Senior Social Worker (Mental Health Consultant)

King County•401 5th Avenue - Seattle, WA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Child Care Health Program (CCHP) provides health consultation, training, and education to child care and early learning educators to enhance their skills in guiding, nurturing, and supporting the health, safety, social and emotional development, nutrition, and learning of all children in their care. The CCHP is an interdisciplinary team of nurse, mental health, nutrition, and educator consultants who collaborate to offer in-person and virtual services and trainings to educators. This position requires excellent communication, relationship, and trust-building skills, knowledge of early childhood development and attachment, and the ability to work with diverse educators and families. Consultation focuses on the behavioral, developmental, and socioemotional needs of children from infancy through school-age. The Mental Health Consultant (MHC) may also consult with parents/family members to provide information about managing behavior and mental health and offer referrals for behavioral or developmental services. In partnership with other mental health staff, the MHC will be responsible for leading the mental health work of the unit and consulting with partners at the City of Seattle and the Child Care Health Team. Within the interdisciplinary team, this MHC will provide on-site consultation services to child care and early learning programs, following the model of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC). The goal is to build the capacity of educators, families, programs, and systems to prevent, identify, and reduce the impact of behavioral problems among children. This recruitment will create an eligibility pool for future vacancies.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Social Work or Counseling or related field from an accredited university.
Ability to successfully obtain agency affiliated counselor status within probationary period.
Demonstrated experience working with young children, including clinical evaluation and assessment of behavioral, developmental, and mental health concerns.
Knowledge of professional social work principles, methodologies, and ethics.
Knowledge of and skill in the use of the therapeutic relationship to foster client engagement and self-determination.
Knowledge of human psychosocial development within the context of the family, community, and culture.
Knowledge of brief therapy theories and techniques and understanding of therapeutic process.
Knowledge of techniques for facilitating client motivation to manage behavior problems.
Knowledge of health, social, and systemic issues, as well as of equity and social justice, that impact client and community well-being.
Skills in crisis intervention, client advocacy, and case management.
Demonstrated ability to successfully apply appropriate and best practice models of care based on diverse client presentations.
Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and respectfully, both orally and in writing.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate and foster a variety of strong interpersonal relationships in a multidisciplinary team, and with outside partners and organizations.
Demonstrated ability to maintain a high level of organization to meet a high-volume workload and documentation demands.
Working knowledge of Microsoft 365 applications
Ability to travel in a timely manner within King County to engage in work at locations that may have limited access to public transportation.
Employees are required to protect the privacy and security of protected health information as defined in State and Federal Law.
Public Health relies on office automation (Microsoft Office) and web-based enabled tools, therefore candidates must be proficient and comfortable with computer use to perform functions associated with on-going work.
Employees are required to adhere to OSHA/WISHA guidelines including but not limited to completing their mandatory trainings on time and obtaining required immunizations.
Regular and reliable attendance, effective communication skills, and development of effective working relationships are requirements of all Public Health positions.

Nice To Haves

Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) or Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) preferred.
Bilingual or multilingual candidates highly desired.
At least three years of post-graduate professional experience providing independent behavioral health counseling service for children and families in a healthcare or educational setting.
Previous experience with Parent-Child Psychotherapy, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Attachment, Regulation, Competency (ARC), play and family therapy, and/or other trauma-informed therapeutic modalities.

Responsibilities

Engage in on-site, individual child observations and assessments, and give educators behavior management strategies and behavioral health care plans, as well as promote socioemotional and behavioral health for children in early learning settings.
Establish and maintain supportive relationships with community child care centers, Family Child Care homes, and other community supports for children birth to five.
Maintain knowledge of community services and resources to address the developmental, behavioral, and socioemotional needs of children birth to five, and make necessary referrals for services.
Provide technical assistance to educators and families for children who are referred for further assessment.
Train and support early learning educators to identify at-risk children by using standardized developmental screening tools (e.g. ASQ3), including those for socioemotional/behavioral health.
Participate in community groups and coalitions that address the behavioral, developmental, and socioemotional needs of children in early learning settings.
As a member of the CCHP Mental Health Consultant group, collaboratively manage difficult cases and provide training and technical assistance around your areas of expertise.
With Child Care Health Program colleagues, provide interdisciplinary consultation, training, and advocacy for how to manage complex cases, attend to cultural and systemic dynamics, and facilitate the integration of care for child health and behavioral concerns.
Develop and lead trainings for educators as requested to facilitate understanding and support of child development and behavioral health, as well as to prevent behavioral health risks in children.
Professionally document interventions and supports to record completed work.
Engage with the CCHP in continuous quality improvement and evaluation processes to elevate its work with those it serves.