Youth and Family Services Therapist I

Alameda County's Sheriff's Office is seeking qualified individuals to serve in the position of Youth and Family Services Therapist I.  These positions may filled by MFT Interns or licensed MFT Therapists who meet the minimum qualifications described below.  Youth and Family Services Therapist I’s work intermittently as needed.  Qualified applicants fluent in Spanish are encouraged to apply.  For information about the Sheriff’s Youth and Family Services Bureau, please visit their website at: http://acsoyfsb.org/.

About The Alameda County Sheriff's Office

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is a full-service law enforcement agency accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and the American Correctional Association (ACA). Additionally, the agency's health care provider, Prison Health Services, has dual accreditation through the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) and the California Medical Association (CMA).  Together these form what is referred to as the "Triple Crown" of accreditation (ACA, NCCHC/CMA and CALEA) awarded by the National Sheriff's Association.  Additionally, the Sheriff's Office Crime Lab is nationally accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD).  The Sheriff's Office Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit has also been awarded national accreditation through the Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board.

The Sheriff's Office has a current adjusted net budget of approximately $185.7 million and has over 1500 authorized positions, including in excess of 1000 sworn personnel. The agency's Chief Executive Officer is Sheriff Gregory J. Ahern, who is assisted in the operation of the agency by Undersheriff Richard T. Lucia, Assistant Sheriff's Brett Keteles and Casey Nice.

The Sheriff of Alameda County is responsible for a vast array of tasks and duties, including the following:

Providing security to the Consolidated Superior Courts
Operating the Coroner's Bureau
Operating a full service criminalistics laboratory
Performing Civil Process
Operating a County Jail (Santa Rita)
Operating the County Office of Emergency Services
Providing patrol and investigative services to the unincorporated areas of Alameda County
Pursuant to contractual agreements, providing patrol and investigative services to the City of Dublin, Peralta
Community College District, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum complex, Oakland International Airport,
Highland County Hospital, Social Services, and to the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
Conducting a basic academy pursuant to Police Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) requirements.
Providing Fish and Game enforcement
Project Director of the Narcotics Task Force
Serving as the Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force
Operating a Marine Patrol Unit in the San Francisco Bay waters.
For additional information, you may visit the Sheriff's Office website at:  http://www.alamedacountysheriff.org/

Under close supervision, to receive training and experience in the provision of psychological, therapeutic and clinical services to the clientele of the Sheriff’s Youth and Family Services Bureau, and to do related work as required.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES

Positions in this class are unique to the Youth and Family Services Bureau of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Incumbents are participants in a part-time or short-term internship program conducted in accordance with California Board of Behavioral Science regulations governing the training of Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) Interns. Board regulations require that individuals participating in this program be registered MFT Interns with the California Board of Behavioral Science Examiners, or qualify as MFT Trainees, who have recently completed or are currently enrolled in a Master’s Degree program in a field approved for MFT licensure by the Board.

This class is distinguished from the class of Youth and Family Services Therapist, in that incumbents in the latter class are regular, rather than intermittent or services-as-needed, appointees. Additionally, incumbents in the latter class must have met California Board of Behavioral Science educational requirements for MFT licensure, whereas incumbents in the former class may still be enrolled in the Master’s degree program required for that purpose. A Youth and Family Services Therapist I does not flex to the Youth and Family Services Therapist II level once they have received Board Licensure as a Marriage and Family Services Therapist.

NOTE: The following are the duties performed by employees in this classification. However, employees may perform other related duties at an equivalent level. Each individual in the classification does not necessarily perform all duties listed.

1. Under the guidance of licensed staff, provide crisis intervention, referrals and individual, conjoint, and group therapy to a caseload of at-risk children, adolescents, adults who are victims of crime, trauma, abuse, who may be involved in the criminal justice system, and/or who are suffering from mental health disorders, and their families.

2. Participate with full-time professional staff in ongoing clinical case conferences.

3. Receive individual clinical supervision, evaluation and mentoring from a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.

4. Document the hours providing clinical care.

Education:

Possession of, or current enrollment in a doctor’s or master’s degree program meeting the requirements of the California Board of Behavioral Science in marriage, family, and child counseling, marriage and family therapy, psychology, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, or counseling with an emphasis in either marriage, family, and child counseling or marriage and family therapy, obtained from a school, college, or university approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education or accredited by either the Commission on the Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy Education or a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

AND

Eligibility, as described by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, to act as an MFT Trainee or register as an MFT Intern.

Special Requirements:

Prospective appointees must pass a comprehensive background investigation conducted by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office prior to appointment to positions in this class.

License:

Some positions in this class may require possession of a valid California motor vehicle driver’s license.

NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

NOTE: The level and scope of the following knowledge and abilities are related to duties listed under the “Examples of Duties” section of this specification.

Knowledge of:

• Theory, principles and techniques of psychotherapy, case management and crisis intervention.
• Child, adolescent and family development; normal and abnormal psychology.
• Local community mental health and social service resources.


Ability to:

• Develop and maintain effective therapeutic client relationships.
• Work effectively with ethnically and culturally diverse, at-risk and low income populations.
• Communicate effectively, orally and in writing.
• Understand and follow oral and written directions.
• Adapt to and function effectively within a highly structured law enforcement environment

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit.  Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position.  Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position.  Other recruitments many be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the "What You Need To Know" section of our website:  www.acgov.org/hrs.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED EXAMINATION STEPS

Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance.  The following dates are tentative and subject to change based on the needs of the Agency:

TENTATIVE SELECTION PLAN:
Deadline for Filing:                                              5:00 p.m., Monday, August 19, 2013
Review of Minimum Qualifications:                    Friday, August 23, 2013
Hiring Panel Interviews:                                      Tuesday, September 10, 2013
 

The Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination process to accommodate qualified individuals with mental and physical disabilities, and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and Alameda County Resolution No. R-83-773.  To request an accommodation due to a disability during this or other phases of the selection process, please contact the Human Resource Services Department at (510) 272-6472 before the final filing deadline. Alameda County Human Resources Services will require documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a permanent disability pursuant to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's statute of the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, as amended, and/or the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) Act.

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website, www.acgov.org/hrs

**WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLAN.

Newspec: 6501.doc
DS:cs 8/5/10
CSC Date: 8/25/10
RE:cs Revised/retitled 7/17/13
Old Title: Youth and Family Services Intern
CSC Date: 8/7/13

All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @acgov.org and alamedacountyHR@acgov.org as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the 'My applications' button on the Current Job Openings page.

Please take the steps recommended above to insure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment.

NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box alamedacountyHR@acgov.org are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. If you have questions please go to our website at www.acgov.org/hrs. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the bulletin for the recruitment for which you have applied.

CHERI M. HARRAWAY, Human Resources Analyst II
Human Resource Services Division, County of Alameda
510-208-9593
cheri.harraway@acgov.org          www.acgov.org/hrs

Alameda County is an Equal Opportunity Employer