The Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) values diverse perspectives and life experiences. The Department encourages people of all backgrounds to apply, including people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, veterans and those with lived experience.

The Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) provides equitable opportunities for people to be healthy, happy, self-reliant, and connected to community.

This position assures the appropriate use of King County Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization's (KCBH-ASO) allocated beds at Western State Hospital (WSH) by screening and attempting to divert admissions to WSH and providing comprehensive and timely discharge planning services. This position reviews and authorizes all Level of Care assessments for clients referred to the BH-ASO's residential and housing continuum of care.  This position is a member of a team responsible for diversion and discharge planning efforts for King County BH-ASO at WSH, local psychiatric hospitals, and County funded residential and supported housing resources.  This position will split time between Western State Hospital, Seattle, and community based providers within King County.

Who May Apply: The Department of Community and Human Services values diverse perspectives and life experiences.  The Department encourages people meeting the requirements for this position, of all backgrounds to apply, including people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, veterans, and those with lived experiences.  
 
Required Materials: Candidates who wish to be considered for this position must submit an online King County application and respond to the supplemental questions.  Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the requested and relevant information in the online application and supplemental questionnaire.  Applications and/or supplemental questionnaires that state, “see my resume” are considered incomplete and will not be considered to be competitive.
 
Work Schedule: This position is scheduled to work 40 hours per week, Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm.  This position meets the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and is overtime eligible with supervisory pre-approval.

UNION MEMBERSHIP:  Positions in this classification are represented by PSEU 192.

Recruiter:  Annette.Coleman@kingcounty.gov

• Screen King County residents for admission to WSH and develops diversion strategies for each potential admission whenever possible.
• Work within a multidisciplinary team to determine an individual's readiness for discharge from the hospital, develops a comprehensive and timely plan for discharge to include facilitating referrals to the appropriate treatment resources in the King County BH-ASO.
• Demonstrate and maintains excellent diagnostic and assessment skills for all adults and young adults in hospital systems.
• Support clients in their efforts towards recovery, providing services promoting recovery principles.
• Develop, maintain and share knowledge of a variety of behavioral health, social services, and housing resources within King County and creatively develops community discharge plans utilizing that knowledge.
• Coordinate and track residential Level-of-Care referrals. Conduct Level-of-Care interviews as needed to determine service needs of clients.
• Monitor residential and supported housing and intensive team (such as Expanding Community Services, PACT, and forensic teams) openings and provides appropriate referrals to all programs in a timely manner.
• Monitor community placements for all individuals discharging to King County who are committed under HB 1114 statutes.
• Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with providers and colleagues working for allied systems, excellent and current knowledge of the system of resources available to those with behavioral health disorders, and excellent abilities to communicate clearly with a variety of individuals.
• Remain current on best practice research and philosophy related to behavioral health disorders, hospital discharge planning, forensic mental health, and diversion strategies from institutional settings.
• Attend and participate in assigned meetings, treatment conferences, and committees relevant to performance of job functions.
• Ensure billing and documentation meet and follow King County BH-ASO policies and procedures. Maintain King County BH-ASO and WSH client records in accordance with County, State and Federal guidelines.
• Maintains a system of tracking relevant clinical, financial, legal, and behavioral aspects to each individual's case and utilizes that information to effectively advocate for that individual's needs.
• Track admissions and discharges, daily census, system trends, and relevant data, as required by King County and Western State Hospital.
• Maintain adherence to King County BH-ASO's Policies and Procedures, the WSH/BH-ASO Working Agreement, and WSH procedures.
• Demonstrate and maintain excellent knowledge of processes, programs and resources for individuals with behavioral health disorders encountering the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems; and
• Perform other duties as assigned.

1. Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Behavioral Services or related field and/or equivalent combination of education and experience.
2. Experience working with publicly funded behavioral health service systems.
3. Knowledge of, and experience with, psychiatric hospital discharge planning services.
4. Experience forming clinical rapport with individuals with behavioral health disorders utilizing best practice methods, such as Motivational Interviewing.
5. Ability to provide functional assessments, clinical formulations consistent with DSM diagnostic manual, and develop comprehensive community-based discharge plans justified by each individual's unique needs based upon principles of recovery.
6. Ability to work with a variety of individuals representing allied systems, such as hospital personnel, behavioral health providers, courts and judicial staff, and System of Care such as Developmental Disabilities Administration, Aging and Disability Services, Department of Corrections, and other entities.
7. Knowledge of utilization management strategies and quality management practices.
8. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
9. Experience gathering and utilizing data and generating reports for presentation to management staff and others.
10. Computer skills: knowledge of MS Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
11. Valid Washington State Driver's License, or the ability to travel around the County in a timely manner.
12. Must be able to pass a criminal background check on a post offer/pre-employment basis.

• Knowledge of and experience with the behavioral health services system in Washington State.
• Master's Degree in related field

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Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play.

Guided by our "True North", we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles--we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer