Aid certification, or ability to obtain it within the employer-established onboarding period.
• Complete required organizational training, safety training, and clinical orientation.
• Strong knowledge of mental health disorders, substance use disorders, co-occurring conditions, and behavioral health crisis intervention.
• Ability to conduct behavioral health screenings, clinical assessments, and crisis risk evaluations within professional scope.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, harm reduction, suicide prevention, and verbal de-escalation.
• Ability to work effectively with law enforcement, emergency responders, healthcare professionals, and community organizations.
• Understanding of behavioral health crisis response systems, criminal justice diversion, and deflection programs.
• Ability to remain calm, professional, and effective in unpredictable, high-stress, or potentially dangerous situations.
• Strong interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, relationship-building, clinical judgment, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to engage individuals experiencing significant behavioral health symptoms, substance use challenges, or unstable living circumstances.
• Ability to recognize professional limitations and seek clinical consultation.
• Excellent written communication, documentation, organizational, and time-management skills; ability to manage multiple responsibilities, priorities, and deadlines.
• Ability to work independently in community settings while coordinating with clinical and program leadership.
• Understanding of local behavioral health treatment resources and community support systems.
• Ability to work effectively with people from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, and personal backgrounds.
• Commitment to person-centered, nonjudgmental, recovery-oriented services.
• Reliability, professionalism, trustworthiness, attention to detail, confidentiality, ethical conduct, and maintenance of professional boundaries.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office products, including Outlook, Teams, Word, and Excel.
• Ability to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in psychology, social work, counseling, marriage and family therapy, or a related behavioral health discipline.
• Graduate-level training in clinical assessment, crisis intervention, behavioral health treatment, or related services.
• Additional education or specialized training in substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, forensic behavioral health, or criminal justice diversion.
• Two or more years of experience in behavioral health crisis intervention, community mental health, emergency behavioral health, or related services.
• Experience in law enforcement co-response, mobile crisis, crisis stabilization, or criminal justice diversion programs.
• Familiarity with Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), Oregon deflection programs, and community-based alternatives to incarceration.
• Experience collaborating with law enforcement, emergency medical services, hospitals, and correctional facilities.
• Knowledge of Lane County behavioral health resources and community service systems.
• Experience working with individuals experiencing homelessness, chronic substance use, or repeated emergency service involvement.
• Experience with interdisciplinary case conferencing and coordinated care planning.
• Experience using electronic health records and program data systems.

Responsibilities

• Respond with or at the request of participating law enforcement agencies to calls involving behavioral health needs.
• Conduct field-based behavioral health screenings and assessments within professional scope and applicable requirements.
• Assess immediate needs, risk and protective factors, and appropriate levels of intervention, including suicide and safety risks.
• Provide crisis intervention, verbal de-escalation, emotional stabilization, safety planning, and brief evidence-informed interventions.
• Consult with law enforcement personnel and help identify appropriate interventions and alternatives to arrest, incarceration, or unnecessary emergency department use.
• Coordinate emergency medical, psychiatric, crisis, treatment, housing, withdrawal-management, and other community services as appropriate.
• Support treatment engagement through motivational interviewing, warm handoffs, referrals, follow-up, and coordination with providers.
• Coordinate with the Lane County Deflection Program, Downtown Navigation Team, Fire/EMS Navigator Team, and multidisciplinary community partners.
• Participate in clinical consultation, supervision, case review, and multidisciplinary case conferences.
• Build and maintain professional relationships with law enforcement agencies, emergency responders, hospitals, behavioral health providers, and community organizations.
• Provide education and consultation to community partners about behavioral health, crisis intervention, substance use disorders, and available resources.
• Identify barriers and service gaps and support individualized plans to reduce repeated crises and criminal justice involvement.
• Complete timely and accurate documentation of contacts, assessments, interventions, risk evaluations, safety plans, referrals, and follow-up.
• Maintain records in designated electronic health record and program reporting systems, including eClinicalWorks or Apricot as applicable.
• Track program activity and outcomes, participate in quality improvement and evaluation, and submit required reports.
• Maintain confidentiality and comply with HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, Oregon confidentiality laws, and applicable agreements.
• Report critical incidents, safety concerns, and other reportable events through established procedures.
• Maintain professional boundaries and use trauma-informed, culturally responsive, person-centered approaches.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time